DT 466, I'm working on the historical vehicle reg. concept. I know the vehicle qualifies for the reg. I'm just not sure it exempts the CDL yet.
Redcat, I had the cab up again yesterday and found the engine clearly identified as a 534 so long as a sticker on a valve cover can be believed, which I think in this case I can.
The trans is labeled 1 2 3 D R N. I seem to be able to count 4 shifts on my way up to 50mph. It seems to want to hang in 2nd gear @25mph in town, tach shows 2500 rpm. It is really roaring at that rpm and I can't seem to get it to shift up to 3rd by letting up on the throttle or manually selecting 3rd.
I am glad to know what the compartment light indicates and that makes sense. It seems like every time I drive it I find a compartment door swinging and I could definitely have some door switches that are bad or out of adjustment. There isn't too much equipment in all of the cubbys except for a couple of backpack tanks. They look like they might be used for a brush fire. I'd like to find an older wooden extension ladder to varnish and replace the chunk of aluminum ladder the FD disposed of by hanging it on the side of the truck. I'd also like to find a pair of authentic axes to hang on the cab doors.
I reached my contact from the FD today. He said he was printing service records and would drop them off to me.

 

Oldblu, the lazy shifting may just be due to the truck sitting too long. I'd suggest you drive it some before delving into troubleshooting the trans.

The back pack tanks ( often called Indian tanks ) are a plus. Watch E-bay and other classifieds for the axes.

Here's a link for a good antique fire truck resource.

Home Page

I'm a former member who's likely going to rejoin in the future.

 

Redcat, Thanks for the link. I guess all of those surplused fire trucks have to go somewhere. So many of them with super low miles. Makes me wonder how mine got all the way to 115,000 in 38 years.
My fire dept. contact told me that the truck originally had a manual transmission, but the volunteers were too hard on it. I'm sure they get blamed for everything!
I'm definitely not going to rush in to a transmission diag. It is completely driveable. I'm looking forward to a little time to tinker with the important stuff like the compartment light and the siren wiring. Do you have any clue on the "fresnal light" switch?
Also, an extra dimmer switch on the floor on both sides of the cab. Possibly the original siren switches?

 

I'll check on the fresnal light. It's stuck some where in my noggin but I can't locate the file yet.

The extra dimmer switches were indeed siren buttons. Look up from underneath the cab and you'll most likely find where the siren was mounted. Floor mounted switches indicate it had a motor driven siren such as a Federal Signal "Q" series unit. Look at the dash switches for one marked "brake" or " siren brake". The combination would tell me it had a " Q2B" siren. These use a turbine wheel to create sound. Once moving they can take several minutes to come to a complete stop. Very annoying at the confusion of a fire scene. The brake works to bring them to a much quicker stop. This style of siren has been around for decades and like fire bells are often moved from old rigs to new units.

Super low miles rigs aren't really that uncommon. Many small town rural departments run a few dozen calls per year resulting in very minimal miles.

 

I've had a little more time to play with my fire truck. I have been connecting wires under the dash that were pulled to disable sirens and lights. After making the last connection, I heard a new "motor" noise from under the dash when I pulled the "fresnal light" switch. There are 2 red lights at the back of the truck that are on small posts and they were flashing. The noise under the dash seems to be coming from a motor that I thought was a wiper motor. I'm guessing that the motor drives some sort of flasher that operates these red lights and probably the original gumball light. The current light mounted on top of the cab appears to be much newer than the truck and it is a pretty boring alternating clear and red bulbed beacon. I'd love to find a vintage gumball.
I was hoping with all of the info on the warranty plate, someone with the knowledge might give me the breakdown. There is a good shot of the plate in the pictures. My son did something to the photo to make it ledgible.
I did register the truck as a collector vehicle and I'm free to drive it recreationally so long as I don't start showing up at house fires!

 

Motor driven alternating flashers were common before strobe lights caught on. Older school busses also used them. Today's versions are all electronic. The original gumball would also have been motor driven but it would require a constant voltage.

If you show up at a fire they are apt to put you to work.

 

Usually if you have a tank that is over 500 gal you will need a tanker endorsement

 

How do you figure?

 

That is just what my MN State CDL hand book had listed

 

Tank on that rig is most likely right at 500 gallons.

 

That's odd. IIRC 120 and 1000 are the magic numbers.

 

I was told that the tank on this truck holds 500 gallons. I'm not sure how you could prove what it holds unless there is a label on it. My attorney looked over Washington State CDL requirements and his opinion was I am good with the collector registration so long as I don't use the truck commercially.
I finally got the big overhead door installed in my shop and I parked the truck inside. I'm looking forward to detailing it and fussing with some small issues over the winter. I slid under the truck on a creeper last night. There is a LOT of stuff on this rig! I see lots of signs of wiring splices and plumbing repairs. I hope to get this truck looking real good and finding a buyer before something breaks.

 

Your rig is considered a triple combination pumper by the standards when it was new. It has a pump, a water tank and carries hose. 500 gallon tanks were the standard in it's day. There is also minimum specs for pump gpm and total length of hose but I can't remember them.

 

Redcat, I spent less than 10 minutes sliding around the bottom side of the truck. I think I found where to bleed the air brakes. There were 2 tanks in front of the rear axle. below one of them was something that looked like an in line filter with a petcock. When opened I got maybe half a cup of water then compressed air. I found another tank & valve just behind the front bumper. I got more air and water out of it. There must be 6-8 various bleed valves/pet***** scattered around down there. I am guessing their related to pump operation. Some of them opened, others seemed pretty stuck like they have not been opened for years. I'll give them all a squirt of WD40 to soak. I'm really looking forward to working on this. Being able to get it into my shop makes it a lot easier. I'm hoping to stick to cosmetic projects and cleaning up some of the wiring. I took a dab of compound to an oxidized panel and I can see that this is going to really shine up nicely. I'm going to try to find some touch up paint. I'm sure there is a 1000 shades of firetruck red.
My son and a buddy took it down to the local Dairy Queen last night. I guess they were talk of the town!

 

Draining air tanks is must do maintanence for any vehicle with air brakes. If climbing under is a hassle you can buy spring loaded drain valves that have a small cable attached to them. When installed you route the cable so it can be pulled from outside the truck. On the pump drains there should be several. Always try to keep the truck above freezing because even with the drains open there will still be water trapped in things like gauge lines. If you're not sure what something is try to post a pic and I'll give it my best shot.