Does anyone know the history of this thing like where it came from, how long it's been there, what department used to own it, etc.??

8/4/2006 4:46:52 PM

You sure it's not an old red military truck?

8/4/2006 4:49:59 PM

the PKA truck?

8/4/2006 5:46:30 PM

this thread is worthless without pics

8/4/2006 6:40:46 PM

Is this a serious question?

8/4/2006 7:34:13 PM

It's the symbol of Pi Kappa Alpha. All PKA's have one

Not sure why, other than it's the symbol

8/4/2006 7:36:43 PM

yes this is a serious question. just curious about it.

Quote :

"this thread is worthless without pics"

ok, fine. here ya go, n00b.

8/4/2006 7:50:21 PM

thx. will pass this along to my FD buddies. somebody should be able to at least ID it. surprised Legeros didn't have more info in his blog

8/4/2006 9:34:29 PM

probably 'cause he's wanting more info.

8/4/2006 10:30:59 PM

all pka's have 'em .... i learned that when visiting UF in 7th grade

[Edited on August 4, 2006 at 11:07 PM. Reason : i was also told that pka guys are dicks]

8/4/2006 11:07:31 PM

my friend scott's dad procured the one for nc state.........but he isnt available for me to get that info for you

8/5/2006 12:50:03 AM

looks like a 50's era American La France truck. They came in hard top and open (as you see) ... I'd guess this one was from the southwest somewhere (anywhere else and rust probably would've destroyed it - hardtop would be more likely from a cold climate ). A total 'swag' would be L.A. - I have no idea if the VIN would be enough for A La F to track down what dept. the original buyer was though

[Edited on August 5, 2006 at 12:32 PM. Reason : bundtcake]

8/5/2006 12:31:22 PM

Not sure if it's a bona fide Pika symbol or not, but I know they used to stuff that sucker full of kegs and drive it it tailgates

8/6/2006 8:57:43 PM

It is a PKA symbol...most of their houses have them...it's like whatever that sorority is with the anchor outside of all of their houses.

[Edited on August 6, 2006 at 9:23 PM. Reason : delta gamma maybe? or delta zeta?]

8/6/2006 9:22:27 PM

It got started yrs ago when one chapter got one, not positive which chapter it was... it isnt a "symbol" of the fraternity from the beginning, but has been accepted and brought about in later years. At State we used to use it for tailgates and date functions, (i know some of my friend's moms that went to meredith in the 70's and they told me how they would get picked up in it.) as for the reason the one at state has been out of use for so long...

carolina decided to have a gay pride parade/march back in the 70s or early 80s (i think) and the pikes decided to hose the fags down. needless to say i am proud of that feat. go to hell carolina!!

and its delta gamma that has the anchor as their symbol.

8/7/2006 11:21:04 AM

Yes, the firetruck was decommisioned after the gay pride march. The PKA's at the time actually got a spot in the parade in front of the gay pride float. After visiting Krispy Kreme and getting many old doughnuts they threw them at the gay pride people and then hosed them down. The University made the II K A's park it and the engine was taken out. Alumni have told us they used to put kegs and couches in it and go pick up girls from Meredith for parties... times have changed.

The firetruck is one of several Pika symbols.

Our chapter is looking to get it back up and running. UnderPSI, have any plans for something like this? We even thought about sending a video to Jesse James and having him fix it up for us

[Edited on August 7, 2006 at 11:31 AM. Reason : .]

8/7/2006 11:29:50 AM

^ I was under the impression that it's going to be a pain in the ass for you all to do so. From what I understand to operate the truck the driver has to have a special emergency vehicle license or something like that, regardless if it is used for emergencies or not and it will just be a hassle to keep someone always certified to drive it.

8/7/2006 11:41:31 AM

^ This is true, yet dozens of other chapter around the country have similar machines and our nationals already has a way for us to get "certified" to drive this and more importantly insured. The other thought is to purchase an existing firetruck which we have more realistic expectations. We would, however, prefer to keep this truck in the chapters history.

8/7/2006 11:47:49 AM

Greek life will manage to destory any fun you might have with it.

8/7/2006 11:52:53 AM

^ or Paul Cousins perhaps ?

This would strictly be something to drive our guys to IM games, we pretty much know anything else would be out of the question.

8/7/2006 11:56:20 AM

yeah, it is nc state

so go ahead and count on that truck never running again

8/7/2006 12:04:03 PM

my friend is a PKA at Western and they have a really old fire truck too

8/7/2006 12:07:08 PM

naw you don't have to have a "special permit" to drive it, just a class B license, that's a 25 question test and a road "driving" test. insurance would be like a normal vehicle. my guess is that you would just have to remove the red lenses from any warning lights, that's it. I think it would be awesome to see moving again. and the reason why underPSI was wanting to know is because a few fire buffs in the area were inquiring about it.

8/7/2006 12:40:53 PM

They need to get that thing out to tailgaiting that shit would be dank.

8/7/2006 12:45:53 PM

Quote :

"and the reason why underPSI was wanting to know is because a few fire buffs in the area were inquiring about it."

This is good to know. I am wondering if any shops specialize in these kinds of restoring. I will look into this as soon as I return to Raleigh.

Getting this thing out to tailgates would be pretty sweet too.

8/7/2006 1:02:25 PM

we've looked into restoring it. Way too much work -- WOLFeatRAM....im tryin to guess who u are??

8/7/2006 1:39:04 PM

ok, now i got it - whats up DJ

8/7/2006 1:39:46 PM

If you want to find the engine to the Fire Truck it is in the woods next to the house. A few of us found it out there about 7 years ago during international work day when we were clearing the path for the DZ and EK house. I think the transmission is out there too...its just 1 big ball of rust.

Pikes used to make Pledges drive it to Fball games...that would have been pretty fun with kegs, etc.

