RIP Ford E-Series

firefite said:
I love our ford E series (the only type we have).

The sprinters are too tall and top heavy for the winds we face in the desert.
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Are they actually though, or is that just a common perception? My 2010 Ford/Marquee type II ambulance is 108 inches tall and the Sprinter's website shows the high roof variant (what is used for ambulance conversions) to be 110.8 inches tall. I can't imagine that makes much of a difference.

Also if anything an E-Series Type II is going to be more top heavy heavy given the massive fiberglass topper on top. As an aside, if I am ever in a rollover in an ambulance, I would like to be in a vehicle with the same roof on it that it had when delivered from the factory, like the Sprinter's.
 
About time, those things handle pretty bad in rough conditions. When it snows, our Econoline Van doesn't leave the building. Ours is from 1994, so it's a miracle it runs in great shape. But I wouldn't trust it in the snow or floods. I'd leave the F150s to that job.

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firefite said:
I love our ford E series (the only type we have).

The sprinters are too tall and top heavy for the winds we face in the desert.
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Less top heavy than an E-Series.

A couple of weeks ago some Mercedes reps and engineers set up a driving a course for some of our field medics and mechanics. They put a couple hundred pounds of water high in the back of the truck and let the employees take it on a driving course. Even with high cornering speeds they couldnt get the trucks to get tippy. The chassis is set up very well and the electonics do a great job keeping it upright. More safety features than the Fords and no more taller.

Get one with the dual rear wheels and it will be even more stable.
 
Talking to crews who have the Sprinters (none in my area), the only positive thing I have heard from them is that they are taller on the inside so you can stand up straight (not an issue for me since I can already stand straight in the Fords).

Apparently (according to them) they have governs at around 82mph and the sirens are not as loud as the ones on their ford units.

Guess i'll see what management decides to do in the future.
 
A governor at 82 is a bad thing?!?
 
usalsfyre said:
A governor at 82 is a bad thing?!?
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No and yes. No because safety, and obviously no one should be going that fast. Yes when you are 60+ miles away from a call and loose your compliance levels along with get fined for not making it in time.
 
firefite said:
No and yes. No because safety, and obviously no one should be going that fast. Yes when you are 60+ miles away from a call and loose your compliance levels along with get fined for not making it in time.
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That's why that's written into contracts, to keep the company honest and ensure there's enough trucks on the road.

Asking crews to imitate low flying aircraft to shore up your compliance levels is poor form.
 
usalsfyre said:
That's why that's written into contracts, to keep the company honest and ensure there's enough trucks on the road.

Asking crews to imitate low flying aircraft to shore up your compliance levels is poor form.
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Yep. But for the company its cheaper to get some fines instead of having more units on the road.
 
And let me guess, y'all get crap if you cause the fines?

EMS "management" at it's finest :rolleyes:.
 
usalsfyre said:
And let me guess, y'all get crap if you cause the fines?

EMS "management" at it's finest :rolleyes:.
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Not for single incidents. If we are late to all of our calls then they look at where we were responding from and to and then decide if they wanna chew us out about it.
 
The laws of physics still apply at or above 82 miles per hour, and I urge you, the fines or adding trucks are both cheaper than replacing a truck or paying the increased insurance premiums when one rolls over down the highway.
 
usalsfyre said:
A governor at 82 is a bad thing?!?
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No kidding. We have a limit of 77mph running emergent and 70mph non emergent. The RSI system keeps us in line with that.

I'm pretty sure ours went faster than 82mph before the limits were put in the system though.

I just can't see a reason to drive a vehicle like an ambulance that fast and why so many people think its neccesary.


Sent from my electronic overbearing life controller
 
I can distinctly remember making it from Children's Dallas to Lindale, Texas (100 miles roughly) in about an hour and ten minutes, driving a teal E350 type III, back when I was young and stupid.

I can't comment on the Sprinter, I've never worked in one. But I can't imagine why any company wouldn't limit their trucks to around 80, especially when it usually only takes a software change.
 
usalsfyre said:
That's why that's written into contracts, to keep the company honest and ensure there's enough trucks on the road.

Asking crews to imitate low flying aircraft to shore up your compliance levels is poor form.
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Also, our coverage area is about 100 miles east west and 50 or so north south.
 
shfd739 said:
No kidding. We have a limit of 77mph running emergent and 70mph non emergent. The RSI system keeps us in line with that.

I'm pretty sure ours went faster than 82mph before the limits were put in the system though.

I just can't see a reason to drive a vehicle like an ambulance that fast and why so many people think its neccesary.


Sent from my electronic overbearing life controller
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So we should drive slower than the speed limit that the state deems safe under normal weather and traffic conditions? Again interstate is now 85 MPH.
 
That speed limit is generally designed around passenger cars.
 
usalsfyre said:
That speed limit is generally designed around passenger cars.
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This^^^

Im willing to bet that trucks have a lower speed limit.

Its one thing to be going 85mph in say, my wife's Mazda CX7 with it's sports suspension, turbo and fat tires..It's a whole nother thing to do it in a 8k+lb ambulance with a patient and partner in the back. At those speeds if something happens and you have to stop or avoid anything it will not be pretty.

Some of these trucks have 80ish mph limits from the factory due to the tires not being rated for speeds higher than that. Get in the desert or summer heat running a tire at the limit of it's speed rating and it will not last for long.

When I was a new, young and dumb EMT I volunteered for a service that had no speed policy. We found the limiter of an E450 Wheeled Coach a few times and looking back we're lucky that nothing happened.
 
shfd739 said:
This^^^

Im willing to bet that trucks have a lower speed limit.
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And you just lost. You can send the cash to...................

You say you are from Texas, I guess you decided to ignore the new laws that went into effect Sept 1. There is no longer separate truck speed or a lower night speed and many areas of interstate as well as state highways have seen an increase in speed limit.
 
medic417 said:
And you just lost. You can send the cash to...................

You say you are from Texas, I guess you decided to ignore the new laws that went into effect Sept 1. There is no longer separate truck speed or a lower night speed and many areas of interstate as well as state highways have seen an increase in speed limit.
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I havnt ignored anything. Ours crews are still limited to 70 and 77 no matter what the sign says.


Sent from my electronic overbearing life controller
 
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