Cheifs Cars

[Cutty630 37]

I figured that I had not seen a thread on chiefs cars that I would start one.

Just wanted to know what everybody thought of chiefs cars? As far as what make and model is best suited for the job, how you would set one up. Which is your favorite around, color, lights :blahblah: I could go on forever just write about anything.

[x648eng119 2]

Basically - I think something that gets the job done, and done right is what everyone needs. 4 wheel drive is pretty much a must now. It's nice to have a big car to carry lots of people and equiptment, but some of the cars out there are just outrageous. (Yes, and my department has one of them)

My favorite chiefs car, for looks anyway, would have to be either 2081, or 2533. Both are large, and lit up VERY nicely.

[Cutty630 37]

Alright so here I go, I wiill reply to my own post. Of course I'm going to say that the chiefs cars in the hills are best suited for what we need. I like the way the way all three of them are set up. I can actually remember back when I was a kid and my father was an asst. chief, the department only had one chiefs car. It was used from the Bedford pd and was (if I am correct) the old dog catchers car. But enough of that back to the thread I like the traditional red car with white strip. But I would be curious to see a chiefs car with the white over red just like our rigs. (if somebody knows where to look let me know)

The Suburban is a great chies car but I think that we could get away with having a tahoe insted. Now the F 350's that we have are great to an extent. They have many useses but lack one thing. It it by far a hard task to set up command with them. With the burban you can use the rear of it but with the truck you are limited to the cab of the truck. Unless there was a cap on the rear, then you lose the full use of the bed. But just like anything else it all works out in the end. By the way the command boards are a must fot a chiefs car. They work very well and help tremendously, as I learned at the train accident.

If you know me then you know that I am a fan of light shows. But sometimes too many kills the effect and the look of the car. There is nothing better then having a decent light show whith enough warning power for people to see, and for it to look good.

So there it is I'll probablly reply later with more but my fingers are tired of typing....

[x648eng119 2]

BHFD does have some nice chiefs cars. From what I've seen with Croton's F-350, the cap on the bed does help tremendously. It allows you to hold so much more equiptment, and more working space too. As far as where to find a white over red chiefs car - Mohegan, New Rochelle, and I know Port Chester HAD one, but I haven't seen it in a while. E64PCFD - maybe you can help me out with this one.

[EJS1810 7]

Oceanside Fd in Nassau county had a Suburban with a white roof, a little different paint job from Mohegans. The Mahopac chiefs cars with the white stripe werer patterened ofter the car I saw. I am a firm believer in the Tahoe. I drove Both Suburbans & Tahoes when I was a Chief and deffinitly preffered the Tahoe. It was easier to manuver and still held all my stuff. The only downside is the loss of seating.

[Guest x2371]

Of course I'm going to say I like mine the best. =D> We are going from Suburban to Tahoe's. Which I think is the best type of chief's car. I like the Tahoe much better then the Suburban, believe it or not the tahoe has more room in the back (as long as you don't get the third row) then the suburban. I think a command box should be in the back of all command vechiles. Great to carry all pre plan command board pull out ect. Some districts (not mine) have a good use for the pick-ups. Crotons is nice but is really long(Do you need a CDL to drive it). BHFD'S are more usefull I think red or white should be the color. I would like to get a pick-up as a utility for our dept but right now we just re-use the oldest chief car as it.

[x648eng119 2]

Crotons is nice but is really long(Do you need a CDL to drive it). .

No, but I don't think the DMV knows about it....Shhhhhhhh :silenced:

[CM36 4]

I love the 2500 suburban or a pick up truck like the 1500s or 2500s ford chevy or GMC with the extended cab. a cap is opional but i like a tool box with a cover. Cortons chief car or Bedford hills i love purchase chief car is a nice car. Another Important thing is not to put to much lights of it. Yorktown cheif car that was done by Rescuestuff.net is the perfect blend of ligths and truck.

[Guest]

hey cutty, i happen to like the full size trucks, in my oppinion the tahoe is nice but to small. if you can afford to get the extra room get it. you can put more people in a full size suburban more comfortably and you still have security and warmth for your turn out gear. also you can keep your suburban after the replacement cycle for a personel transportation unit i.e. training and seminar shuttle,road trips, parades and funerals. pick-up trucks are nice but you lose so much space. does the back area have your turn out gear laying in there? do you put brackets for an air pack and loose a seat? your pick-up trucks are the nicest trucks around but are they practical for chiefs cars? no pun intended! we end up useing ours more for personel carriers. i just think pick-ups you lose to much space and a cap means cold turn out gear. i also recomend a lift gate instead of barn doors. my car has barn doors and i'm out in the elements if it is a command post. at least with a lift gate your covered.

see ya at the big one!

