My Mobile Work Shack-Dodge P/U
- Thread starter RodStrong
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too bad your cool post had to be marred up by discussions questioning your legality. people can't get over the fact that you have more toys than them. some folks need to take off their tinfoil hats from time to time.:roll:RodStrong said:
RodStrong said:
Your rig looks good...a little cramped, but functional. Never mind the whackers and tinfoil hat wearer's here, who are usually the first to call out legit posters such as yourself. No NMO CB antenna? I'd ditch that the fiberglass whip and get something better.
I would agree that the equipment could be installed better. There is a lot of wasted console space under that Toughbook.
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The picture of this truck reminds me of the truck I drove in my last position with the U.S. Forest Service. I was a forester by occupation and my job title was "front-country recreation supervisor." I was a field supervisor on one of the busiest Ranger Districts on any National Forest in the country, in fact, we had the highest amount of developed recreation site use of any entire National Forest on just one Ranger District of the Inyo National Forest, which had more than twice the developed recreation use of the number two National Forest. I also had six positions on my Incident Command System qualifications card ("red card"}, was an accident investigator, a personnel misconduct investigator, and a Forest Protection Officer (FPO). FPO's have limited law enforcement authority and do not carry standard defensive equipment, make arrests or car stops.
As my crew had campgrounds, picnic areas, interpretive sites, a couple of entrance stations, signs, gates, fences, roads, water systems, drainage and irrigation structures, and some trails to maintain I needed to carry a lot of tools and hardware. I had to carry every recreation and some fire cardboard posters and most of the common small signs we used. I had to be able to open every gate, building, and fee collection tube on the Ranger District. I needed enough cleaning supplies, tools, and water to clean large flush units and remote vault toilets beyond a water system. I had a total of 88 restroom buildings that my folks maintained. I had to carry cones, a couple of barricades, and signs to conduct traffic control at incidents and when gridlocked formed at our most popular destinations. I also had to carry enough wildland fire gear to respond to a fire and have enough water, food, clothing, and shelter to sustain me for several days. The same items allowed me to participate in hasty searches and the beginnings of large S & R ops. I had to perform extensive documentation of conditions in the field and did not have a laptop to use. I had to carry enough forms to complete my investigator jobs, a couple of cameras, write at least 50 tickets per day for a three day weekend when the office was closed, and be able to run the planning section of an incident for 3-5 days. I had a medium sized "T-card" rack with about 100 T-cards to run the resource unit, a good supply of all the ICS forms, and lots of office supplies and tools. I had to carry enough supplies to conduct rudimentary, impromptu briefings for higher management and politicos, i.e. dog and pony shows for mucky mucks, that I could be assigned to do without any notice. I had to I had to be able to conduct hazard tree examinations, calculate their volume, and mark them with paint as I might find them between my large and comprehensive examinations. I had to be able to cut down small hazard trees and remove logs and debris from blocked roadways. I could be dispatched to anywhere in the western U.S. with no notice and have to drive the truck to the assignment. I carried enough frequency information to be able to program my mobile, handheld, and a scanner for every public service agency in the 11 western states. I carried spare parts and programming cables to work on handhelds at an incident. I had snow shovels and winter clothing in the vehicle year long. I had to be able to have not only the truck mounted public address system but be able to take one portable as well. I made 3,000 to 5,000 individual contacts away from the Ranger Station annually. I was given a 1/2 ton short wheel base pickup for my use. I could not hang anymore tool boxes and racks on the vehicle due to running out of surfaces to do so.
I had some problems with overloading and headlights that needed adjustment due to the weight I was carrying. One day I had to take my pickup into the mechanic and have the mechanic, the fleet supervisor, and my supervisor go through the truck to review everything I carried. The conclusion was that everything I was carrying was essential to perform in the manner the management of the Forest expected me to. The suspension of the vehicle was then modified to bring the capacity of the vehicle up to just a little short of 2000 lbs. net weight.
My cab did not look nearly as busy as RodStrong's, of course I did not have any weapons on board. I did not mount or carry a ham radio in my rig as my brain could not absorb anymore input than the mobile and scanner were already giving me. I could actually carry a passenger most of the time if I stowed my lunch and water coolers in the bed of the truck. Your truck becomes an extension of you and not having it handicaps your performance greatly. When you work in remote areas you can't just run back to town or the station to pick up something you need when things happen and anything can and does happen. You are asked to wear a whole bunch of hats and many people are depending on you to do so. Wearing many hats requires a large and comprehensive hat rack!
