Chubb Pathfinder Fire Truck

Jason911

Adventurer
Chubb trucks were designed and built in the UK - to the best of my knowledge they no longer manufacture fire apparatus. Getting ANY parts for that could be a logistical nightmare.
 

Dr. Cornwallis

Adventurer
Chubb trucks were designed and built in the UK - to the best of my knowledge they no longer manufacture fire apparatus. Getting ANY parts for that could be a logistical nightmare.

Hence why it's probably for sale. On the flip side it would seem as though it already has an ample onboard water solution.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Jason911

Adventurer
Hence why it's probably for sale.

Actually, firetrucks have a finite life expectancy - 20 years for most - before they are put out to pasture. They can be made whole again, most often through a total refurbishment and resold for about 1/3 the cost of new, but still.
 

Haf-E

Expedition Leader
Where are the doors to get into it? I like the center located driving position - eliminates the question "Should I use a LHD or RHD vehicle for my round the world trip"...
 

Dr. Cornwallis

Adventurer
Actually, firetrucks have a finite life expectancy - 20 years for most - before they are put out to pasture. They can be made whole again, most often through a total refurbishment and resold for about 1/3 the cost of new, but still.

Why is this? Is it because the trucks begin to become maintenance pigs around that time? I don't know what my departments policy is because I've never asked but it seems like when our trucks get to about 15 years old they rotate them into reserve status if they were at a slower station, if they were at a busy station and had some miles on them we just get rid of them.

I need to find out because I want to buy one of our brush trucks when they go up for sale. We have a couple that are built on a shorter wheel base 4x4 international workstar/7600 chassis. Hopefully they have the Cummins ISB 6.7. At my old station we had a smaller version; a 4300 with a VT365 (power stroke 6.0) and the thing was a pig.

The length of the chassis is perfect for a camper like an earth roamer or blissmobile. We usually keep the tanks/pumps for the next truck so I would think I could pick up a low miles and well maintained workstar for pretty cheap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Jason911

Adventurer
Why is this? Is it because the trucks begin to become maintenance pigs around that time? I don't know what my departments policy is because I've never asked but it seems like when our trucks get to about 15 years old they rotate them into reserve status if they were at a slower station, if they were at a busy station and had some miles on them we just get rid of them.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A lot depends on that departments SOPs, as most of the smaller municipalities rotate on a 15-20 year average. Larger cities will wear out a truck in 10 years or less. And a lot of fire trucks wear out from simply sitting/lack of use. They are 99% of the time full of water, loaded and ready to go. At minimum even the smaller trucks have 250 gallons of water on board - thats 2082 pounds of dead weight - to say nothing of the added strain it puts on chassis. And then, they have to be ready to go at a moments notice, no time to wait for engine warm up - just get in and go.

Brushtrucks(wild land or urban interface) are a whole different game - At best, I've seen departments hang onto these relics for up to 30 years, and then someone from within buys them. A volley department I was on had a '66 GMC Carry-all with a 4x4 NAPCO conversion. It sold to a buyer in Texas - with just 7,126 miles on the odometer - for $24,000.00. Another had a 1971 GMC 3/4 w/PTO front winch, 4-speed manual and NO power steering. Had 12,384 miles on it and sold for $9700(with a bent in the middle frame).
 
Last edited:

Jason911

Adventurer
Cool truck. Most of the parts on this should be pretty easy to get at a good truck shop.


I would tend to disagree, as this truck was manufactured in England, and not built via US standards. Even the axles could be a weird non-standard ZF or something.
 

Jason911

Adventurer
The length of the chassis is perfect for a camper like an earth roamer or blissmobile.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Found it ironic that you mentioned blissmobil - I was actually looking at their website yesterday. The craftsmanship and technology of the housing units really piqued my interest. I wonder if I could live in a 11' or 13' model.
 

DirtWhiskey

Western Dirt Rat
Just had to post this here. This video is the goods. Love everything about this machine and the narrator makes it even more fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUxLjOJrIE

Incredible aluminum cab build. Well though out design. All mechanical. 16 cyl Detroit (probably four blowers and four turbos). I'd pay good money to roll around for an afternoon on this beast. Hell, I just want to stand next to it as it rips by. Don't be deterred by the 10 foot (mirror to mirror) width or the 1 mpg. You measure machines like this in smiles per gallon. What an awesome machine.
 

peneumbra

Explorer
Most of the 7600-series based rigs I'm aware of have the IH 530 engine in them; later ones feature the IH Maxforce nine liter.

After 20 years, many rigs are not only worn out (talking big city depts here) but also, new technology has come along that makes them functionally obsolete.

There are, of course, fire apparatus that belong to rural departments that are still essentially in new condition after 20+ years of careful maintenance.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,544
Messages
2,875,706
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top