Cabovers

We do have fire trucks that are on standard commercial chassis.

It used to be that most custom fire apparatus usually had the engine in the back of the cab between the jump seats in an enclosure. Most recent designs have moved the engine to the traditional cabover location between the front seats.

 

in europe situation with fire trucks is :

they are based on normal trucks, with several modifications, most of brands dont offer crewcabs but those are aftermarket conversions , either fiberglass or metal for heavy trucks,light trucks are available with crewcab almost at every brand


scania make crewcabs for a long time, some even back in 60s, volvo started to offer them last year.

scania have lot of fire truck market mostly because of cab, and i would say together with mercedes dominate market around world

cab is being built by Laxa special vehicles which used to be scania plant, private since 1999 , scania have some 30%, shares

cab are built from unused parts, it is not conversion like other do(cut and extend), but they make cab from sheets , of course they use as many as possible of standard parts which are shared with normal cab range , for example rear wall of cab is from conventional T series which are discontinued , rear doors too,

those cabs are well protected against rust (unlike scania chassis) so this ensure long lifetime which is usually expected from fire truck.

they were in 8different hot zinc baths , ( normal cabs just cold zinc spray at line)

conversion cabs tend to rust after some time




so this is very interesting to me about US fire trucks, if independent manufacturers find a way to build them.

but big brands dont find a reason to build one, market for this is very small for sure, but could find a way to sell them for some applications

especially since most of US manufacturers have something in common with EU brands, they could borrow cab

 

here is what scania offer,


CP28 , low placed cab, entry at 1160mm(3ft 9.5in) front and 1220mm(4ft) rear (depending on chassis height)
it come with 2seats in front, and 4 seats on bench at rear , available up to 450hp in europe and 460hp at export markets,
engine tunnel is only on front section of cab, 460mm high 18inch high( very high for our standards)


at rear floor is flat


and there is water drain on floor, so this keep things simple


Scania offer several types of bench ,basic come only with seat bench


medium is same only with backrest,

lexury have seatbelts


Rear bench storage
Fixed
Storage compartment under the bench accessible by raising the Seat squab.


Storage with lid
The storage compartment under the bench has roll fronts on the left and right-hand side.


Rear roof shelf
An extra roof shelf at the front of the crew area. The roof shelf has a two-door compartment.




Pump area ,
Adaptation in the rear of the cab to enable the fitting of pumps.


you can get also driveshaft tunnel if needed



Additional Air Conditioning
An extra evaporator for the rear roof is connected to the front system. The air is distributed through four louvers in the roof cover.



more interior photos





it is available with high roof, called CP28H gives 1720mm of standing height -Laxa SV use this truck to transport cabs to Scania plant





crewcab is available with foldable steeps, or extra step if truck is AWD

 

CP31 , is 300mm (1ft) longer, it have space for 2 more seats placed opposite,




like this military version




easiest way to differ them is by side window ( does not have to be glass but shell)





it is available with high roof as well (+240mm)







scania crewcab it is available on many different chassis types, from 4x2,4x4,6x2,6x2*4,6x4,6x4*4,6x6,...... until some special variants like this

8x4*4 (*4 means rear steer tag)



8x4 with extra axle distance between front 2axles, to help weight distribution


AWD versions are available with engines up to 550hp mainly for aircraft crash tender





It is available for different tasks not just fire application ,

for example this one is ski wax truck , now in Canada team, it is unique because of high topline roof, it have several sleeper bunks inside



for service or lube truck in mines,




they use them in car towing service, in military trucks, in driving school trucks....



Laxa has built several special CR crewcabs , they are 310mm higher on chassis than CP

this is CR31, two of these are mounted on R164G 580 trucks, they are airport fire trucks at Zurich , trucks were 6x4 at beginning as scania did not offered than 6x6 with more than 420hp, they have Allison 4700 gearbox, and zf vg2700 transfer box







this is R480 with CR28 crew cab , in Australia, they have to use R cab instead of P because some driveshaft that powers pump could not fit inside P




And this is R730 8x8 , with CR31H cab, it is largest crewcab you can get

 

Sorry can't let this classic thread go......

Anyway I saw this truck working today.......




88 k100 with the 110" cab....(I think)

 

About 2 years ago I came across a Kijiji ad for a '57 Kenworth cabover for $7500 bucks. I didn't have space for it at the time but I really wish I did. That would've been a sweet rebuild project.

 

Brazilian evolution of Actros Mp3, i dont like way it looks like, look much cheaper than original version, also use cheap type of universal round headlights.

But most interesting thing to me is it use straight 6 engine, OM460LA ( MBE4000) 460 and 510Hp,

I wonder how did they fit it inside, as this truck from its begining was available only with V engines.
Any idea Pavel?



https://www.mercedes-benz.com.br/in...oes-de-transporte-do-vito-a-nova-linha-actros

 

unusual truck!)

 

Can see the Brazilian influence as in this VW.

 

new parts looks very cheap, especially headlights which are consisted as VW from cheap universal round lights.

I head brazilian people are disappointed, as they were expecting new actros , which is way too expensive for them