Outfit My Truck Idea - F-450 w/ Utility Body

K

kmacinct

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Looking for idea's on how to outfit our new F-450 w/ Utility Body.


The vehicle's primary use will be to tow a 35' Communications Trailer.


Once on scene the vehicle is available for logistics use.


Rules:


Must be Whelen Equipment


There "IS" a cap to my budget, but I"m not going to say - (I'll cut back as needed)


We are located in Connecticut - so Colors are Red/White to Front - Red / Amber to Rear.


Suggestions? Ideas? How would YOU outfit it?


I had one idea given to me already:


LFL Liberty SX Super LED w/ 4 Corner LED, 4 Inboard LED's, and (2) Front / (2) Rear High Intensity LED work lights


(4) Vertex LED Hide away's in Front


I would like to add at least (4) Surface mounts on the box - 1 on each side and (2) rear.


I'm willing for MORE !


KM -
 
I'm not sure what brand everything is, but this is an F450 my fire company uses for a support piece and medical assit calls (jump bag and AED in the the passenger side middle compartment) Also tows our fire safety trailer to events.


[Broken External Image]:http://millcreekfireco.org/thumbs/apparatus/5/apparatus_5_22_thumb_w950.jpg


wig-wags, TIR6 size lights on bumper, TIR6 on mirrors, front fenders and above back tires. dual TIR6 on the lower yellow stripe on either side of the tail gate. and 3 900 series lights on each side of the box. The outer 2 are warning (sadly, split top/bottom) and the center is for scene lighting. I say TIR6 lights, but they're actually look like Gen2 lights with 8 LEDs.

 
whatevah said:
I'm not sure what brand everything is, but this is an F450 my fire company uses for a support piece and medical assit calls (jump bag and AED in the the passenger side middle compartment) Also tows our fire safety trailer to events.
[Broken External Image]:http://millcreekfireco.org/thumbs/apparatus/5/apparatus_5_22_thumb_w950.jpg


wig-wags, TIR6 size lights on bumper, TIR6 on mirrors, front fenders and above back tires. dual TIR6 on the lower yellow stripe on either side of the tail gate. and 3 900 series lights on each side of the box. The outer 2 are warning (sadly, split top/bottom) and the center is for scene lighting. I say TIR6 lights, but they're actually look like Gen2 lights with 8 LEDs.

Click to expand...

Truck looks like a mix of brands. The small 8 LED modules are Code 3 LEDX's, the 900's are Whelen 900 Series Super LEDs, and the bar looks like an LED Vista from FedSig.


For the OP, do you have a pic of the truck with the utility body on it to know exactly what we are working with there? Will the truck have a PB/brush guard?


Without knowing the above, this is what I would shoot towards (with it having to be all Whelen)


Front:


Liberty with loaded front with high intensity TDs and 1/2 populated rear with high intensity TDs, LED AL


x4 500 Series in grill, x2 TIR6 and x2 Linear or all Linear


HLF


x2 Vertex in front turn signals or fog lights if the truck is equipped with them.


Side:


x2 500 Series Linear, x1 on front side and x1 above rear wheel well


x1 600, 700, or 900 Series on rear upper if it is a high utility box and there is room


-scene light thrown in somewhere if there is room


Rear:


x4 700 Series or x2 700 and x2 900, in red and amber set to x pattern


-rear scene lights somewhere


-rear dedicated TA since there won't be room in the Liberty with the rear TDs, if there is a mounting place for one


Of course you can substitute in the newer M series lights of the appropriate sizes if you prefer the M series.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
aberfitchguy2472 said:
Front:


Liberty with loaded front with high intensity TDs and 1/2 populated rear with high intensity TDs,
Click to expand...

What's the reasoning for the TD's? Scene lighting?
 
EMT said:
What's the reasoning for the TD's? Scene lighting?
Click to expand...

It was suggested above and it appeared that the OP liked it. A lot of places put TD in the rear of the bar to light the beds of pickups with utility bodies or standard beds so they are well lit at night. It is usually the easiest solution to rear lighting if you have some sort of bed with equipment in it. My departments squad brush truck has an ETL5000 with TDs in the rear to light the skit unit and the rear of the vehicle on scene in general.
 
Since it's a utility body with a toolbox, I'm going to assume that it's not going to have room for scene lights and larger corner warning lights. I also find it extremely annoying when I see a large, department owned truck with little freaking lights like TIR3s. So, here goes:


Lightbar: Take your pic. I'm not a Whelen fan, so my suggestion is the SOS Pinnacle. You can get


any combination of light heads, TDs, WLs, and ALs.


Grill: Fed Sig 3x7 or 6x4 Quadraflares, solid colors, no split patterns!


Fender: Same as the grill, but red/white. Alternating flash patterns between the red and white.


Toolbox: Fed Sig Viper EXTs in red. One on each side, and two to the rear.


or


Over the Rear Tires: 3x7 Quadraflares - red


and


Rear Panels: 6x4 Quadraflares - red.


Personally, I'd go with mounting the larger Quadraflares to the body instead of the toolbox. The toolbox lights definitely have the cool factor, but the body lights would be more effective.
 
Bar: Freedom of your choice, all red.


Front grille: 2 solid red 900 series, red lens


Intersection: 400 series, all red, single level linear LED, red lens


Midpoint intersection: LINZ6 (along rub rail, between front and rear doors on cab)


Midpoint intersection (over rear tire): 400 series linear LED, red lens


Body side: 700 series, 2 per side, red lens,


Body illumination: 700 series scene lights, 2 per side (wired with reverse and door ajar lights)


Scene lighting: Bed mounted Pioneer Plus on swivel mounts (to position as needed).


