Fire Truck Construction | National Geographic

it’s now time for the main assembly line
here the fire truck starts to come
together with some of the most critical
component installations teams assemble
all the finished parts from frame-up
fabrication and paint but the next build
step gives this fire truck major muscle
the engine diesel engines are the
driving force behind every fire truck
sending power to built in hydraulic
generators that run the aerial devices
lights and other critical parts Pierce
equips all its trucks with basic diesel
engines but it’s up to the fire
department to decide what kind of engine
power plant they want and most important
how much raw horsepower we are several
different engines and our fire apparatus
it can be either a cummings caterpillar
or Detroit diesel engine a forklift
wheels engines into a small staging area
this is a five hundred and fifteen
horsepower Detroit series 60 diesel
engine this engines known for its
turbocharged pickup fuel efficiency and
the ability to handle extreme conditions
running smoothly at temperatures over a
hundred or as low as 40 degrees below
zero
an overhead crane lowers the assembled
engine into place in the frame with so
much wiring already installed assemblers
must execute the engine drop to the
exact inch there’s thousands of dollars
worth of harnesses and components that
are already installed in that frame it’s
a very tight fit you don’t want to wreck
anything