As my crew had campgrounds, picnic areas, interpretive sites, a couple of entrance stations, signs, gates, fences, roads, water systems, drainage and irrigation structures, and some trails to maintain I needed to carry a lot of tools and hardware. I had to carry every recreation and some fire cardboard posters and most of the common small signs we used. I had to be able to open every gate, building, and fee collection tube on the Ranger District. I needed enough cleaning supplies, tools, and water to clean large flush units and remote vault toilets beyond a water system. I had a total of 88 restroom buildings that my folks maintained. I had to carry cones, a couple of barricades, and signs to conduct traffic control at incidents and when gridlocked formed at our most popular destinations. I also had to carry enough wildland fire gear to respond to a fire and have enough water, food, clothing, and shelter to sustain me for several days. The same items allowed me to participate in hasty searches and the beginnings of large S & R ops. I had to perform extensive documentation of conditions in the field and did not have a laptop to use. I had to carry enough forms to complete my investigator jobs, a couple of cameras, write at least 50 tickets per day for a three day weekend when the office was closed, and be able to run the planning section of an incident for 3-5 days. I had a medium sized "T-card" rack with about 100 T-cards to run the resource unit, a good supply of all the ICS forms, and lots of office supplies and tools. I had to carry enough supplies to conduct rudimentary, impromptu briefings for higher management and politicos, i.e. dog and pony shows for mucky mucks, that I could be assigned to do without any notice. I had to I had to be able to conduct hazard tree examinations, calculate their volume, and mark them with paint as I might find them between my large and comprehensive examinations. I had to be able to cut down small hazard trees and remove logs and debris from blocked roadways. I could be dispatched to anywhere in the western U.S. with no notice and have to drive the truck to the assignment. I carried enough frequency information to be able to program my mobile, handheld, and a scanner for every public service agency in the 11 western states. I carried spare parts and programming cables to work on handhelds at an incident. I had snow shovels and winter clothing in the vehicle year long. I had to be able to have not only the truck mounted public address system but be able to take one portable as well. I made 3,000 to 5,000 individual contacts away from the Ranger Station annually. I was given a 1/2 ton short wheel base pickup for my use. I could not hang anymore tool boxes and racks on the vehicle due to running out of surfaces to do so.
I had some problems with overloading and headlights that needed adjustment due to the weight I was carrying. One day I had to take my pickup into the mechanic and have the mechanic, the fleet supervisor, and my supervisor go through the truck to review everything I carried. The conclusion was that everything I was carrying was essential to perform in the manner the management of the Forest expected me to. The suspension of the vehicle was then modified to bring the capacity of the vehicle up to just a little short of 2000 lbs. net weight.
My cab did not look nearly as busy as RodStrong's, of course I did not have any weapons on board. I did not mount or carry a ham radio in my rig as my brain could not absorb anymore input than the mobile and scanner were already giving me. I could actually carry a passenger most of the time if I stowed my lunch and water coolers in the bed of the truck. Your truck becomes an extension of you and not having it handicaps your performance greatly. When you work in remote areas you can't just run back to town or the station to pick up something you need when things happen and anything can and does happen. You are asked to wear a whole bunch of hats and many people are depending on you to do so. Wearing many hats requires a large and comprehensive hat rack!
fireSAR
Member
Exsmokey said:
No, but we write a crap load of tickets and make alot more people mad. My truck had alot of stuff as well. I had tools to fix signs and such, my line bag and nomex, fire tools (pee packs) shovels and a chainsaw with fuel and spare chains. We had all the tools we needed for the day, even though it filled a standard cab of a truck, bed and tool box, i'm glad we had it when we needed it.
maybe its a good thing they didn't arm us
Thanks for some of the more positive posts today. I'll try to address some more comments. The shotgun is easy to get out, and it is more or less unobstructed. The AR is a bit harder to get out, but only because it won't release straight out due to the radio stack. It must be pulled out and up. However, the AR is short enough where that is not an issue. If the shotgun was on the other side, that would be a problem. I have to be careful with the tactical straps on both weapons however. I place them in the racks a certain way with the straps in a certain position so they will come out without getting hung up. But actually the maplight (which is not an additional install) is more of an issue of getting around than my radios. I probably shouldn't focus on a bunch of time constraints with the weapons, because actually, they both can be removed very quickly. The PSR 500 can be pushed off that rifle rack in a split second, and the way the power cord is laying free, I literally slide the scanner to the left (no unhooking or undoing anything) and it goes down on the seat with no problem. The way the PSR faces me is perfect for reading the screen, and ID'ing unknown talkgroups. As I said earlier, the PSR 500 will be replaced soon, hopefully with a PSR 600. I am hoping I can sweet talk our Fleet guys into professionally installing it along with the 8800r, and although the stack will probably remain, it will be a lot cleaner.
