Fire truck overhaul

[TboneMan]

To you big rig mechanics or fire fighters with experience in this topic:



I'm preparing the budget for the vol. fire department I belong to (I'm the treasurer). As a general rule we try to get 20 years out of each piece of apparatus. A pumper we purchased in the mid-80's is due for replacement, but it is still in really good shape and meets our need for a short wheel base pumper. We are considering just having it refurbished and keeping it until after we replace replace (and pay off) our heavy rescue.



The pumper has a Detroit motor (not sure of the model). While the piece only has 20,000 road miles, it has hundreds of hours at idle and pumping (probably at 1800rpms). It runs fine, although it would be nice to have a bit more acceleration and hill climbing power.



How much would it cost to do a overhaul on the motor? I'm thinking strip it down and check the internal components and R&R anything that is needed.



Are these thing BOMB'able to get a few extra horses?

 

[jgillott]

TboneMan,

Last year we had a CAT 3208 go in our 84 Ford/LeFrance pumper. I can tell you that it was just a little more to buy a reman directly from CAT. I'm not sure what Detroit you have so there is at least some parts that may be hard to find or discontinued. You may just want to do a cosmetic/pump refurb and wait until your motor gives up to worry about it. You never know, it may last the lifetime of the unit.



If you have any difficulty finding a good place to take the truck for your work, PM me. There are several here in PA that my department has used that do really fine work.



Justin

 

[TboneMan]

"You may just want to do a cosmetic/pump refurb and wait until your motor gives up to worry about it. You never know, it may last the lifetime of the unit. "



This was one of our ideas also. For engine work we utilize a Penn Detroit Diesel - Allison branch located about 15 mile from our district. THIS IS VERY CONVENIENT!



As for "fire fighting" parts we have an E-One distributer with a full shop 5 mile from our district line, and the Salisbury factory just 50 mile south of us.

 

[FFutch]

T-bone if it is a v-92 or 71 series which I suppose it is,you would probably be further ahead to get a Re-Man unit with DDEC electronic engine controls. This does away with the rack and makes it programmable for more h. p. As far as I'm concerned this is the way to go with the old 2 strokes. If you can get me a serial and model# of the block... . Doug

 

[Ncostello]

First off... what brand is the truck... EOne, Pierce, etc. And is it built on a commercial chassis or custom built chassis by the body manufacturer? If your talkin 6V92, 6-71, or 8V-71,92 that would be worth keeping. But those didn't show up much in commercial chassis trucks.



On the other hand if you own a commercial chassis pumper such as a Chevy C-70... and it has a Detroit 8. 2L I'd get rid of it or repower with a different engine altogether. 8. 2L Detroits were very popular in mid 80's model GM pumper chassis but were not worth a darn.



If you have a commercial chassis truck I'd recommend putting the body and pump onto a new chassis. I've been around these types of refurbs and they work out well if performed by a reputable company.



If you have a heavy duty firetruck custom chassis like Sutphen, Seagrave, Pierce, Eone all have refurb shops and offer glider kits. They save the engine (sometimes), the transmission, pump, and rear axle, and frame and build new cabs, bodies and rebuild the rest. They look like totally different trucks and will run way less than a new pumper.



I wouldn't consider bombing too much at all. Many transfer cases are rated for specific amounts of torque and rpm. Changes in engine HP could result in damage to the drive system. The transmissions and transfer cases like certain amounts of torque input and not much more. Think durability here... not smoke and power.



There is a company here in IN that does superb work on exactly what your talking about. They can go mild to wild on refurbs too in all price ranges. They are RPI (Renewed Performance Inc) in Tipton, IN... which is north of Indianapolis. Indy Fire and many other large departments here in Indiana have them do work for them. I've seen some very nice stuff from their shop.



I've been there and done all of this. Its alot of work if your department is looking at doing it themselves. I've had Cat engines apart, Allisons rebuilt, and pumps tore down myself.



There's alot to consider depending on the level you want. We were going to take a Pierce Ford Chassis once and put the body and pump on a new Ford F-800 chassis. We planned to add some highside compartments, deck gun, crosslays, extended front bumper etc etc etc. When it was all said and done we would have been able to go out and buy a new "cookie cutter" commercial truck, such as Ferrara or EOne Eagles with all those options for way less than this "refurb" I came up with. It wasn't worth it so we scrapped the idea and bought a new Custom Cab KME Excel Chassis pumper that can be sent back in 20 years for a factory refurb for half the cost of new.