I am looking at a 1968 W500 fire truck that is supposedly in excellent condition. Can anyone help me out with any suggestions for how to inspect a fire truck? I have no clue what I am looking at.

Any educational links are welcome as well. I am at the height of ignorance here not even knowing what I don't know.

Is it a pumper? If so look & make sure the pump hasn't froze & busted

Yes it is a pumper with 19k miles. I figured having a W500 fire truck would be nice to go with the other sweptlines we have. My other concern is driving it 500 miles home. I need to call the owner and see what the GVWR is.

While not 500 miles my buddy drove the complete 100 foot ladder truck he bought home from the FD.It was about 20 miles.He got out bid on the pumper.He paid 666 for the ladder.He just was outbid on the pumper.He bid 966.66 on it.They go cheap here.Rocky

I have seen some cheap ones but the unit we are interested in has been stored indoors, is 4WD and ready to roll. It's going to be a dry summer so I figured getting a solution for wild fires would be a good idea.

Very good to know. I spoke with the owner today and it sounds like we can get it home without too much trouble. Unfortunately any deals will have to wait because my dad is in really bad shape back in Wisconsin. Looks like I'm headed East pretty soon.

I'll post up a bunch of pics if it's still for sale when things return to normal. Our plan is to take the train to Seattle and drive it home.

http://wenatchee.craigslist.org/cto/4351698593.html


Go big

https://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/cto/4323461627.html

The first link is what I am after.

They should be red!

R.

Ask about the last pump test. NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) requires an annual test to check the flow of the pump and condition of all the fire equipment. Get copies of the latest test and proof of repairs for anything that was noted if you actually want to use it to pump. We pay a vendor $350 each to do our 5 pumpers and our aerial tower, and it may be money well spent if you actually want to use it.

Fire apparatus that doesn't get regularly used deteriorates fairly quickly: oil and water seals leak, valves either stick or leak, pump packings start dripping, etc. There is a lot of ongoing maintenance to keep these things operational.

The used fire equipment market is pretty poor. There is no real secondary market for municipal equipment other than export or collectors. Commercial chassis can be rebodied into something useful, but custom chassis are usually worth more to part out the drivetrain and scrap the aluminum or stainless body.

Thanks to all for the info. These W500's have 6.80 gears and 9.00-20 tires so they don't go much over 50-60 mph. I have no problem taking an adventurous road trip to get it home. It will be used as a brush fire truck on our property and will be kept inside so that will help with things deteriorating. I will definitely work with the local FD to create a maintenance log for the truck.

The Ford C900 pumper that I'm restoring now has 6.50 gears with a 534G it should run 50-55 mph against the governor

Yes, if you are asking about a 1925 LaFrance. When I was 14 years old my dad figured to break me of my automotive obsession and had me hired on in the body shop of Metke Ford in Bellevue, WA for a summer job. He thought that if I had a taste of hard work, I would realize that I should do better in school and get a job like he had. So I did grunt work in the body shop, clean up, sweeping, sanding the used cars for paint, etc. etc....only I liked it. Anyway a local businessman owned a small AM radio station and as a publicity stunt acquired an old fire truck to drive in parades and it needed a paint job. This model was a short bodied pumper, it had a big straight 6 with no muffler, an open cab (no roof) just a seat for two. The windshield was a single round piece of glass on a post, big steering wheel, chain drive from an axle to each rear wheel...and I was the only one in the shop that was strong enough to steer it. So I got to drive it in and out of the shop while we worked on it. We painted it Red, of course (there was red overspray all over the shop, it did not fit well in the spray booth) and the crowning touch was when it got lettered with gold leaf KFKF 1330 AM. The owner was Kemper Freeman, Sr..the family still owns the Bellevue Square shopping center. They may still have that truck tucked away somewhere...