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Ladder StorageThere are several options for ladder storage. They include a ladder rack nestled into the body, a ladder rack above the body, ladders hung on the side of the body, ladder hung on a side mount Zico ladder rack, a ladder box in the hosebed, or ladders through the tank. There are pros and cons to each choice for ladder storage and BME sales people need to assess multiple parameters on the truck when picking the appropriate ladder storage technique. Lets briefly discuss these options.
The ladder rack nestled into the body is nice because it does not increase the overall height of the truck but it often results in a bolt in hosebed side and significantly reduced hosebed capacity. The ladder rack above the body allows a larger hosebed but adds more than a foot to the overall height of the body. Also, you can get a single arm and a double arm ladder rack option. The single arm ladder rack takes up several cubic feet of what could have been compartment space, but the dual arm ladder rack is currently only available on trucks with pumphouses. Also, the dual arm ladder rack takes up more space than the single arm ladder rack. The advantages are that it has slightly increased capacity and the space it takes up is external and does not effect compartment cubic footage. Ladders hung on the side of the body are low and accessable and they don’t effect the height of the hosebed or the overall height of the truck but you have to have low side compartments on one side of the truck. This results in a truck with dramatically less compartment space. The Zico side mount ladder rack adds another level of convenience for this style of ladder storage but there is still dramatically less compartment space on trucks that take advantage of this option. Ladder in a box in the hosebed is another viable ladder storage option. This option does not reduce compartment space but it does tend to increase the height of the hosebed and therefore increase the overall height of the truck. It also reduces the hose storage capacity dramatically. The ladders end up being a little bit hard to access but the box is easily customizable to add other items like suction hose, trash hooks and pike poles. Ladders through the tank are often seen as a good approach because it’s not as costly as a ladder rack but it offers reasonable ladder access and you don’t have to lose compartment space. Unfortunately, this option has several drawbacks. The ladder tend to intrude into the pumphouse which can impact the ability to run plumbing and to install monitor and hosereels in the pumphouse. The ladder pocket also increases the height of the tank which, in turn, increases the height of the hosebed floor. The ladder pocket can also affect the depth of the foam tank and make it much more difficult to run foam lines and rear discharge pass through’s in the tank. |