Fire Truck Food Truck
We have spent the last 12 months or so working on converting our US Spartan firetruck into a street food unit. We are getting near to launch date and hope to have some exciting news shortly.
We like to thoroughly go through anything we acquire, and this has been no different. Having refurbed it mechanically, cleaned, polished and painted the engine, had a full service and added multiple food unit systems, we finally turned our attention to the cab area. As this is where i will be spending a large amount of time during the transport phase (we are driving it to events rather than trailering it), I decided that I would like it to be a little less utilitarian, and have some comforts such as cooling fans, good music, nicer upholstery etc. Oh and some drivers aid system wouldn’t go amiss such as help reversing etc. Our fire truck food truck is going to be one fabulous piece of kit.
Nicer Upholstery
I’ve always liked the diamond style stitching found on certain high end automobiles. To this end we had the roof and drivers seat recovered in black with red piping and red stitched diamonds. The dash and door panels have also been re trimmed but without the padded diamonds.
High End Music And Navigation
We started off with the installation of an Alpine Halo 11 inch media receiver. This takes care of the music playing, and adds Android auto to allow for satellite navigation. It also has the added bonus of connecting to our Amazon fire stuck, allowing movies to be played to ease our way through those long waits for site access etc.
Audison Audio tweeters mounted in the A pillars, and 4 Audison full range speakers mounted in the roof corners added a fabulous sound. Backed up by a large subwoofer mounted under the dash in a custom built diamond plate covered enclosure. Overall the cab is a much more pleasant environment with good music.
Drivers Aids
Being as big as it is, with poor visibility, left hand drive and a long front overhang, it was felt that anything to assist the driver was a worthwhile endeavour.
The first option we added was a 360 degree camera system. This filmed all around the truck, recording to an SSD. The system is quite clever in that putting the gearbox into reverse switches to an enlarged rear view. Similarly indicating either side switches to a side view. The Alpine music system is also connected to a low level reversing camera with a hitch guide, this similarly switches to a rear display on reverse.
A radar operated blind spot system was added that flashes a small but highly visible light in the A pillars when anything is overtaking either side. If you indicate to swap lanes and something is detected in overtaking it also pulses an alarm.
A Tyre Pal TPMS system takes care of tyre pressures and temps, handy considering fire trucks don’t come equipped with spare wheel carriers.
If we can find a reversing sensor system that integrates with the Alpine screen (they usually need CAN Bus systems which 1992 motors tend not to have), then we will look at adding that.
A pair of front mounted bumper poles help judge where the huge front bumper is sticking out to, and electronic tannoys that announce “This vehicle is reversing/Turning Left/ Turning Right” complete our current safety systems. The updated London regs require a front moving off alarm, so we might look at adding that at some point, even though we are exempt from the London regs.
As well as our fire truck food truck we have a range of classic and quirky vehicles for hire, from a Del Boy Trotter 3 wheel van coffee service to a classic Citroen HY churros unit.
