1958 F.W.D.

Happy 100th to the F.W.D. (Four Wheel Drive Auto Company) Corporation!!!!!! A small celebration was held this week at the plant in Clintonville, Wi.

Firefighting capabilities were varied, most of these units had a nitrogen charge-powered 150 pound dry chemcial system which was either monoammonium phosphate (ABC powder) or Potassium Bicarbinate (Purple-K.) Some trucks had small water tanks (100 gallons) powered by compressed air from the on-board system. The dry chemical units were more effective though, as they could store a larger "punch" of agent on board the small vehicle rather than an equal amount of water which would have needed a bigger space.

A previous poster also mentioned having an on-board breathing system which is also true. Car/Truck fires in the tunnels got rather nasty, so the driver did have the option of donning a SCOTT mask, and hooking into the on-board system, and then hooking into a self-contained unit when he got off the truck (to hook up chains, etc.)

Here is a pic of one I took at the Holland Tunnel, I want to say 15 years ago or more.

That McSutphen doesn't count, it's a mixed breed.

Name: F.W.D. F-725 Firetruck (1958)

Date Added: 14 July 2010 - 08:43 PM

Owner: 1958 F.W.D.

Short Description: Equipped with a Waterous fire pump, 750GPM, driven through split-shaft transfer case driven off of 4th gear (direct drive.) <br />500 gallon water tank.

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FS1889 $150.00 plus shipping, have 1 only. mackb67@bellsouth.net or 931 388 2729 in the afternoon.

I LOVE YOU!!! Do you take a credit card over the phone??? Who should I ask for when I call (it would actually probably be my father that is calling.....) I will send an email....

Underdog, my FWD Firetruck was the one directly across from that red F Model.

Help!!!

I have tried several vendors, only to be advised it is discontinued, no longer in stock, etc etc etc. This is for a Waukesha 140GZB Gasoline engine (548CID) manufactured in 1955. It is in my 1958 F.W.D. Firetruck. The answer from Waukesha is that they "no longer support or make parts for that engine." I contacted several vendors, and almost had it from www.agkits.com but they called me and said "never mind, Fel Pro discontinued it and victor no longer has it either."

**NOTE: Please do not suggest Jobbers Warehouse in Philadelphia, Pa. Their prices are so high I told them I would rather melt down the entire truck before I paid them dime one.**

Here's what I am looking for:

Victor's Full Set Number FS1889

Victor's Head Set Number HS1889

Fel Pro's Full Set Number FS7831C

Fel Pro's Head Set Number HS7831C

Can anyone out there suggest a good gasket guy that may have the above in stock, or perhaps even have these particular kits???? I appreciate any help anyone can lend me.

I am sure you are aware that the fire pump is not Mack equipment. I can't tell from the pictures, but if you have a Waterous pump, first thing you need to do is get a hold of them, have your pump serial number handy, and ask them for all the info. Waterous has great archives, and will be able to send you the parts breakdowns, repair manuals, etc. in a three-ring binder for free.

Glad to hear it wasn't a wash out like last year. Wish I coulda been there, but I didn't think it would be much fun walking the grounds on crutches and Doug wouldn't volunteer to wheel me around in my wheelchair...

I think there were some mud puddles here and there left over from last year.

And well done to the Judges, many, many people I talked to wanted that selection to win the "best of show" award.

Anyone know who got the "Best of Show" honors at Macungie??????

Hopefully all the mud and puddles from last year are dried up....

The other issue is that all of a sudden, out of the blue, I have Hagerty asking me for pictures of my insured truck inside of my storage building. They are now saying they only write retired commercial truck insurance for garage-kept trucks. Is anyone else having an issue?

I have my (antique truck) insurance from Met Life through Condon & Skelly, a popular antique insurance broker in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area, from the day I bought the truck. Every year at renewal time, they always ask me several questions on the form:

1. Current odometer reading

2. Any drivers in the household receive any moving violations?

3. Is it garage kept?

They have never asked for pictures.

On question #2, the wife did get hammered by a red light photo on Staten Island, NY 2 years ago. When I filled out that form and indicated yes, it has a place to explain if the answer is yes. So I did like the honest person I am. I also added it was a moot point, as she does not drive the truck, because she does not even KNOW HOW!!!!!

So I get a note from them 2 weeks later stating my rates are increasing. It wasn't by much, but I was pissed due to the principle. So I called them, and explained to the brain cell that answered the phone that the wife does not know how to drive a car with a manual tranny, much less a heavy truck with a non-syncronized trans. Brain cell basically says "too bad." So I ask for brain cell's supervisor, and tell him what the deal is. He says "well, not much I can do." So I cry about longevity as a customer, and then I say "Well, refund my check, I'll go see what JC Taylor can do for me." (JC Taylor is another popular insurer in the Philly area) Supervisor says "You know what, I think we can make the adjustment back to your previous terms."

