Pierce Truck Problems

[lcfdchief1]

I am wondering if anyone has had any problems with their new Pierce truck. I am having an issue with a very loud vibration noise from the pto/transmission. The biggest problem I have now is the pto manufacturer is stating their pto is working fine, and the transmission manufacturer is stating their transmission is working fine. I would appreciate any feedback.

[lvwrench]

We could use some more information reagrding the type of truck such as an aerial type or snozzle or whatever, trans type and PTO maker which I will assume is Chelsea. How is the shaft drive from the PTO to the , assumed hydraulic pump, unit?

[lcfdchief1]

The truck is new Pierce Lance with an Allison EVS 4000 P transmission. The pto is a Chelsea (not sure what model. The pto runs an Onan hydraulic generator.

[lvwrench]

OK, lets look at the drive shaft to from the PTO to the hydraulic drive motor and make sure it is timed correctly and that the u-joints are good. I would also be looking at the mounts for the generator to see what they are like; rubber or solid mount to see if it passing vibrations. Another area is the hydraulic motor pressure outputs and make sure there is no cavitation taking place.There will probably be a lot of noise when the thing is running that will be normal (sk).

[FWDbuff]

Rule Number One: There are no problems with Pierce's workmanship.

Rule Number Two: If there appears to be problems with Pierce's workmanship, refer to Rule Number One.

[Fire304]

I've seen a few cases of driveline vibration caused by the u-joints on the shaft not being in line. If the shaft is off by one spline it can create a huge vibration. Worse, if the shaft is 180 degrees out and there is an odd number of splines, it will look very close to being in alignment, enough to fool mechanics who don't pull the shaft to check it. I had a boat that ran two seasons with an unexplained shaft noise till I pulled the 2.5' long shaft and with it in a vise sighting down the top I could see the problem. I sent the shaft out to have is rebalanced, the splines were so beat from the vibrations it had to be tossed. Got the new shaft into the boat, old vibration gone, now we got a new one. This time turned out to be the thrust bearing on the tranny, you guessed it, beat to death by the out of line drive shaft. Fixed than and found the bearing on the drive unit was also circling the drain.

Long story short, small misalignment = major vibrations. Major vibrations break things.

[RFDACM]

Rule Number One: There are no problems with Pierce's workmanship.

Rule Number Two: If there appears to be problems with Pierce's workmanship, refer to Rule Number One.

LMAO!! I was scrolling down intending to remind Holly222 that the contract they bought their Peirce with says they can't say anything bad. Someone must have run to the bathroom when they passed out the Kool-Aid!

[Rescuechief72]

Nieghboring Company just recieved and placed into service a nice shiny new pierce less than a month ago.....It now has two cracks in the tank. I have not talked to the chief yet about this, but if I find out the exact cause or possible cause I will let ya know. this truck may have only ran 3-5 calls if that since going in service. They are still using their 2004 KME 1st out.

[toddmcbr]

I am wondering if anyone has had any problems with their new Pierce truck. I am having an issue with a very loud vibration noise from the pto/transmission. The biggest problem I have now is the pto manufacturer is stating their pto is working fine, and the transmission manufacturer is stating their transmission is working fine. I would appreciate any feedback.

To me this is a PIERCE problem. I would bet that if you go back and look through your Pierce Specs there is a paragraph in there about "Sole Source" or "Single Source". Therefore, they should be handeling this problem regardless whose problem it is.

If they're giving you the run around I would be interested to hear more about it. The whole goal should be to get your truck fixed and let Pierce and Allison or whoever worry about the money and warranty claims.

[aerialguy1]

To me this is a PIERCE problem. I would bet that if you go back and look through your Pierce Specs there is a paragraph in there about "Sole Source" or "Single Source". Therefore, they should be handeling this problem regardless whose problem it is.

If they're giving you the run around I would be interested to hear more about it. The whole goal should be to get your truck fixed and let Pierce and Allison or whoever worry about the money and warranty claims.

WELL DONE Toddmcbr..So much for Pierces single/sole source warranty claim they like to tout so much againest many of the competitors who don't make their own chassis's. Gee go figure!!

[Chauffeur6]

WELL DONE Toddmcbr..So much for Pierces single/sole source warranty claim they like to tout so much againest many of the competitors who don't make their own chassis's. Gee go figure!!

Calm down...it's a little premature to assume that Pierce gave anyone the runaround yet. We don't even know if they contacted Pierce, or if they tried to handle it with local mechanics contacting the component manufacturers directly. I'm certainly not saying Pierce is perfect (who is?), but often times the dealer is the weak link in the chain. They're either your best friend or your worst nightmare when it comes to getting results. We had a major problem with our Allison transmission on our tower ladder a few years ago, we called our dealer and within 2 days the truck was flatbedded to their service facility and the problem was rectified. No runaround, no hassle to us. When the truck was done, it was brought back to us. All we had to do was make 1 phone call and meet the guys to let them in the firehouse.

