Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I Bought A Firetruck

geckodesigns.kinja.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 284 posts

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#61

Post by SoftwareMaven »

mikeash wrote: post #53
newbie12 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be pissed to be his neighbor. The firetruck spews dirty exhaust, is unsafe if there are kids running around, and definitely is an eyesore. Even though there's no HOA he is probably running afoul of city or county zoning rules...you shouldn't be able to park large work trucks in residential neighborhoods.

What makes the truck more unsafe around children than e.g. a Ford Explorer or similar?

If nothing else, the fact that it would attract children, whereas I've seen few kids who are interested in playing on (versus in) the Ford Explorer.

It also would have far worse visibility than a Ford Explorer.

That said, I don't think it is an argument for whether he should be "allowed" to have the truck or not. If there was evidence that people with large truck always hurt kids, perhaps; but I don't think that evidence exists.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#62

Post by sharkweek »

Swizec wrote: post #48
jeffdavis wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone wrote about their experiences travelling the world, would you make a similar criticism? After all, they are flying, which causes a lot of extra carbon emissions. Or is the fire truck particularly bad for some reason?

As a European I don't understand the american fascination with impractically fhuge cars for every day commuting. Okay I get it, you want a big car for that roadtrip or vacation. Understandable, I do too. But for everyday stuff? My hatchback does perfectly fine around town ... hell, it does perfectly well on most vacations and long drives too.

I've got a Toyota 4Runner, perfectly capable of moving people and towing a trailer on rare occasions. It also comes in really handy when we do our Costco grocery shopping.

For the "everyday" commute, I'm proudly on the bus and noticing as of late that this is getting more and more common with younger age groups who want to live in urban areas, where mass transit is most convenient. I would bet this trend continues for the next few decades in the United States.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#63

Post by mikeash »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #61
mikeash wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes the truck more unsafe around children than e.g. a Ford Explorer or similar?

If nothing else, the fact that it would attract children, whereas I've seen few kids who are interested in playing on (versus in ) the Ford Explorer. It also would have far worse visibility than a Ford Explorer. That said, I don't think it is an argument for whether he should be "allowed" to have the truck or not. If there was evidence that people with large truck always hurt kids, perhaps; but I don't think that evi…

Attracting children is a good one I hadn't thought of.

As for visibility, I think that probably cancels out with a responsible driver. The fact that it's harder to drive will engender additional caution, for probably no major net change in danger, assuming he can avoid getting so used to the thing that he gets sloppy.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#66

Post by thezach »

newbie12 wrote: post #41
gph wrote: post #32

That's pretty cool, as a toy. Too bad he doesn't seem to have any use for it in that capacity. Don't know if I can agree with him driving it on routine trips around town. Not only because of the extra gas consumption and CO2, but it also takes up a lot more room on the road, and it's a lot slower on acceleration wasting everyone's time behind him. When someone has a purpose for having a huge truck on the road you tol…

I'd be pissed to be his neighbor. The firetruck spews dirty exhaust, is unsafe if there are kids running around, and definitely is an eyesore. Even though there's no HOA he is probably running afoul of city or county zoning rules...you shouldn't be able to park large work trucks in residential neighborhoods.

then watch your kids like a parent should

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#67

Post by tdicola »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #13

I've always thought that an old firetruck would make a much better RV conversion platform than an old bus. The reasoning is that a firetruck (especially a pumper truck) has a suspension that is designed to carry much more weight than a bus so you would not be as constrained in what you could build on top of it. Jay Leno did an excellent column about how amazing fire trucks are in terms of durability. The OP said that…

It would be a neat one-off RV, but the cost of removing all the fire truck bits and building a living area would likely exceed just starting from a van or bus and beefing up the springs.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#68

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #13

I've always thought that an old firetruck would make a much better RV conversion platform than an old bus. The reasoning is that a firetruck (especially a pumper truck) has a suspension that is designed to carry much more weight than a bus so you would not be as constrained in what you could build on top of it. Jay Leno did an excellent column about how amazing fire trucks are in terms of durability. The OP said that…

My bus/RV conversion weighs about 18 tons. It has 6 ton front axle and in the rear it has an 11 ton and an additional 6 or 8 ton axle. While a fire truck has a ridiculously strong suspension, if you used that for an RV, you would get a punishing amount of vibration and shaking. I guess you could ballast it, but you'll waste a lot of fuel hauling ballast around, in addition to being dangerously underpowered in some situations. I think that a fire truck is not a good candidate for an RV conversion, unless you have a very specific definition of "Recreation" in mind.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#69

Post by teuobk »

Hooray for firetrucks! Back in undergrad, my fraternity owned two firetrucks, and for about a year I was in charge of them. One was a 1940s ladder (with an open cab and still-functioning ladder), and the other was a 1960s engine (closed cab with still-working pumps). Tons of fun to drive around campus... except for the time I clipped a parked car with the engine. Oops!

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#70

Post by thezach »

herpaderp wrote: post #7

WHAT AN AMAZING STORY ABOUT HACKING! Seriously, HN needs to see if there is a service out there that spams these type of sites with these horribly uninteresting reddit/digg/boingboing/hurrderp stories.

I think its very interesting... and to be honest it is hacking in a way... not just in the technical way you want it to be.
Post reply on HN