Author Topic: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks  (Read 8233 times)

Offline vr_driver

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VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« on: February 02, 2008, 08:19:43 AM »

F350
Vehicle: Ford F350 Single Cab XL with custom body
Purpose: Primary Rescue truck. Road and general rescue
Engine: 7.3 Litre V8 Intercooled Turbo Diesel
Power, kW @ rpm: 175 @ 2600 rpm
Power, Hp: 234
Torque, Nm @ rpm: 684 @ 1800 rpm
Vehicle Occupants: 3
Year In Service: 25th October 2002
Length: 6 metres
Width: 2.4 metres
Height: 2.0 metres
GVM: 5.08


F450
Vehicle: Ford F450 with custom built pod.
Purpose: Road and general rescue/storm damage
Engine: 7.3 Litre V8 Intercooled Turbo Diesel
Power, kW @ rpm: 191 @ 2850 rpm
Power, Hp: 256
Torque, Nm @ rpm: 693 @ 1700 rpm
Vehicle Occupants: 5
Year In Service: 25th October 2002
Length: 7.8 metres
Width: 2.500 metres
Height: 2.750 metres
Weight: 6.810t loaded
Turning Circle: 22 metres

Offline bajdas

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2008, 10:08:50 AM »
Impressive looking vehicle. Do you have any shots of the inside of the equipment lockers ?

I assume ladders are in the rear because I do not see any ladder racks for the storm/general rescue vehicle ?
Andrew Macmichael
lives at Pt Noarlunga South.

My personal opinion only.

Offline vr_driver

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2008, 10:21:58 AM »
Yes, I'll try and find a copy of them later this afternoon for you.

sesroadcrashrescue

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2008, 11:43:21 AM »
didnt they have problems with weight of some trucks over there some of the F350 RCR trucks were over weight

Offline vr_driver

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2008, 01:04:43 PM »
Oh, yes... that was just one of many issues. :)

There's been plenty of mechanical issues.

Ours alone has been put off the road at least half a dozen times because of serious failures.
These have been:
broken cam housing in the engine,
broken gear change cable (column shift),
a bolt came loose in the back diff - creating a big hole as it spat it out and crunched everything inside.
the truck had to get new springs
a steering pin snapped from the LHD conversion to right hand drive.
air conditioning not working
Fuel leak (current problem at the moment - yes it's off the road) -again!

But they are good trucks...

I know of another unit where the entire back axle came off.


Here's a couple more of Rescue 2.

This shows how big it really is. Couldn't really find anymore of it in use. But, yes, you can put a ladder straight up the guts of it.

Rescue 1
These photos are old, and there have since been a few mods done to the truck. But it gives you a good idea of what it's like. These photos were also taken at our old headquarters.







This drawer retracts back under the body to create a tighter truck.








I couldn't find a picture of it, see the handle at the back, that opens up a roll out tray that comes all the way out, 2/3 of the length of the body.



This bottom and last photo shows our current headquarters with the vehicle line up. (gotta love a state government showing off with it's first ever government built, joint premises. We share with the CFA and the police.) It's very cool. Swipe cards and all. We are around the back of the building and come out for jobs through that side gate on the left.





Offline chook

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2008, 04:04:14 PM »
Yep the F250,350 & 450 look nice. Seen the 350 in Newcastle NSW & my old unit had a 250 (SA Version) pity it didn't have a pod instead of a ute body though.
Prefer the Victorian Hinos compared to our Isuzu - more compartments, (saw one of the in NSW as well).
Don't think there will be any more Ford F series though - not after the problems the Victorians had & not too many like the F250's here.
cheers
Ken
just another retard!

Offline vr_driver

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2008, 09:57:24 PM »
Hey Chook, Yes, there are 3 vehicles shown here. 2 350's and a 450. No 250's shown there. I put photos of the old 350 on (a 1992 Custom F350), just to show the body of the truck. We put in on to a new f350, which we currently are using. The old one used to run on premium unleaded, and after a hot run to one end of our patch, we would have used nearly half a tank! Glad it all runs on desiel now. They are much more fuel efficient!
« Last Edit: February 03, 2008, 02:03:26 PM by vr_driver »

Offline Benji

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2008, 12:02:47 AM »
Just wondering if you have any photos of the window stickers that where floating around on VICSES trucks awhile back. They showed members in action with the phrase "Can you see yourself in Orange" or something like that??