[Fire304]

So much for Pierces single/sole source warranty claim

It does not matter who makes the truck, some things must be fixed by the people who made the component, this includes engines, trannys, and PTO's, those items are just too complicated to be fixed by someone who is not a dedicated specialist (just as you wouldn't want a car mechanic to work on yourr pump). On occation there is friction between component suppliers, nobody wants to admit that it was their item which caused a failure. As someone who's had to deal with this a number of times I can honestly say most of the time its a non-issue once the local sub-vender(s) realises they are not paying for it.

[toddmcbr]

It does not matter who makes the truck, some things must be fixed by the people who made the component, this includes engines, trannys, and PTO's, those items are just too complicated to be fixed by someone who is not a dedicated specialist (just as you wouldn't want a car mechanic to work on yourr pump). On occation there is friction between component suppliers, nobody wants to admit that it was their item which caused a failure. As someone who's had to deal with this a number of times I can honestly say most of the time its a non-issue once the local sub-vender(s) realises they are not paying for it.

I agree with you 100%. My problem is that this is not what Pierce advertises in there specs. It says that they are the single source for warranty problems which in my mind means customer calls manufacturer and manufacturer takes care of the problem. If this is the case, the department should be making ONE phone call to Pierce and Pierce only.

Their big statement that they make is that chassis shall be manufactured in the same facility by the same company. Supposedly this is supposed to make it easier on warranty claims to prevent the chassis manufacturer from blaming the body manufacturer....vice versa

I'm not saying that is happening here. But I know its happening elsewhere because I have seen it first hand.

[Firefighter1244]

I agree with you 100%. My problem is that this is not what Pierce advertises in there specs. It says that they are the single source for warranty problems which in my mind means customer calls manufacturer and manufacturer takes care of the problem. If this is the case, the department should be making ONE phone call to Pierce and Pierce only.

Their big statement that they make is that chassis shall be manufactured in the same facility by the same company. Supposedly this is supposed to make it easier on warranty claims to prevent the chassis manufacturer from blaming the body manufacturer....vice versa

I'm not saying that is happening here. But I know its happening elsewhere because I have seen it first hand.

I DISAGREE w/you. They SHOULD NOT be calling Pierce....they SHOULD be calling their DEALER that sold them the apparatus! Do you call Chevy or Ford when your vehicle has issues??? No.....you contact the dealer that you bought it from!

We recently purchased a Pierce. We have had a few minor issues. We contact the dealer....the dealer handles it.....everyone is happy!

[kkasten]

We have a new enforcer that really vibrates like hell when it sits in idle. If I am sitting on scene for awhile I will actually throw it in hi idle to stop all the vibration. Does anyone else notice this?

[ecfr1978]

Is there any reason why you/your department does not engage the high idle after you arrive on scene, espeacially when the emergency lights are turned on? I know the trucks we use has a loadmaster that will automaticaly start reducing some of the electrcial load (i.e. A.C., some emergency lights) to avoid killing the batteries and alternator, therefore we use the High Idle to keep the RPMs up to keep the whole electrical system charged.

[jawsone]

we put an enforcer in service in 2001. it was speced as a rescue / pumper.(chiefs idea) spec comm sent all tool wieghts and size as well as all other info for compartments. keep in mind this truck replaced a midi pumper and full engine.
when the unit came in we mounted everything,and loaded the cribbing , rescue ropes ect. well within 2 days it leaned to the right. we called our dealer answer was duh,what ya mean. well the factory said we had to much wieght on it , to take some of the cribbing and tools off it. pierce said when it was speced , it would handle the wieght.
since then this pierce "o" **** has been in the shop more then on the road.
my volunteer co. purchased a contender about the same time and it to has had alot of problems.
needless to say there wont be anymore pierces around here. most are switching to seagraves. my volunteer co. just purchased two units from them and things are going good for now.
take care

[aerialguy1]

I DISAGREE w/you. They SHOULD NOT be calling Pierce....they SHOULD be calling their DEALER that sold them the apparatus! Do you call Chevy or Ford when your vehicle has issues??? No.....you contact the dealer that you bought it from!

We recently purchased a Pierce. We have had a few minor issues. We contact the dealer....the dealer handles it.....everyone is happy!

I would have assumed the FD would have in fact contacted the Dealer and or Pierce first before posting their problem here... So it would be great to hear from the originator if in fact they had called the Dealer and or Pierce and what the response was??

[Dave1983]

I agree with you 100%. My problem is that this is not what Pierce advertises in there specs. It says that they are the single source for warranty problems which in my mind means customer calls manufacturer and manufacturer takes care of the problem. If this is the case, the department should be making ONE phone call to Pierce and Pierce only.

Their big statement that they make is that chassis shall be manufactured in the same facility by the same company. Supposedly this is supposed to make it easier on warranty claims to prevent the chassis manufacturer from blaming the body manufacturer....vice versa

I'm not saying that is happening here. But I know its happening elsewhere because I have seen it first hand.

Well, weve recently had a problem with our Pierce quint. The problem was the motor (Detroit). We called our Pierce dealer, they called Detroit and the problem has been taken care of. One call from us to Pierce was all it took, as it should be.

Like another poster said, sometimes the dealer is the weak link.

[Bones42]

My sister company in town is awaiting it's fourth Pierce. So far they have been quality trucks and any issues they have had have been dealt with by the local dealer.