4 x 4 "Class A" pumpers

[IzzyEng4 427]

I know that ARFF apparatus are specifically designed with having 4x4 or 6x6 ect. But is there really an advantage to having a full size pumper with 4x4 capabilities?

The way I'm looking at it is because of the added weight of a vehicle, added height, the possible false sense of going off the road with the vehicle, and so on. Granted there are smaller fire & emergency vehicles that can accomplish the same capabilities, but is it an advantage?

In my town, the old Civil Defense purchased an E-One rescue truck built on a GMC 7800 4x4 chassis. Rarely was the 4x4 used in my town and over the years they had nothing but problems with it and also had to watch the vehicle from being grossly overweight. Plus it had standard brakes instead of air-brakes.

What advantage is there?

[PCFD ENG58 1,085]

With today's mid size truck's [Ford 550 4x4 ] with larger pumps [1000 gpm] , I don't see any advantige to a full size 4x4 pumper with all the extra size and the rest that comes with it..