Unruh Fire

[FFSKPII]

I have seen several Unruh trucks from places i have visited. Who all operates one, how do you like it, and what are some of the specs on it.

Thanks

[JonB]

I have seen several Unruh trucks from places i have visited. Who all operates one, how do you like it, and what are some of the specs on it.

Thanks

They have a build-it page located at http://www.unruh-fire.com/build-a-truck/ or just give Monte Berger a call at 888-735-2415. I've worked with him in the past and he'll take care of you, no bs or "sales".

[Andy2802]

I have seen several Unruh trucks from places i have visited. Who all operates one, how do you like it, and what are some of the specs on it.

Thanks

We took delivery on an Unruh Fast Attack rig one year ago, and we absolutely love it.
It's 2008 F550 CrewCab, rescue body, 300 gals of water, 25 gallons of foam, Odin Derringer CAFS, FoamPro 2000, 12,000lb Warn Winch, CommandLight 12volt HID light tower, Whelen LED's, etc, etc.
The fit and finish is exceptional. Beautiful welding, all the best components, and really laid out nicely.
They were great to work with on the spec, and the one minor issue we had with a Elkhart electric valve was taken care of very quickly.
I was hesitant to use a company in Kansas, with us down in Central Florida, but the bang for the buck, and the quality of workmanship made it well worth while.
We are within a couple hour drive from a couple of the "big boy" apparatus manufacturers, but they couldn't come near the quality and cost that Unruh delivered for a rig like this.

I'd definitely buy from them again, and can recommend them.
If you want to take a look at our rig, and some of the in-process build pics, check out:
http://www.fourcommunities.com/squad28.htm

[FFSKPII]

that is one sweet truck! Another fd I am on we have the derringer as well on our brush truck and I have found it very easy to use. That is great that the body construction is well done by a smaller company.

[FFWALT]

Our department operates a Unruh grass rig on a F550 chassis, 350 gallons water and foam. It can be seen on our website: kvfd.net.
Overall the truck works well and I really like the concept. We did have a couple problems. The relay for the primer was located under drivers door and would trip any time we attempted to prime. We relocated it and upgraded to solve the problem.
There are two master switches, one for the chassis and one for everything Unruh did. That goes back to how the truck was spec'd, not blaming that on Unruh.
This one I do. When Unruh plumbed the foam system they plumbed everything coming off of the pump with foam, to include the pump to tank (recirculation) line! Stating that the recirculation line does not have foam is not something that requires being spec'd in my opinion. It goes back to basic pump operations and Unruh is supposedly made by fire fighters. Anytime you ran foam and had the pump recirculating the tank filled with foam. We approached Unruh about this several times and their answer was that we need to retrain our personnel to close the pump to tank when flowing foam and that a Darley pump could run for hours without moving water. This resulted in a BS flag being thrown.
Since Unruh wouldn't help us we re plumbed what was needed and now we have no problems.
They are definitely worth looking at but keep in mind you need to lay everything out and take nothing for granted. Of course, this applies with any builder and brand.
Good luck,
Walt

[Catch22]

We had good luck for the most part with our Unruh rig (the Purdy truck on their delivery page). Like with any other rig, there's some things we would have done different and have changed.

Our is on a GMC 5500 4x4, 400 gallon tank, Darley pump with remote panel in the cab, TFT Tornado monitor on the front bumper and remote stick in the cab, 10 kW Harrison hydraulic generator, and 2 Hannay HRT hose reels.

These guys were great to work with and came up with ways to get things done that we needed. An example is the compartment (left rear) where we wanted to put our 6 SCBA ISO wants for a "Service Company". They cut out a sheet of aluminum to fit, put some spacers on the back and threaded behind the panel to mount it. All we had to do was unbolt it, take it off, and mount the brackets.

We have had two issues. One was the line for the bumper turret came off. They sent us the parts and we fixed it in house. They had recieved a batch of bad parts (I can't even remember what it was that broke now) and were working their way through replacing them and hadn't gotten to us yet. The second was the fuel pump for the pump went out (it's piped into the trucks tank). Not their fault and we never even notified them, just replaced it.

The bigges thing I would have changed was the exhaust for our pump and the piping. The pump has just standard painted piping, I probably would spec stainless or something if I had it to do again. The exhaust wasn't plumbed high enough to put it above the body. That was a quick fix at a local muffler shop where he put on a chrome tip.

Overall, we're pleased as punch with it and their willingness to work with us. They were also considerably lower than anyone else on the bids, and were willing to build on the GMC chassis, where most didn't want to. They're definitely worth a look.

[ffmedic20]

Our department operates a Unruh grass rig on a F550 chassis, 350 gallons water and foam. It can be seen on our website: kvfd.net.
Overall the truck works well and I really like the concept. We did have a couple problems. The relay for the primer was located under drivers door and would trip any time we attempted to prime. We relocated it and upgraded to solve the problem.
There are two master switches, one for the chassis and one for everything Unruh did. That goes back to how the truck was spec'd, not blaming that on Unruh.
This one I do. When Unruh plumbed the foam system they plumbed everything coming off of the pump with foam, to include the pump to tank (recirculation) line! Stating that the recirculation line does not have foam is not something that requires being spec'd in my opinion. It goes back to basic pump operations and Unruh is supposedly made by fire fighters. Anytime you ran foam and had the pump recirculating the tank filled with foam. We approached Unruh about this several times and their answer was that we need to retrain our personnel to close the pump to tank when flowing foam and that a Darley pump could run for hours without moving water. This resulted in a BS flag being thrown.
Since Unruh wouldn't help us we re plumbed what was needed and now we have no problems.
They are definitely worth looking at but keep in mind you need to lay everything out and take nothing for granted. Of course, this applies with any builder and brand.
Good luck,
Walt

If you have an "around the pump" foam system on the skid unit, that is gonna happen. With an around the pump system, every discharge will get foam, including the pump to tank line. Sorry, but Unruh is right here. close your tank to pump when running your foam system. Is the foam system a "scotty" by chance? Note: i do NOT sell unruh and do NOT have any relationship with them.

[FFWALT]

ffmedic20,

It has a Foam Pro system I believe. We have foam on our other grass rigs without this problem. Of course when those foam systems were installed, one new and two conversions, the plumbing was done with the pump to tank outlet before the foam system. That way all the discharges were foam capable but we didn't foam the tank. This also allowed for the recirculation of water at all times to protect the pump.
In my part of the country that seems to be the norm so I assumed it was common sense. And I do know what happens when you assume. Fair question.

Walt.