I use this script frequently to snap meshes to the surface normals of other objects. Highly recommend! http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/autoplace
If you have Max 2015 or newer you can use the "Select and Place" tool on the main toolbar to place objects on another mesh. For older versions of Max there's the Advanced Painter script, but I'm not sure if that works in any Max versions after 2012, so you might have to find something else if you're running Max 2013 or…