The air bags are not affected by the equipment. I would actually not be allowed to have it like it is if the airbags were compromised. As I said earlier, the truck looks jammed up more than it actually is. The photos don't do much justice for the depth, and the full patrol bag in the passenger seat adds to the stuffed effect. I have a quite a bit of other stuff in the cab that are not visible in the photos, such as radio chargers, hardline cell phone, on board camera, etc. I normally have a radar as well, but it is loaned out to a school Officer at the moment.
I rarely have passengers, unless I have a prisoner in the back. Viewers of the photos probably cannot tell, but the truck was purposely built with more room for the prisoner in the cage in the back than the front passenger has. The passenger seat is permanently pushed quite a bit forward. This adds to the cramped effect up front. It is actually uncomfortable for a normal sized person to sit in the front due to a lack of legroom. This was done on purpose when the truck was built because I am almost always alone in the backcountry, and sometimes it takes 1-2 hours or longer to get a prisoner to jail, depending on where I'm at. That's a long time to be riding in the back of a vehicle in handcuffs (especially in rough country), so the cage has more room for the prisoner's welfare. I am more likely to have a prisoner than a passenger anyway.
The reason for the dirty install is the progression over time of radios installed in it. The MCS2000 and the siren box are basically normal equipment in all of our cars. Everything else (CB, UHF, RS scanner, ham radio, XM stereo, and other stuff you can't see) are add ons. The stack next to the weapons originally consisted of the UHF and mobile scanner. The Yaesu was added after the fact, and I agree, it's not pretty, but you know what, it works. The problem is, all the radios in the truck other than the VHF are personally owned, and we to a large degree we are not supposed to even have personal equipment in our cars. My take is I'd rather have the gear in there and it not be pretty because generally my other option is to not have it at all. I cannot afford to pay a radio shop to professionally install my equipment, nor should I be expected to in this situation. Hell, I can't afford my equipment to begin with. But many of you know how that goes. I am fortunate to have a take home vehicle, but I have very little resources to try to put the equipment in. I will tell you I have used each one of those personally owned radios to save lives (even the CB) at no cost to the taxpayers, so I am at peace with it.
Thanks again for your comments.
The air bags are not affected by the equipment. I would actually not be allowed to have it like it is if the airbags were compromised. As I said earlier, the truck looks jammed up more than it actually is. The photos don't do much justice for the depth, and the full patrol bag in the passenger seat adds to the stuffed effect. I have a quite a bit of other stuff in the cab that are not visible in the photos, such as radio chargers, hardline cell phone, on board camera, etc. I normally have a radar as well, but it is loaned out to a school Officer at the moment.
I rarely have passengers, unless I have a prisoner in the back. Viewers of the photos probably cannot tell, but the truck was purposely built with more room for the prisoner in the cage in the back than the front passenger has. The passenger seat is permanently pushed quite a bit forward. This adds to the cramped effect up front. It is actually uncomfortable for a normal sized person to sit in the front due to a lack of legroom. This was done on purpose when the truck was built because I am almost always alone in the backcountry, and sometimes it takes 1-2 hours or longer to get a prisoner to jail, depending on where I'm at. That's a long time to be riding in the back of a vehicle in handcuffs (especially in rough country), so the cage has more room for the prisoner's welfare. I am more likely to have a prisoner than a passenger anyway.
The reason for the dirty install is the progression over time of radios installed in it. The MCS2000 and the siren box are basically normal equipment in all of our cars. Everything else (CB, UHF, RS scanner, ham radio, XM stereo, and other stuff you can't see) are add ons. The stack next to the weapons originally consisted of the UHF and mobile scanner. The Yaesu was added after the fact, and I agree, it's not pretty, but you know what, it works. The problem is, all the radios in the truck other than the VHF are personally owned, and we to a large degree we are not supposed to even have personal equipment in our cars. My take is I'd rather have the gear in there and it not be pretty because generally my other option is to not have it at all. I cannot afford to pay a radio shop to professionally install my equipment, nor should I be expected to in this situation. Hell, I can't afford my equipment to begin with. But many of you know how that goes. I am fortunate to have a take home vehicle, but I have very little resources to try to put the equipment in. I will tell you I have used each one of those personally owned radios to save lives (even the CB) at no cost to the taxpayers, so I am at peace with it.
Thanks again for your comments.
Nice setup Rod.
You work with what you have.
In California the Sheriff also has jurisdiction for Search and Rescue statewide, and the vehicles also have red/blue lights and weapons. They are still LE response vehicles.
Not that uncommon in the West, but apparently not common in the "fly over" states.
BTW weapon's mounts have never been an issue before with weapon removal under stress.
You work with what you have.
