1958 F.W.D.

What really torques me is about 2 months ago, a really windy day, I pulled into a parking space, had the boys with me. I open my door, and large pops the suicide door in the back, and the wind caught it and whipped it open into the car next to us. It looked like a tub of crap, but the door still left a good ding and scratch. So I made a point of showing the boys the right thing to do- I wrote out a note with my name, address and telephone number and said I wanted to do right by the guy and to call me. Showed the boys how to put the note under the guy's windshield wiper. Never heard from the guy but the men got taught to do the right thing. Just wish whoever did this would have done the same. You can see the men in the pictures above- they even said "Daddy why didn't they leave a note?" I really try to keep my Silverado nice, too......Treat her better than SWMBO.......(but dont tell SWMBO that.....)

Just need to vent. Came out of my office on Friday AM to go to an inspection and noted that the bumper on the Silverado looked all "askew." Further inspection revealed that someone smacked it not only hard enough to push it in, but the part that wraps around the quaterpanel at a 90 degree angle pushed in laterally and pushed the quarterpanel in- and I could only get the tailgate open 3-4". So with the help of a buddy's come along, a good sturdy pipe bollard, a floor jack, a ratchet strap, a block of wood and a 4-lb handheld low-velocity impact device (recently calibrated of course) we were able to pull the bumper out and then get the tailgate off, and then some pulling, twisting, hitting and bending here and there were able to make it look halfway decent again. I still have to do some painting where the bumper scratched the shit out of the quarterpanel or else shes gonna get cancer. Truck was OK last week when I washed it. Pisses me off because I have no idea where it happened or when- or else I would go back and see if anyone has any cameras so I could track down the stain that did this. Really really pisses me off that said stain could not stop and leave a note. I would have been like "ok, make it right and I'm ok with it."

Unless my eyes are deceiving me, that appears to be a 900 Series, not a Century Series. The driver side mirror is blocking the absolute final determination- does the canopy cab bubble out behind the driver door.....Does not appear that it does, making it a 900 Series. As for the Detroit, I am sorry. As for the slime lime paint, I am sorrier.

So whats the issue and where in Jersey is it currently located....What is the final destination????

How much do you want for it?

Hey what are you looking to get for it?

It's mind over matter. I don't mind, because you don't matter. And it aint the Thunder Pumpkin that robs my wallet dry (well, ok in the summer yes....) it's the 5.3L under the hood of the Z71 Silverado and my heavy right foot.

It's no secret that the roads and bridges infrastructure in Pennsy is down the shitter right now. In Montgomery County (suburban Philly) alone there are 57 bridges listed as "structurally unsound." Several are closed permanently to traffic while many have had weight limits downgraded drastically, Anyone on my facebook knows that gasoline prices here drive me absolutely batshit crazy. I hold 100% of the blame for the high gas prices on both political parties. I blame the Demorats and the Greeny Hippies for no more off shore drilling or not allowing drilling in ANWR. I blame the (Pa.) republicans for the tax breaks being handed out like candy to the shale oil drillers. I blame the federal republicans for the tax breaks being given to big oil. I blame BOTH parties for not setting limits on how much domestically drilled crude that is being exported- why in the fuck are we importing so much oil (and paying out the ass for it) when we tap so much of it ourselves here at home, only to send it off to the zipper heads and various 'stans and 'cans? The moral of my bitch is that yes, I understand that the infrastructure in Pa just downright SUCKS right now, and that something needs to be done.....But why in the fuck are we (significantly) raising fuel and gasoline taxes at a time when the price of both are already too high- and when the economy is still in the shitter? Nobama can tell me all he wants about how good the economy is doing these days and what a tremendous comeback we have had- if that's the case why in the hell am I still working 60 hours a week at three jobs (not to mention the wife working full time) just to keep my head out of the water?? The Feds need to enact laws to keep domestically drilled oil here for domestic consumption, to be sold at reasonable rates. Let the zipper heads and 'stans and 'cans buy the oil they need from the Arabs just like everyone else does.........

