M1008 Brush Truck

[markrudella]

I have recently acquired a 1986 M1008 for use as a brush truck from the PA Department of Forestry. It was already converted before I received it, and I'm looking for pictures and info on what you have done to yours, including shots of the skid unit, for example.

 

[pwrwagonfire]

Hello, fellow fire guy! Here are a couple pictures of the local fire departments new brush rig. My father was the deputy chief in charge of building it and did a bunch of research on the matter. He found out from the forestry guys, and various other literature- that really, the flatbed is the way to go! The truck has 188 gallon slip on, with 5 gallons foam.

 

[mrcucv]

i did some of the body work. That truck is awesome once finished

 

[Stihl029]

Man that puts ours to shame. I will look for some pics since its OOC for the winter.

 

[tacmedr17]

just thought I would let you know that the cucv makes a great brush truck. i formerly worked for the PA DCNR Forestry and used alot of them. Also I am a Lt. With our local fire Department we had one for a number of years until last year when we upgraded to a 2008 F-550 crew cab "Cookie cutter" (Not happy with the design, but I'm someone who has seen his share of what works in the real world) if your interested you can contact me we have a 209 gallon alum. tank that was in ours ond a hose reel also that I'm sure would go rather cheap to another department.

 

[joeypushjr1]

had to markrudella sorry lol

 

[AllenEM]

we run a 250-300 gal tank on the trucks we have. One is a m880 dodge, one is a f350 ford, and a new f350 super duty which replaced your M1008 which when back to forestry. I wish we had give them the older F350 because the m1008 was a lot better off road. the single rear wheel truck do better for us.

 

[pwrwagonfire]

markrudella: I would suggest searching the internet on this, I know that the Forest Service test lab has a site about converting ex-army stuff into brush trucks, and even gives blue prints, etc.

Two main things are one, make sure you dont overload it, and two, make sure that you dont make it too top heavy!

 

[mrcucv]

yeah those old 6.2 diesels can take a beating, but not to much of a beating if you overloaded it and run that thing crazy

 

[markrudella]

What weight would you consider as too much for this truck? I would assume that over 250 gallon would be overweight.

Ours is pretty bare right now, with mainly the tank, booster line, pump, and radio, siren, lights on it. We're going to run it pretty much the way it is right now, but I'm trying to get some ideas for changes now, and major changes for this winter.

 

[markrudella]

What tires are you guys putting on these vehicles?

 

[kennyw]

I like the 37" HMMV radials myself. They tame down the 4.56 gears on the highway but you need to trim fenders and/or lift it to run them.

<-- That is what I'm running on my truck.

 

[JohnFire]

with 250 gals you are at 2000 lbs of water weight, at that point you just have to watch whatever else you put on there. Especially if it is an M1008 vs the M1028 with the since you have around an extra 600 lbs to work with.

I will see if I can get some pics of the truck that one of the other fire companies in town made. Our 1028 was used for a short while as a brush truck with a slide in poly tank. it was nothing fancy. But we have not used it for brush fire fighting for a few years other than to haul people and indian tanks. It is more for offroad rescue.

There are several companies in the area running these trucks as brush units.

 

[AllenEM]

What tires are you guys putting on these vehicles?

we run goodyear work horse tires GSA buy. they work ok but I'd run something a little more of a mud tire if it were me.

 

[pwrwagonfire]

these are the tires they used on the brush truck I previously showed you...Im gonna talk to my dad tonight, so Ill find out the model for you.

My fire distrct's CUCV we use as a work truck, just like AllenEM, we have the GSA tires on it...just as he says they are kinda more street tires. Threw in a picture of ours here, I always thought the headache rack and lightbar set up were cool. One of the guys did that in house.

I thought they way they mounted the radios here was REALLY cool, wish they did it when they put together our work truck!

 

[davo727]

I like the 37" HMMV radials myself. They tame down the 4.56 gears on the highway but you need to trim fenders and/or lift it to run them.

<-- That is what I'm running on my truck.

Hey kenny: Could I talk you into measuring how high your truck is at the bottom middle of the front fender lip at the axle centerline? Did you lift the front and rear? How much and how? I want to go with the 37 in on mine. How are they on the road at 55? Balanced? Thanks, Dave

 

[willey10]

We are in the progress of converting our CUCV into a brush truck,and our M813A1. More pictures later.

 

[4bogginchevys]

that is the cooper discoverer STT, they are pretty good for traction but wear pretty quickly.......if you were looking for an upgrade from these it would be the Toyo MT, great overall traction and usually wear 40-50 thousand miles