In California the Sheriff also has jurisdiction for Search and Rescue statewide, and the vehicles also have red/blue lights and weapons. They are still LE response vehicles.
Not that uncommon in the West, but apparently not common in the "fly over" states.
BTW weapon's mounts have never been an issue before with weapon removal under stress.
hoser147
Member
Good Post and Info Rod. As long as it functions for you I guess thats all that matters. its Just to Bad you cant post something like this without a couple of people acting Immature about everything. Its going a little overboard when people have to call around and try and stir crap with the authorities in your state. To Those people If you Cant get over it take it elsewhere, As we dont want to hear it.........Nice Post and Pics Thanks Hoser
I really enjoy the shack pics section of RR. I have seen some great setups and a few that some might think not so great. But I am always happy to see what folks with a passion for monitoring have. I like the guy who is proud of his beat up scanner with a hanger for an antenna just as much as the hardcore types with the fancy setups. We should all support each other with a humble understanding that we all share the same hobby. It's harder to love than it is to hate, but being hateful hurts us all.
Again, thanks for the positive comments.
Again, thanks for the positive comments.
RodStrong said:
And you can still use the rear seat for a passenger if a prisoner is not there.
W9NES
Member
Nice Truck
firetaz834
Member
Rod:
Nice outfit, and the last picture will end all the debating as to you being a Law Enforcement officer. I enjoyed the pics and your detailing the background behind the equipment. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Hope you have a good and safe holiday.
Nice outfit, and the last picture will end all the debating as to you being a Law Enforcement officer. I enjoyed the pics and your detailing the background behind the equipment. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Hope you have a good and safe holiday.
fireSAR
Member
WOW! what a nice rig. if you put a luggage rack on the hard cove, you'll have a place to carry prisoners.
Rod, nice looking setup but as others have said, a bit of "mare's nest".
In general, I want to comment that I just deleted 18 posts in this thread that had nothing to do with the topic at hand. If you are subscribed to this thread and no longer see some post you remember putting here, keep your fingers off the keyboard.
Specifically W9NES and pddispatcher:
I am tired of your bickering, take it somewhere else and mind your own business.
In general, I want to comment that I just deleted 18 posts in this thread that had nothing to do with the topic at hand. If you are subscribed to this thread and no longer see some post you remember putting here, keep your fingers off the keyboard.
Specifically W9NES and pddispatcher:
I am tired of your bickering, take it somewhere else and mind your own business.
RADIOGUY2002
Member
Public Saftey
Rod, you really take on the concept of public saftey and do it right. I can even began to imagine what its like to be with out a radio on me. I feel so bear, just one tool missing could mean the difference of lifetime for any true public saftey position such as yours. Do not get me wrong people, any missing tool could hurt in any field it just holds more value when youur out in the hills and have limited time to get it or have it brought to you. Is their any high power light beams on the rig or high lighting solutions on their, just kinda curious.
Rod, you really take on the concept of public saftey and do it right. I can even began to imagine what its like to be with out a radio on me. I feel so bear, just one tool missing could mean the difference of lifetime for any true public saftey position such as yours. Do not get me wrong people, any missing tool could hurt in any field it just holds more value when youur out in the hills and have limited time to get it or have it brought to you. Is their any high power light beams on the rig or high lighting solutions on their, just kinda curious.
hoser147
Member
Nice Job Lou you cleaned it up very well. and Rod thanks for sharing the whole picture......Hoser
RADIOGUY2002 said:
Hard to see in the last pic, but below the red and blue flashers on the push bumper, there are two white flood lights. These really help light up the roadway or trails, and really help out with traffic stops. These lights also serve as wig wags when running hot, which is a unique variation from using high beam headlights. This was done because our Fleet guys didn't feel like the high beams of the Dodge provided ample wig wag output.
The only extra lighting up top is the floodlight in front of the light bar. Those lights actually have two bulbs. They work great, although they are gawdy looking compared to traditional spotlights in my opinion. Our Fleet guys chose not to install a traditional spotlight because they were concerned with hull integrity from drilling into the door frame. The lower level of the light bar is LED (except the take downs, alley lights, and intersection sweeps), so the light bar is a combo halogen/LED. There are red and blue front facing LEDs that can be set to remain steady on (for traffic stops or other functions), and those LEDs in steady on mode alone are also very bright and provide a bright blast to the front as well.
There is also a winch hidden inside the front bumper. I have a 60inch HiLift jack and just about every accessory for it imaginable (again, at my own expense) in the back, along with lots of heavy duty chain. The attached pic of my previous take home rig crashed in the mud prompted me to do some shopping.
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BigC801
Member
I think it looks great, be carefull out there.
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