Actually today was just the consultation with the Dr.....The "procedure" to get the foam concentrate disconnected from the fire pump has been set for January 17. Doctor told me to buy several bags of peas or other small frozen vegetables (small better because the packages conform to shape more easily......) Now, even though SWMBO has zero problem with me going to the TK (some of you have even dined there with both of us) she says that in the meantime I am not allowed to go there until after the "procedure." She does not want to take a chance of one of the young ladies attending nun college getting pregnant because I looked at them cross-eyed.

Is that wine or Rain-X windshield washer fluid???? I would donate to the fund, but apparently my loins are super loins and I have to save what little money I have left for the impending arrival of "Extra Small" due on or about June 6, 2014. Tell the Winfall Wimmin to stay away from me- if I look at them cross eyed they may get knocked up...........

Originally a 2-door firetruck delivered new to the Doylestown, Pa (Bucks County) Fire Company. 4-door customization by current owner.

I did some investigating and have found out that F.W.D. name has basically been dissolved for all intents and purposes, and what was left of their stock, designs, patents etc for modern snow equipment has gone to the Wausau line of products. All archives, patents, designs, files, etc of F.W.D. trucks has been retained by the Seagrave Corporation. ......another one bites the dust. (but at least they weren't bought out by some outfit with a name that sounds like a female body part.....)

What should you do now? What kind of a question is that? You make venison chili, of course!!!!

Uhhhhh......I know not of what you speak- FWD is still very much alive and well still producing heavy duty snow-removal equipment for airports, highways, railroads, etc......Oh and they own Seagrave by the way.........

This makes me want to kick bulldog puppies.

http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/11251 Live feed of emergency responder radio frequencies for Tazwell County, Illinois. They got kicked in the balls hard.

Yeah thats what I said.......

If I remember, maybe later today I will squeeze down under her and get a pic of the flywheel.

Don't laugh- he is absolutely positively 100% correct!!! Randy, in fact that leads me back to a conversation we had the night you saw the truck and I raised the hood and you asked about the dual ignition being in firetrucks. What I forgot to add however (and 84superdog's comment made me remember) was the fact that many firetrucks were also delivered with magnetos as well- in case if the mechanical ignition/distrbutor failed, you would switch to magneto and keep trucking. Or, for in the event that you could not start it due to dead batteries, switch to magneto and hand-crank it to start it. This FWD however was not equipped with the magneto from the factory. No one from the company, including my father can remember if it came with a hand crank, either. But the flywheel does have the notched "clutch cut" for the hand crank. I would not want to hand crank this thing, let me tell you. My father DOES clearly remember having to hand-crank our 1948 Ward LaFrance pumper once or twice- says you had to do it just right or you could break your wrist or arm. It had the same identical 140GZ (F554G) Thunder Pumpkin under the hood.

Why does everyone think that finding parts is such a hassle these days- with the infinite number of resources available through the internet- especially when you find places like this or facebook with the numerous groups on there....Parts can, have and will continue to be found!!! Another thing that you have to remember is that many parts are not exclusively Mack, such as the hydraulic wheel cylinders- the ones that Mack used from that time period were either of the big three- Ford, GM, or Mopar. My 1958 FWD uses a GMC master cylinder, and the clutch slave cylinder is a Ford master cylinder. In any case, brand new ones are still available to this day from Bendix and Wagner through NAPA and other distributors.

Call ITE fire apparatus in Hagerstown, Md. They used to have a huge stock of CF parts as they used to be (dont know if they still are) well known for refurbishing CF chassis rigs. www,itefire.com

Why,,,,,They were polishing the F.W.D. of course!!!!! What did you think they were doing?

They were exhausted so I gave them the day off.

ONCE in a while they actually do some good with their power. This is pretty cool- watch the video. http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/23982219/batkid-ighting-crime-in-san-francisco