Month Five-Parts

Belts, hoses, bulbs, switches, brake lines, brake cylinders, brake pads, fluids,etc. all need to be checked. My truck is a '68 model. In my opinion the fire department that had it in service last did a great job at maintenance. However, in order to take the truck down the road with my grandchildren aboard I had to make sure. When you get into belts and hoses check out the Gates web site(http://gates.com/. They have a parts locator section that is helpful. Don't be surprised that your hoses, etc. are no longer manufactured. At that point Gates will be even more important. Usually they will accept an email picture of you hose,etc and from that they may be able to match up a replacement item. If you take a picture, always put something next to the item so as to give them some perspective of your item. I have found a long neck beer bottle to be the best. Plus if the person you are dealing with doesn't have any knowledge of a long neck beer bottle, you don't need to be dealing with them. Also when dealing with ebay sellers I always ask them to send me additional pictures with a "lnbb" beside the item if I have doubts as to its dimensions. Outside of ebay you may be at a disadvantage in finding replacement part unless you can find an independent auto parts supplier. Most of the current franchise auto parts stores rely almost solely on computer images. Most times their data base only goes back to 1985. Also they have little references for "big" rigs. Few franchise stores have "hard copy" books and even fewer will let you research what you are looking for. Some older NAPA stores still have "books" but these stores are far and few. If you are lucky, you may find an independent store that has manual resources. I was lucky. There is a local independent parts store that has a 30 foot wall lined with books. If you cannot find such a parts store you are going to have a hard time. Whenever you go looking for a part take the old part with you. Ms. Epting has found parts for me simply by looking at the old part and matching it up with images and measurements in her books. There are a couple of web sites that have helpful links: they are Chesapeake Antique Fire Apparatus Association(http://www.cafaa.net/) and Society for the Preservation & Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America (http://www.spaamfaa.org/. Like a lot of people I purchased my first truck before I did my homework. After I bought the first truck I changed my email address to beentook2 to remind me daily of my mistake. By the time I got up enough courage to get the second truck I had pretty well found most of the rocks whereby I could navigate the stream without drowning or getting my feet too wet.