She bought you a firetruck? Dude.....If you don't marry that girl, you need to be bitchslapped upside your head with a 2x4!!!!!! Get that lass an engagement ring, right now! The manuals can wait!!!!!

I will be there with the 1958 F.W.D. Firetruck.

MB 400

Thanks for taking the Pics' I am glad to see it returned back to Red, it was always a nice truck and unfortunate that they painted it slime lime and then sold it, it should have been updated to maintain it in front line service without the slime lime. There is a similar truck in NJ that has been maintained with new 5" line etc, and can still go on a call.

Firemack

Anyone know where that ex-FDNY scope is from??

Here's another one that you probably already thought of, but figured I would throw it out there....The mechanical fuel pump on my 1958 F.W.D. firetruck (Waukesha gas engine) took a crap a few years back- would starve for fuel at higher RPM's while out on the road.

Cleaned filters, blew out lines......Then tested the pump and sure as shit, the rubber diaphragm was torn. Could not find a replacement (Delco Remy pump.) Tried all kinds of specialty antique parts places- Nope.

So I hack sawed off the pump arm, slapped it back onto the block, by-passed the pump through a NAPA electric pump. Runs like a champ ever since.

I believe the dual ignition was used in emergency equipment to provide a back up in case of an ignition failure. We had one on the 1955 V12 Seagrave I rode on as a volunteer, and I have one on my 1965 B95 with a 707C engine. I have seen one distributor cap fail and the operator switch over from dual to the good single ignition. I run mine on both all of the time. Great find and the best of luck. Enjoy!

Mack458

Correct. Many later-model fire apparatus that were still equipped with gasoline engines had dual distribution, as well as dual-position battery switches. You could run on all of the batteries or one or the other.

Addtionally, some even had switches where you could move from electrical system-generated spark to magneto spark. The closer you got to the move to diesel power, the rarer this option became.

all of our apparatus, with the exception of our Squad (a chevy 3500), are Macks.

Thats funny, I could have sworn that your engine 25-2 was built by Sutphen (on a Mack chassis that they purchased; and without Mack's knowledge.....) Last time I saw that thing is when it was a demonstrator, and the Sutphen salesman brought it to our firehouse. Had an Eaton 10-speed autoshift, and was a mechanical nightmare......But at least it was red.

Now if it was an FDNY R model sedan cab, that's a different story.

Unfortunately you will never find one, only 6 of these were ever built. Only one remained in existence up to about 4 or 5 years ago, sitting in a vacant warehouse where it was vandalized over the years to the point of no return. It was found one night by an FDNY company who responded to the warehouse for some kind of incident. There were pictures posted on the internet somewhere. Since then it has been scrapped.

A New Jersey sleeper berth exemption for the idling of heavy-duty trucks that was originally scheduled to sunset on May 1, 2010, has been delayed for another year.

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I don't know very much about this regulation, so excuse me if this has been batted around before, but how do the Greenies expect a driver in a company-owned tractor, without an auxiliary generator for heat or A/C, to stay warm or cool while in the bunk in the Toxic Waste......errr ahhhh Garden State? Or is it the People's Republic Of New Jersey? Are auxiliary gen sets even allowed under the legislation?

Adapt an old discharge cap to have an air chuck. Connect you air compressor to that cap and open that valve. Remove all intake and discharge caps. Then, with the entire system under air pressure, open one valve at a time, blow out the water, close the valve, and move to the next valve. Make sure you do this for all valves including tank fill and pump to tank. Also do the same with each drain valve including the main pump drain. You will sometimes have to wait on your compressor to catch up. Do this several times on all valves until you see no water being expelled when you open the valve. I hope this helps.

This is precisely what I do as well, I will also leave all drain valves open at all times. Dont forget to drain your booster lines too, if you have them. This is where the air comes in handy. In addition, don't forget to check the other important stuff- use a hydrometer to check the anti-freeze's low temp....Also don't forget to treat your fuel, STA-BIL for the gasoline or a diesel treatment.........

You see them on eBay occasionally, but they usually go anywhere from 600 to 1500 bucks depending on the size and condition.

As I stated in firehouse.com, if this is an in-service piece of apparatus, you really need to let a certified technician (who is familiar with 'scopes) repair the problem. Aerial controls are not something to mess with.

Does anyone know if there is a rain date for this show or is it rain or shine? Weather will be very ugly.

Does anyone know when John Haines's show is, and is it by invite only, or can you just show up, or do you have to RSVP????????