If not, any ideas where i might be able to locate some?

Thanks
Ben(B2)
Crossdressing SES & CFS member

Offline chook

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2008, 09:16:16 AM »
The other thing is you can get away with single cabs in Vic, your minimum standard for RCR is two ours is four.
I'm not a Ford man personally, but that is an impressive looking fleet Steve.
Its a pity the big Fords ran into so many problems, I understand some of the issues were that some units were overloading them? And the Western units love them?
I have been looking at our Rodeo quick response & thinking if we had a Dual cab F250 with a pod built by SEM (similar to your 250 single cab) then that would be more suitable. Only for Road Crash, anything else would be a towed trailer (we have an excellent self sufficient storm trailer which would look good behind a 250 :-D).
Who knows there maybe some cheap F350/450's on the market one day soon :wink:.
cheers
Ken
just another retard!

Offline SA Firey

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2008, 11:17:28 AM »
There was an F450 at SEM when I was there,which was swapped for a new Hino im sure it wouldnt take long for someones unit to snag it.

Ararat also have a F450 seen here
« Last Edit: February 03, 2008, 11:32:45 AM by SA Firey »
Images are copyright

Offline bajdas

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2008, 11:33:50 AM »
...I understand some of the issues were that some units were overloading them?...

Not just overloading Ford vehicles. A metro Unit recently did some damage to their vehicle due to overloading their light rescue vehicle (old style ex council purchase). Another Unit lost their new vehicle (a few months old) to replace the damaged vehicle and they are still waiting for a replacement.

Not sure how often volunteer emergency service vehicles are weighed on a weighbridge to ensure compliance to manufacturer specifications and road rules.
Andrew Macmichael
lives at Pt Noarlunga South.

My personal opinion only.

Offline SA Firey

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2008, 11:35:12 AM »
more locker shots of the F450
Images are copyright

Offline SA Firey

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2008, 11:37:28 AM »
more...
Images are copyright

Offline SA Firey

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2008, 11:38:41 AM »
more...
« Last Edit: February 03, 2008, 11:40:16 AM by SA Firey »
Images are copyright

Offline chook

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2008, 01:08:52 PM »
Maybe vehicles appropriate to the task is the answer.
And I'm not sure if a unit would snaffle one - there isn't too many more places for the Fords to go, sadly they are too big for a lot of the Victorian areas.
Would be ok up here though :-D(Wish we still did fund raising :-D)
Andrew it is interesting you say that, as there seems to be a push for dual cab utes (not pods) & yet at the same time a move against trailers!
So I don't know, maybe there is something else on the drawing boards that will fix the problem. The new Hino/Isuzu from SEM is ideal for "Heavy Rescue", they also build other sizes for different uses (CFS has one or Two of the smaller versions)& the build are "sweet" light response pod for Rodeo size vehicles. FESA also has a number of vehicles for various purposes - nothing heavy though! Thats what the Vehicle should be looking at anyway heres hoping!
cheers
« Last Edit: February 03, 2008, 04:16:16 PM by chook »
Ken
just another retard!

Offline F.B.R.T

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Re: VICSES 2 of Pakenham's trucks
« Reply #15 on: February 03, 2008, 09:04:35 PM »
Quote from vr_driver
Oh, yes... that was just one of many issues. 

There's been plenty of mechanical issues.

Ours alone has been put off the road at least half a dozen times because of serious failures.
These have been:
broken cam housing in the engine,
broken gear change cable (column shift),
a bolt came loose in the back diff - creating a big hole as it spat it out and crunched everything inside.
the truck had to get new springs
a steering pin snapped from the LHD conversion to right hand drive.
air conditioning not working
Fuel leak (current problem at the moment - yes it's off the road) -again!

But they are good trucks...


Last line there is a pearler....I'd hate to see a bad one! :-D
But after all,they are FORDS :roll:
« Last Edit: February 03, 2008, 09:18:42 PM by F.B.R.T »
The views I express are my own, and not necessarily of the service I represent!