Our current A2 has its own issues:
- no front wheel drive (lost pinion bearings while I was driving back from a fire)
- A3 seems to have a lot more power than our A2 (lights & siren at 25 mph up a grade is embarrassing)
- CTIS had already been disabled on the A3
- We always joke that if you need our deuce very far from our station we need 24 hours advance notice Thankfully it is not our first out truck and is primarily for water supply.
- lost brakes a couple of weeks ago on the way to a fire. I wasn't driving but the radio traffic was "interesting" when they found out going downhill with 1200 gallons of water! Hopefully the A3's split brakes will be a little safer.
As we get the A3 rigged out I will give updates and post pictures.
I will miss the old A2. It was the first fire truck I ever drove and I'm kinda partial to it.
Too bad the A2 is being put to pasture. It looks to be in good shape. Maybe you can give it a retirement home (your house, ) after it's battle gear has been removed.
Our department has two 1,200 gallon A3 tankers configured similar to your A2. They replaced our A2s a couple years ago. Personally, I don’t like them. They are overloaded and feel extremely unstable on the hilly and curvy mountain roads with the super singles. Since you have your CTIS already disabled, be sure to keep the tires aired up to max pressure (85 PSI on the Michelin 14.5R20 XL radials if I remember) once you get the truck built. We started out running them at the recommended 55 PSI, but soon discovered that wasn’t enough…
I know rural departments often have to work with what you can get, but if you could acquire a 5 ton to build your tanker I would highly recommend it. Most around here are built on 809 series trucks and carry 2,000 gallons. More water and a much more stable truck.
Too bad the A2 is being put to pasture. It looks to be in good shape. Maybe you can give it a retirement home (your house, ) after it's battle gear has been removed.
Unfortunately the A2 has to go back to the forest service.
Our department has two 1,200 gallon A3 tankers configured similar to your A2. They replaced our A2s a couple years ago. Personally, I don’t like them. They are overloaded and feel extremely unstable on the hilly and curvy mountain roads with the super singles. Since you have your CTIS already disabled, be sure to keep the tires aired up to max pressure (85 PSI on the Michelin 14.5R20 XL radials if I remember) once you get the truck built. We started out running them at the recommended 55 PSI, but soon discovered that wasn’t enough…
I know rural departments often have to work with what you can get, but if you could acquire a 5 ton to build your tanker I would highly recommend it. Most around here are built on 809 series trucks and carry 2,000 gallons. More water and a much more stable truck.
Thanks for the first hand info! I wondered about the stability of the tall sidewalls on those singles. We are also in the process of building a 3000 gallon tanker out of a 1976 Kenworth dump truck we had donated to us. When we get the Kenworth in service we are talking about just keeping one 600 gallon tank on the A3 and making it a heavy duty brush truck.
Firefighting Deuce from Happyland, Oklahoma
Thankfully it is not our first out truck and is primarily for water supply.
