Grassroots Motorsports

Register Log in to GRM
- Community

Birthdays
Recently on the Classic Motorsports forums

Subscribe get a full year for only $23.95 Sample Free Test Drive—no strings attached

Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » AutoXing a Firetruck...

May 6, 2009 2:11 p.m. procker New Reader

So I driving to State today from my house on the West side of Cleveland, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a bunch of firefighters and a few firetrucks autocrossing in a parking lot across from the airport!! Ok, so it was probably maneuverability training but still...cones set up, seeing a firetruck taking a turn pretty fast and getting some decent lean on it, firefighters cheering them on, it was pretty sweet to see They had some squad cars, and ambulance, and some Emergency Dept. SUVs there too, so I have to wonder if they all get some practice around the cones

Btw, this was across from Burke Lakefront Airport right around the Muni Lot, if anyone is from the Cleveland area...
May 6, 2009 2:17 p.m. andrave New Reader

I saw videos of auto x ing firetrucks in like 2001. funny to watch. surprisingly quick.
May 6, 2009 2:32 p.m. procker New Reader

I just wish I had tome to go watch, grab some pictures, and see when they're doing it next
May 6, 2009 2:46 p.m. RossD Reader

Some Firetrucks have the 4 wheel steer and can do the crab walk. I can't remember what the angle was but it was only at lower speeds (15-25 mph).
May 6, 2009 3:13 p.m. Xceler8x Dork

RossD wrote:

Some Firetrucks have the 4 wheel steer and can do the crab walk. I can't remember what the angle was but it was only at lower speeds (15-25 mph).

I played that video game! It had two steering wheels.
May 6, 2009 3:33 p.m. DrBoost Reader

I ran an SCCA auto-X a few years ago. The fire truck that was there for legal reasons decided to run the course. Not a rear wheel steer truck so he opted to avoid the slolom but it was very cool.
May 6, 2009 4:27 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

I used to drive a box truck for a living, things that big should NOT handle as well as they do. I imagine empty, a firetruck is vastly oversprung and damped
May 6, 2009 7:04 p.m. aussiesmg Dork

I'll bet this thread gets the attention of Mr Leno
May 6, 2009 8:14 p.m. Twin_Cam Dork

There was a really early Saturn commercial that had a shot of a firetruck auto-xing, or at least trying to navigate a cone slalom. Something about the firefighter owned a Saturn and he said it handled much better than the truck.

At just about every auto-x event I've been to, I've suggested a "tow vehicle fun run" category. Firetrucks would be welcome in that.
May 7, 2009 1:14 p.m. Nitroracer Dork

Unexpected auto-x entries are always my favorite to watch, regardless of how they place. I enjoyed the hell out of my first auto-x and I ran it in a 91' Grand Marquis.
May 7, 2009 4:01 p.m. aussiesmg Dork

I ran a 4x4 F150 351 5 speed about 15 years ago, it got lotsa smiles
May 7, 2009 4:40 p.m. thedude New Reader

Could you autocross a minivan? I think it'd be awesome to pile seven helmeted people into my mom's van and see how slow it goes.

Would rules allow that? Minivans aren't all that high centered, so I doubt it would be too tippy. Not that I know from experience.
May 7, 2009 10:04 p.m. weconway New Reader

I ran the PCA autocross last weekend in the visitor class (Miata). Competing against me was a supercharged Jeep SRT8. I was laughing untill the driver posted a faster time than me. Fortunately I finished the day with a FTJ (Faster than Jeep) to keep my pride intact.
May 8, 2009 11:18 a.m. GTwannaB New Reader

How about drag racing fire trucks? New York State Drill Team runs these competitions that basically mix drag racing with firefighting skills. These are serious grassroots machines. Skip the first 30 seconds of this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZSSwTsmrY
May 8, 2009 11:38 a.m. CivicSiRacer Reader

Back when the philly region ran at Camden the construction guys were working on the new baseball stadium. One of them donned a pink helmet and ran the course. The truck was so high he didn't even have to go around the cones.
May 8, 2009 11:40 a.m. Woody Dork

weconway wrote:

I ran the PCA autocross last weekend in the visitor class (Miata). Competing against me was a supercharged Jeep SRT8. I was laughing untill the driver posted a faster time than me. Fortunately I finished the day with a FTJ (Faster than Jeep) to keep my pride intact.

Sorry for the hijack here, but what region has a Visitor class?

I'm a CVR member and when I inquired about running my Miata the head of DE said "Nope. Porsches only".
May 8, 2009 12:41 p.m. RobL Reader
May 8, 2009 7:57 p.m. Twin_Cam Dork

RobL wrote:

Campbell Field, Camden, NJ. The Ben Franklin Bridge is unmistakable.

And that dump truck better have gotten PAX haha.
May 8, 2009 11:22 p.m. Lesley SuperDork

I've done it, it's a blast. They were introducing two brand new trucks - an aerial and a pumper to the Toronto fleet, and invited media to come try them. Not so bad going forwards... it's going backwards that's tricky! It's to help firemen develop the skills needed to back out of a dead end alley, without running over parked cars and E36 M3.

Old story, but here's the link: http://www.canadiandriver.com/2005/09/22/feature-behind-the-wheel-of-a-big-red-fir...
May 9, 2009 3:44 p.m. purplepeopleeater New Reader

Not quite in that weight class but there's a guy on the board who autoxes a big Ford (fake) woody wagon. The beast is quick & he can drive it. Funny to see it in the autocross with 2 child seats on board.
May 9, 2009 5:44 p.m. Trans_Maro Reader

When I was in highschool, my dad had a 1963 Thibault pumper built on a GMC chassis.

I drove it a few times.

No water = not bad

Full (300 gallons) = not bad, slower and more roly-poly.

Half full = Downright spooky.

When it's got 150 gallons at 8 pounds per gallon sloshing around it gets interesting.

You hit the brakes, the truck slows, the water slams into the front of the tank and you speed up again.

Starting on a hill, you would bump the truck with the clutch, wait for the wave to come back forward again and the let the clutch out and start rolling. If you just let the clutch out and started up the hill, the slosh would damn near stall the truck when it rolled back against the back of the tank.

You'd think there would be baffles in the tank but there weren't. Modern trucks probably have them.

This was an old truck with a Chevy 409 and an eaton 5-speed. A modern truck would probably have enough power and an automatic transmission so the 1/2 tank of water probably wouldn't be all that bad.

Shawn
May 9, 2009 5:49 p.m. Wowak Dork

A friend of mine drove an ambulance for a while. During those training sessions, someone would yell out "ONE DEAD BABY! TWO DEAD BABIES!" for every cone he hit. Harsh.

You'll need to log in to post.