[Remember585 815]

Honestly, I like the suburban we had the best. It was white over red, had a decent amount of lights, and the back was setup well. It had storage for gear, radios mounted in the back, and a folding table that pulled out for a command area.

Best part of the whole command area - it was done by members of our own FD.

[RZ502 12]

I personally think that the surburban is the way to go, and as mike says the liftgate is a much better set up. #1 it gives the chief an awning from the rain/snow and when it is open it is out of the way. Personally i like white chief cars but I am also a fan of the way that BHFD's cars are painted. The burban would again be key if they could have a duramax motor because the cars idle for a while and it would be a good solution. I think one of the best chief cars that I have seen though was Mt. Kisco FD's black chevy Blazer. I spent a lot of time in this car because it was my fathers when he was assistant chief. The color was very unique. The problem with that though was that it was extreamly tight, but in the long run it did the job!

[911FIRE 0]

2533 has to be my favorite, although I do like pick-ups to. Another one thats really nice is New Rochelles. Suburbans make awesome chief's cars as far as looks go, but you could make do with a Tahoe I'm sure.

[ja3kfd 34]

I would have to say that the Suburbans are the way to go as well, But to me it dosent matter barn door or lift gate, they do make those nice tents if you have the barn doors to make a command post, also at a mutual aid call i saw a chiefs car with barn doors and he had a large umbrella open and on top of doors for coverage and it worked very nicely.Also feel that the suburban is a great people mover as well. I am partial to Katonahs Suburban Resqustuff did a great job as did Forest on lettering and stripping,our s 10 were a great start for asst. chiefs but the time is coming to replace them with bigger trucks.

[PVFD113 6]

I have to agree with the Suburban fans. Got to be a 2500 though. It is a truck not a car so I don't want to hear --it rides to rough. The Tahoe is nice but you do miss the space going from a Suburban to a Tahoe. The Ford line--doesn't seem to fit just right as a Chief's vehicle. The Expedition seems to have a lot of wasted space and forget the Exploder--way to small. I for one am not a hugh fan of a pick-up. 1 advantage of pick-up's (right now anyway) is that you can get them in diesel--suv's you can't. I suppose if you set a truck up right it does have other advantages--but with out a slide out bed tray--it is a real pain in the rear to get your stuff out of the back!!!

So for my vote--I will go with the Suburban/Yukon XL 2500-6.0 V8--maybe even up to the 8.1 to get the Allison Transmission, Victory red(available as a custom paint option) with just enough gold leaf and some creative white reflective striping--and of course--Safety Signal Industries will have full creative control over the Whelen warning package

[Guest]

I have to go with a Tahoe or Expedition for the Chief. Serves the purpose as a command vehicle. Asst. chiefs can have the pick-ups, let the chief handle the command, and have the asst. truck handle manpower if needed and equipment. Main job for the chief is Command! Let the junior chiefs do the dirty work, transportation of manpower and equipment. I also like the idea of 2441- Chief Byrnes, put a green command light at the command vehicle, so it stands out. Sorry, vac's!! Find a new color...lol

[TR54 239]

Heard Harrison FD is getting a Pick up truck as chiefs car ?

[cas2383 22]

In response to the white over red PC cheifs car, you will no longer be seeing it as it was replaced somtime last week. The new one is a chevy tahoe with a very nice LED lighting package, it is Car 2391.

[Guest]

Wonder when the day will come when someone gets a HUMMER :-k :-k :-k :-k

[doug_e 0]

I have trouble getting the Expidition in the garage. I have to fold the drivers side mirror in. A Hummer wouldn't even fit at all.

[ny10570 745]

Forget hummers. Porche makes cayanne with a chief package. I'll see if I can find the link again.

[x648eng119 2]

Wonder when the day will come when someone gets a HUMMER :-k  :-k  :-k  :-k

DUBcity makes a "pimped out" Fire Dept Hummer in 1:64th scale. It is pretty damn cool looking too.

[EX2354 0]

All a chief needs is a old police car recycled and painted with the Dept colors . Maybe im wrong but i think its a waste all theses and everything. Rememeber a chiefs car doesnt put out a fire,.....

[x648eng119 2]

In some cases, yes, but, in many areas, 4x4's are a must due to road/driveway conditions. Good luck getting up some of the driveways in Pund Ridge, Bedford, etc. in 4 inches of snow with a crown vic. I don't care how many cinder blocks are in the trunk, it ain't happening!! Also - carrying equiptment and manpower is a reason for the larger SUVs being used as a chiefs car. I'm not saying everyone should have a Hummer H2, or they should have lightbars where the 10-digit model # is the amount of individual LED bulbs found in the bar, but in some areas, the SUV's make life a lot easier.