Rear: 4 900 series LEDs - 2 red, 2 amber. Lenses to reflect color of LEDs.

kmacinct said:
Looking for idea's on how to outfit our new F-450 w/ Utility Body.
The vehicle's primary use will be to tow a 35' Communications Trailer.


Once on scene the vehicle is available for logistics use.


Rules:


Must be Whelen Equipment


There "IS" a cap to my budget, but I"m not going to say - (I'll cut back as needed)


We are located in Connecticut - so Colors are Red/White to Front - Red / Amber to Rear.


Suggestions? Ideas? How would YOU outfit it?


I had one idea given to me already:


LFL Liberty SX Super LED w/ 4 Corner LED, 4 Inboard LED's, and (2) Front / (2) Rear High Intensity LED work lights


(4) Vertex LED Hide away's in Front


I would like to add at least (4) Surface mounts on the box - 1 on each side and (2) rear.


I'm willing for MORE !


KM -
Click to expand...
 
How about pictures of the actual truck or atleast of the bed to give us a better idea?


My idea without seeing the truck:


Liberty, Fully Loaded Red with takedowns F/R and alleys


HLF


Vertex's in red in the fogs.


2 - M7's in the grill.


4 - 900 Series in red on the rear - 2 on each side


2 - 700 Series on each side, front and rear of the wheel well.


Pioneers for floodlights, and maybe a couple PAR-36's under the bumper for backup.


And my favorite thing, put about 6 or 8 PAR-36's in white under the truck to illuminate the ground. It really helps when you drop that piece at night and have to look for it.


Paul
 
get a Big bar for that Truck Loaded up Freedom


is it gas or diesel


get some 400Series for the grill


700 or m7 on the fender


900 or m9 on the rear with both Warning and STT or use the chrome Boxes


L31 with the cage mounted on the back of the utility body


here is an idea of one a did a few years ago when i was with that dept


ai32.photobucket.com_albums_d20_kitn1mcc_emtrucks_100_0273.jpg


ai32.photobucket.com_albums_d20_kitn1mcc_emtrucks_100_0272_1.jpg
 
I'll try and get some pics this weekend but, we have a 2005 F450 with a fully populated 55" liberty with alleys and take downs and two tir3's in the grill plus two more in the back.
 
Here is a pic of our 2007 F-450 with Knapheide utility box on it. I know it's all the Code 3 lights, but the general principal is the same. The 2 3"x7" series lights mounted as so on each side work out well for us. It puts out a good amount of light, along with headlight strobes and the lightbar. I'm currently toying with replacing the 12V Akron pole mounted scene lights with Whelen LED's or seeing if something like a PAR36 would fit into those housings. All in all, it's a setup that works well for us. (Except for the LED-X mod's in the lightbar)

Truck11.jpg
 
kmacinct said:
Looking for idea's on how to outfit our new F-450 w/ Utility Body.
The vehicle's primary use will be to tow a 35' Communications Trailer.


Once on scene the vehicle is available for logistics use.
Click to expand...

a picture or description of the utility body and its size would help, but for now:


FRONT:


--2 red M9 on the grill


--whelen r/c freedom, with alleys and fully populated to the front only (i feel that on longer trucks, whether or not you're towing at that time, the rear lighting on a lightbar tends to be obstructed in one way or another as other vehicles approach/get closer, thus i wouldn't populate the lightbar's rear, and i'd use the saved money for surface mounts on the rear)


--since there's a lot of different thoughts and talk on the board now about HLFs no longer being recommended due to housings apparently melting, although i've never had an issue with HLFs, i'd recommend clear LAWs in the headlights


SIDE:


--2 red m6 on the front fenders for intersection


--side of the utility box:


------if its a tall/large utility body: 2 red m9's and 2 M9 scene lights on each side of the body, OR 2 red 700's and 2 700 series scene lights on each side


------if its a short/smaller utility body: 1 red 700 series or m9 on each side. scene lighting will depend on how much space you have (IMHO, SOS makes some smaller scenelight lightheads that you can mount in more places than the larger whelen scenelights, so i think that it'd be worth a shot in possibly going outside of the all-whelen rule)


REAR:


--2 red and 2 amber m6 or m9's in an x-pattern and a pair of scene lights


OS and/or striplites mounted in the interior of compartments


Cencom gold
 
Tomar Blade


D8 in grill


LINZ6 on front fender behind headlight


SOS Intersectors on mirrors (you won't be disappointed in these)


HLF


body mount LINZ6 somewhere around rear wheelwell


halogen 900 to the rear with slow alternating pattern


295SLSA1
 
...And on the other side of things...


TOP


Code 3 LP6000, 55 inch:


- Domes R/C/C/R


- Amber filter in rear of clear sections


- 4 standard speed rotators and 2 fast rotators


FRONT


Whelen 400 series strobe x2


HLF


SIDE


Whelen 400 series strobe, front corners, x1 each side


Whelen 400 series halogen, rear sides, x2 each side


REAR


Code 3 550 x2, red


Whelen 400 series strobe x2, amber, high mount


Whelen 400 series halogen x2, red, low mount
 
Since we are talking about utility bodies, I thought I would throw this example out there. I wish I had a photo of the back, but I dont. As you can see... cost in this example was not much of a factor!


ai18.photobucket.com_albums_b145_NPSA173_CosCob1.jpg


ai18.photobucket.com_albums_b145_NPSA173_CosCob2.jpg
 
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