KME Quality

[chiefanthony]

I know in the past some departments have had issues with KME apparatus. I don't hear much bad about them anymore. Hopefully they have things worked out. What are your views on current KME apparatus. How are they holding up? How is the quality? and are they dependable? Thanks for the input.

[Rescuechief72]

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e293/RESCUECHIEF72/PFDFIRE.jpg

We have this 2002 KME Engine which has the first CAFS system made by Hale. This Engine has been great to us. So far There have only been two problems.

First problem was an injector problem that was corrected in a very short period of time (Can't be blamed on KME).

The next was just last year we had a cab mount break. Dealer was there in less than 1 hour and wanted to get it to the factory the very next day for repairs. We are unsure if this was due to a operator error in tilting the cab of a MFG. problem as no one except the person tilting i was there.

There are a large number of KMEs recently purchased or in the process of being purchased in our area and everyone loves them.

More of this truck can be seen on WWW.Humanefire.Org

[BoxAlarm187]

We've taken delivery of two KME tankers (on International 2674 chassis) at work over the past two years, and honestly, they give us the feeling of being a "budget" vehicle. They just don't seem to have the fit and finish that the rest of our fleet does.

That being said, we haven't had a lot of on-going issues with them yet, but they're only running a couple of calls a week, so they don't get the abuse that the rest of our fleet does either.

I still find the officer's seat on the Predator cab to be kind of cramped.

[WoodbridgeFFII]

We have two apparatus built by Kme, a 1998 rescue & 2005 custom pumper. Both vehicles have been very good with only minor bugs, or problems, Our department would purchase another Kme Fire Apparatus in the future. The Kme trucks have been in the repair shop alot less than our Seagrave custom pumper that cost more money !

[Command6]

VFD has a 2004 KME pumper. It has been relatively trouble-free, but it's had an easy life by fire truck standards.

After speaking with dept's who have taken recent deliveries of KME Aerialcat's, electrical gremlins tend to plague this line.

My impression is a well designed truck with a lot metal; and while the company is privately held and isn't required to report profits, I think their financial house is in order.

C6

[laddertruckgoes]

If you haven't already seen it, here's ours.

http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=97308

BTW - If the pics don't show up, my apologies. I'll have that problem recitified by early next week.

[GFPD2005]

The twins have held up pretty well.

http://www.godfreyfire.com/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=48

1412 and 1422 are 1998 Panther Rescue Pumpers. I cannot recall every problem but nothing spectacular. 1412 has almost 31000 miles while 1422 has about 21000. 1412 runs more calls, but 1422 travels out of district for more mutual aid.

I drive 1412 so I'm more familiar with its history.

I do know the hydraulic generator on 1412 had to be rebuilt; its a 9kw (dont know the brand).

Recently the starter has gone out on 1412 twice in the last 2 months. They dont make the original starter anymore and the "improved" model is 3" longer. It was a tight fit. That one lasted 1 month. The new one hasnt had problems yet...but driving down the road you do wonder sometimes.

1412 also had 1 cracked leaf spring that was just replaced. It was also dogtracking. It was difficult for the service center to get the right info on a replacement spring so I think they ended up taking the spring to St. Louis to get one fabricated based on the original. Its really no surprise, the thing is overweight and we cross railroad tracks on almost every call.

The highbeam controller went out last month. $70 from Code3. The rear strobe controller is going out which will be $250.

The front wig-wag's in-board of the turn signals kept malfunctioning on both so we replaced them with LED's.

FoamPro systems on both have malfunctioned. Last time I pumped at a car fire I flipped it to Class A and starting injecting. I turned it off. Soon after foam started appearing from under the truck. Ended up being a nice 1ft. tall foam blanket all around the truck. Of course my first comment was,"I didnt do it! Apparently some valve or fitting is broken causing water from the tank to backflow into the foam tanks. Still, I love the FoamPro system....so easy.

The DDEC malfunctioned on a brush fire (luckily) a few months ago. It would not hold at the pressure you set. It would keep throttling up. Had to replace the DDEC control on the pump panel.


We would consider KME again. Fit and Finish is nice.

[boog8591]

My department has 2 KME's

1997 KME Excel Engine that we have had very little to no problems with.

2008 KME Predator XL Engine that we had some problems with around delivery (much of the problems were not KME issues) but one big one was the wrong rear gear ratio was installed by KME - they made good on it and replaced it with the proper one. The truck is in-service now with no outstanding issues.

I will say that when we made our multiple trips to the factory, KME was very willing to work with us to give us the truck we wanted. They very rarely said no to custom ideas we had and when they did say no they had good reasons behind it.

Attached are pictures:

http://www.sergeantsville.org/PB160010.jpg
http://www.sergeantsville.org/s051307%20005.jpg

Our apparatus page (with more pictures) is at http://www.sergeantsville.org/apparatus.htm


Boog