I don't have my books in front of me, but say a 2-ton Art Deco has a 16,000 GVW. In the fire service, at least back in the '50s, water & tank were considered together at 10 lbs. per gallon, so a 500 gallon tank is 5000 lbs. Add maybe 1500 lbs. for 1000 feet of hose (back then, hose was heavier, I'm guesstimating 75 lbs./50-foot section).
Then, the fire body/running boards, sheet metal and wood in the hose bed - what, maybe 1500 lbs? And a 500-gpm pump is gonna run north of 500 lbs.
Add 500 lbs. of extra equipment for good measure (ladders, appliances, maybe a portable pump or generator).
I get around 9000 lbs.
So what is the weight of a 6400 cab & chassis? Is it 7000 lbs.?
To Crenwelge's point, a tandem axle also works against itself by adding a lot more weight, yes? I wonder if weight-over-the-axle also plays a role. In that era, you can't fit much more tank on a single axle, I would think. A taller tank lessens stability, so you'd probably rather make it longer, which pushes the weight further aft.
Get's sorta interesting. And they still wrestle with it. Had a fire truck flip here in Missouri a couple months back. Think it was a Pierce Tandem.
-Michael