8/7/2006 1:51:34 PM

^ lol, yes. I was trying not to give the location of the engine to all TWW for slim pickings.

THel and I will look into this, would be nice to hose down UNC people at tailgates

8/7/2006 2:43:15 PM

This could be done if you get your ducks squared away about driving an old emergency vehicle. FarmHouse currently drives an old Army truck to tailgates and to their IM games and drives the sororities around during rush, and Greek Life has not said anything about it or has stopped them.

Good Luck Looks like it would be fun!

8/7/2006 3:01:30 PM

Quote :

"^ lol, yes. I was trying not to give the location of the engine to all TWW for slim pickings. "

Its a huge heavy engine that has been in the woods for 30 years...I seriously doubt someone is going to sneak in there and take it. Its a slight bit heavy for someone to pick up and tip toe off with it.

8/7/2006 3:13:54 PM

Quote :

"Our chapter is looking to get it back up and running. UnderPSI, have any plans for something like this? We even thought about sending a video to Jesse James and having him fix it up for us "

good luck with that. we tried to get that old pile up and running 9 years ago. not gonna happen - no matter how many volleyball tournaments we had.

we used to just sit on it and drink beam and tall boys all night - one brother would balance a tallboy on his nut (elephantitis) on the bumper in the front...

8/7/2006 3:15:03 PM

There is always talk of "getting back running"...the cheapest and best way would be get it towed off and buy one that runs.

http://www.cars-on-line.com/26279.html
http://www.cars-on-line.com/21128.html
http://www.cars-on-line.com/17846.html
http://www.cars-on-line.com/24008.html

[Edited on August 7, 2006 at 3:21 PM. Reason : 10k or less]

8/7/2006 3:17:31 PM

those look awesome... now if only we can come up with the cash.

8/7/2006 3:23:53 PM

just have Dave Matthews buy it...if he still comes around.

8/7/2006 3:28:19 PM

somebody needs to hold a lot of volleyball tournaments and buy one of these two:

http://www.cars-on-line.com/17846.html
especially this one:
http://www.cars-on-line.com/24008.html

8/7/2006 3:29:14 PM

yeah dave could easily hook it up. we will have to talk to him this fall. as if he hasnt given enough back to us though....

8/7/2006 3:30:55 PM

too bad i stopped giving back to the house a long time ago - now its yalls turn youngins'

8/7/2006 4:25:02 PM

Quote :

"now its yalls turn youngins'"

its always been our turn

we will look into fixing/acquiring a truck this Fall, now that this is stirred up.

8/7/2006 5:09:35 PM

Quote :

"carolina decided to have a gay pride parade/march back in the 70s or early 80s (i think) and the pikes decided to hose the fags down."

Was it our PKAs or UNC's?

AAaaaannnnd, does anyone have the picture of the old Army truck FH has?

8/7/2006 8:04:10 PM

Quote :

"carolina decided to have a gay pride parade/march back in the 70s or early 80s (i think) and the pikes decided to hose the fags down."

that's fucking shameful. why people would decide to associate themselves with bonehead people like this is beyond me.

8/7/2006 8:06:28 PM

as shevais posted, no special permit - just a regular class b , for air brakes on teh truck

scrap the idea of getting that truck running again, you can get one that's running already on ebay - though you might have to drive/ship it a way. Bet you could do it for under 15-20k

any ff'er could give you a crash course in running the pump - but the maintenance on that part of the truck is another bunch of headaches (esp. an old one). Would be better to just use it for transportation

8/7/2006 9:17:45 PM

but there is a slight difference in a pump that gets a lot of use and is expected to run basically whenever and one that would be use sporadically

8/7/2006 9:29:31 PM

If the pump supplied beer out of the hose, I would be in heaven.

8/7/2006 9:31:28 PM

haha, there is an idea . . . a fire truck kegerator

8/7/2006 9:55:23 PM

i for one would never drink anything that came out of a fire pump, even with a poly tank, unless you used the pump panel and discharges for show and all of the plumbing and hoses were food grade plastic/rubber, now if you could get that to work, similar to a keg trailer and then have the pump panel levers activate like a tap and the spicgot (sp?) come out of within the dicharges.. that would be awesome!

8/7/2006 10:30:02 PM

Quote :

"but there is a slight difference in a pump that gets a lot of use and is expected to run basically whenever and one that would be use sporadically "

true, but they are designed to be used...not to sit dry. You'd still have to engage the pump and move some water through it every week or two...and anything mechanical w/ water involved has issues - add to that age and prior usage, and it's another mechanical system to maintain.

theres a reason the trucks lose value rapidly. ff'ers keep them up, but after 15-20 years they are pretty well beaten.

8/7/2006 10:47:54 PM

you're looking at some pretty serious coin for anything that still runs, even more to repair something that doesn't.

http://www.firenews.net/contents/apparatus_sales.htm

the brush truck might be doable without the class B license. Also you don't have to worry as much about the potential for hurting/killing someone when you decide to engage the pump.

8/7/2006 10:53:49 PM

^ that is for trucks that will pass a tough pump test and recieve certification. Older stuff that wont pass the pump test can be had for much less, my brother and I bought a 67 ford cabover for $500, ran like a champ but the steering has some wobble. Look in the Carolina Trader, there are always fire trucks in there. Getting that open top back in shape will be big money, they had weird engines that arent common today, unless it was a detroit diesel which is still around but expensive and loud as hell. many came with huge straight gas engines. I doubt its a west coast truck, they were common here once. also keep an eye on the the surplus yard on 54, cary sold one about like that one less than a year ago that would run.

8/8/2006 2:16:52 AM

Make the pledges water the lawn with the pump...that will keep it in use.

8/8/2006 7:44:36 AM