Portland 1222AF Adventures

rbgerrish

Nee-nuu Nee-nuu!
Hello folks!

My dream of owning a big 'ol MB firetruck has come true! I've just imported (2) 1222 AF Feuerwehr TLF's into the USA, and they are now relaxing at my house in Portland, OR.

The truck I'm going to keep is a bit rare from what I've seen, it's got the features I had to have (rear locker, super doka, light tower) but also includes a central Rotzler hydraulic winch, which I hadn't found on a super doka previously. It's a 1985 model with about 36,000 km, and last used by the Altenglan volunteer department in 2016. I collected all the photos I could from their website of it in action, and a couple of the volunteers that used it are following me on instagram! Nice to have someone to answer questions. Anyhow, I plan to retain it's ability to squirt water, as well as it's firetruck good looks, but I'll convert it into a mobile work/adventure rig over the next many years. On to the pictures:

This is us trying to figure out how to make them go at the port of Tacoma. The Ziegler truck had dead batteries (even though they were new).
20200312_134850.jpg

Once we got rolling, we fueled up and hit I5. Turns out my truck had a sticking brake on the passenger front, so we had to stop at Wilco and fix that. It freed up thankfully.

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Made it home that night after about 4 hours on the freeway. These things are a blast to drive- they go 90kph and could maintain 85kph on every hill we encountered, which is a pleasant change coming from older Unimogs. They are modern, fairly comfortable and have great visibility.

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I'll be slowly going through both trucks searching for treasure, inspecting their systems and trying to figure out how to work everything. It's a lot of fun!

More to come!
RYan
 

Jostt

Adventurer
nice trucks, congrats!!! the plan is to build a motothome? they can be a good base, specially for big familys, enjoy
 

rbgerrish

Nee-nuu Nee-nuu!
nice trucks, congrats!!! the plan is to build a motothome? they can be a good base, specially for big familys, enjoy

Thanks! Plan is to keep it a fire truck, but utilize the box for tools, camping supplies, gear, and make a removable sleeping arrangement for the cab.
 

Sitec

Adventurer
Very nice! Lots of gear came with the trucks then! Late Storz fittings too!! Our local brigade would be glad of that lot! :) Whats the plan for the other truck? It'll be interesting seeing you get yours under that door if you put bigger wheels on....
 

rbgerrish

Nee-nuu Nee-nuu!
Very nice! Lots of gear came with the trucks then! Late Storz fittings too!! Our local brigade would be glad of that lot! :) Whats the plan for the other truck? It'll be interesting seeing you get yours under that door if you put bigger wheels on....

Thanks! Are Storz fittings the ones on the pump and water hoses? It would be nice to be able to pick someones brain a bit that knows about these things. My truck will most likely not be getting super singles, mainly because it HAS to fit in my garage.

The Ziegler truck, which is a 1983, will be sold once I have gone over it and titled and registered it.

Thanks,
ryan
 

rbgerrish

Nee-nuu Nee-nuu!
I removed all the fire fighting specific braketry and boxes in the cab to see what kind of room I have to work with. I'll need to make a sleeping platform and add some seats with seatbelts for a baby seat.

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I removed the forward facing bench to begin mocking up the Ford Transit seats that I think will work well back there.

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I also will add these camper steps to help get in and out.

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rbgerrish

Nee-nuu Nee-nuu!
I added some amber reflective tape to the doors of my truck to match the Ziegler truck. I think it looks good. I've also picked up a cheap Predator generator to power the light tower, and have begun removing some of the rear box stuff to see what can fit back there.

20200326_223150.jpg
 

rbgerrish

Nee-nuu Nee-nuu!
The front spot light from my truck was stolen somewhere along the way, but the Ziegler truck had an extra one up on top in the rear that I took to use in front. Works great!

The Sirens and front blue strobe lights were removed from my truck by the fire department. I may look into replacements.

20200317_182145.jpg
 

Sitec

Adventurer
Thanks! Are Storz fittings the ones on the pump and water hoses? It would be nice to be able to pick someones brain a bit that knows about these things.

Yup, Storz. We have them on our South Australian CFS (Country Fire Service) trucks. We only really use the 100mm fittings to suit a '64' hose. The smaller fittings we use are known as forestry/wajax fittings.
 

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