[Cutty630 37]

I don't understand what you mean by "too flashy." It's got the same basic stripe that all of our apparatus has with the execption of having the car numbers on them. The lights are really nothing special and nothing that anyone else doesn't already have. The interior is the same as any other chiefs car in the area. As far as us trying to say that we are better then anyone else, I don't know where u get that from. Why???????

I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHERE YOUR COMING FROM :-k

[Fed124 0]

It's all about PRIDE!!! BHFD has pride in our equipment and we take care of it. Our equipment is not bought on a whim. We plan out or purchases carefully, and when we get new apparatus, the members appreciate it and we maintain them. Our chief's cars are just like any other departments. The lights are far from overboard. Most importantly, the cars are functional and suit our needs. In addition, we are bordered by nice equipment in Bedford, Katonah and Mt. Kisco, not to exclude any other departments in Northern Westchester. Our stuff may seem flashy to you, but it is all functional.

[Jared1979 19]

the tahoes and expeditions are fine when departments buy pickup trucks for chiefs cars I wonder what the heck are you doing buying that.

They break up the tradition of having suvs as chief cars. My advice stick to what had before

[TRUCK6018 50]

They break up the tradition of having suvs as chief cars. My advice stick to what had before

Years of tradition unimpeded by progress.

What we had before? Crown Vic's and Impalas?

If it weren't for breaking tradition, there wouldn't be suv's as chiefs cars. At a time SUV's were the exception to the norm.

The reason some departments use pickups as command vehicles is it can double as a utility for hauling equiptment. Something that can't easily be done with a SUV.

[EJS1810 7]

We are missapplying tradition here(see my other post under Tradition). The tradition is giving the Chief a vehicle to ride in, from Chiefs Buggys, to Model T's to Sedans & Station Wagons to SUV's and beyond.

[Guest]

All a chief needs is a old police car recycled and painted with the Dept colors . Maybe im wrong but i think its a waste all theses and everything. Rememeber a chiefs car doesnt put out a fire,.....

I couldn't agree more. Having all these over done over lit brand new cars is a WASTE of money. I'd support one chief having a 4x4, but thats it. If the weather is THAT bad, everyone should be staged at the firehouse anyway and the chiefs can use the one car.

[BFD1054 1,552]

Practicality & functionality! If your dept. has the money to buy $40-$50,000 Chiefs vehicles, more power to ya! But as stated, they do not put fires out!

Some people feel that "the Chief" should have the nicest vehicle, and maybe so. But will he/she be there 100% of the time?

In Buchanan, the Chief has a 1999 GMC Tahoe. Its perfect as far as size and compartment space. As a matter of fact, my Chief (ex), a probie FF, another Lt. & myself were in the Tahoe out in Somers when we got banged out for the Bannon Avenue apartments fire last February. It had plenty of room for us to fit comfortably & we even started to gear-up en-route!

Our 1st Assistant Chief is assigned a 1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport. This vehicle is way too small & had no room to mount the radios/siren/switches, so they are mounted on the passenger side of the middle console! We can't complain however because the vehilce was donated lol.

Our 2nd Assistant Chief is assigned a 1992 Chevy Caprice that was donated to us by the Cortlandt Ambulance Corps. This car originally served as a Town of Cortlandt PD car. It got beat on pretty good & CVAC replaced the motor when they had it. Good news is that the motor still runs good, but the body is about to rust apart lol!

At one time, i don't think any Chief in our Dept. had a vehicle. And when we finally got one, we only got one for the Chief of the Department.

Personally, i like the idea of the pick-ups, especially BHFD & Croton 2081. Preferably, the 4-door cab would be better & definately with a cap on the bed. This way you'd have room for manpower & plenty of room for equipment. Plus you could use it to tow a boat or trailer if you have any. I actually like the Ford chassis with a utility body, almost like an ESU rig for a Chiefs vehicle. I believe its Scarsdale that got one not too long ago. Talk about compartment space! Also if looking at a pick-up, i would look into the extendo-bed's, where the entire bed will "pull-out" to better access equipment. I know a certain WC DES big-wig who has this in his personal truck and it is awesome! Makes everything so much easier! Hell, i even like the NYS OFPC Chevy van that is used by the instructors. That thing is awesome, has an extendo-bedwith all sorts of goodies, including full set of hydraulic tools!

I see all this discussion about lights and such...why? Unless you're covering alot of highway, whats the purpose? A simple light-bar with simple lower-level warning will do. For lower warning, simple strobes in the tail-lights & front grille will more than do in my opinion. I see the Tarrytown Chiefs Expedition has one of those telescoping light towers on the roof, but for them it makes sense since they cover I-287. Again, practicality.

Something simple with enough room for equipment & manpower would do just fine.

As for the Hummers....waste, big time lol! Thet would be cool as hell to see one around here though!

I know that the Seaside Heights, NJ FD ran a Hummer for awhile. The Chief told me they had to sell it because it cost too much to maintain!