Sadly I do have all these references already of the later more complex fire bodies.
FYI - those photos are of a later model with the mid-ships mounted water pump. (Fully enclosed behind the cab.) These were more mechanically complex and the pump area cut into the tank space thereby reducing the amount of water that could be carried.
I figured you did. Maybe others will/can use them.
In the absence of any other references for the rear, I would set it up similar to the 2nd and 3rd pics.
Speaking of water capacity carried:
Some time back I had already modified the venerable old Italeri Water Truck with extra plumbing to function as an auxiliary water tender to bring extra water supply to a fire call.
You would run a large supply hose from the water tender output to that large input fitting on the front of the Darley pump to give the on-site fire crew a much “deeper drink of water” for fighting a fire.
Note plumbing and brass hose fittings added just behind and below the cab.
I weathered this truck far too much to be usable in any self-respecting fire company. It really should be very “spit and polish!” More like that seen below:
These military style auxiliary fire trucks and water tenders went on, post war, to be donated to any number of US based rural fire companies, to be used when fighting a fire out beyond the city water hydrant system.
And of course the Darley pump with a large hose could also be used to draw up water out of a farm pond as well.
Robin to the rescue. This is from the site he linked to and appears to be the version you are building.
OK, Robin: Now we are talking! Thank You !
Heavy, you too!
No need. That rear view has already altered (perhaps upset) some of my construction plans.
Michael, be careful what you ask for - you just might get it!
At the risk of going overboard here:
And I honestly don’t think I am . . .
This multi part cab construction that MiniArt has come up with here just might be the most brilliant design scheme ever invented for this genre of softskin model!
As seen here you can easily form a front half and back half of the cab, allowing you to; for the first time, properly install, paint and detail the complete cab interior BEFORE assembly! And again the two halves nestle nicely together so there should be none of the usual hassle with the final assembly.
And that nicely done dash,
(Seen here in base paint only. Gauge decals are provided)
And now the reverse angle on the view screen, if you please, Mr. Data:
I do wish MiniArt had done just a bit more sculpting to the cab seats. Not too much, but just the slightest hint of a butt print to show some small degree of texture and usage.
I scraped my #11 hobby knife blade across the driver’s seat area to give at least some hint of distressing. (Robin I have now tried using the back side of the knife blade as you suggested but honestly that worked too well and cut too deeply! Same with using it to remove the molding lines - it took off too much plastic.)
Note on the new Discourse Software:
I assume everyone already knows that if you click on a particular photo in a post it will expand to a full screen image and also give you the option of “walking through” all the other photos seen in that one post?
Just an FYI
I see you weren’t kidding about the leaf springs, hangers and U bolts. Those springs really finely molded and downright delicate, not to mention the lever shock absorbers.
Yes, one of the leaf springs broke even before coming off the sprue. And for me some of those long “U” bolts broke just handling them once off the sprue.
Still in the end I think the high quality and fine detailing results are worth all the extra pain & effort.
Hi Mike, what are you planning for the extra overload leaf spring that the fire truck chassis should have?
Bark, do you know for a fact the fire truck had overload springs? The ton and a half cargo truck did not, so I was not planning on adding them. I am not doubting you here, just wondering if your question stems from some reference you might have that I am not aware of?
I am guessing about a 150-200 gallon water tank x 8 lbs./gal. = 1600 lbs. Then the rear fire box and hoses weighing in at around 1200 lbs. So that totals 2800 lbs. which is just below the truck’s suggested max. load capacity of 3000 lbs.
I have no problem building the overload springs if necessary. Have done it a number of times with various Opel Blitz trucks (that unless of very early wartime production) all had overload springs even though they do not appear on any number of popular current day models.
Bussing-Nag
As to you young pups being more used to “clicking on stuff to see what it does:” ~ be careful or you may go blind!
I was raised in a Mac world where needed functions are more clearly intuitive and do not need to be endlessly searched for. Also most all Mac based applications tend to use THE SAME function keys and short cuts in their operation so searching is much less a necessity on a Mac.
So it is my plan, from time to time going forward, to share some of this “operational” information with we poor, lowly “ole folks” (and also some of the NEW folks) among us.
From the online rebuilds I’ve seen, yes some of the class 325 at least had 'em, as did the tractor unit. Can’t say about the 135 crash tenders (haven’t seen one getting restored) but I’d assume so as the load is much the same. A cargo truck might occasionally reach its max load, but a fire truck was at that max pretty much all the time.
Understatement of the century 
Jimbo
You got that right!
For years I had PC users in my office horrified that I was running my own “Disk First Aid” or “De-fragging” the hard drive on my Mac without waiting for the resident IT person to arrive.
You have heard the saying “the language we use governs how we think” now apply that statement to Bill Gates and the entire MS programming structure. In my view Gates is at the very least a highly nefarious individual and at worst someone who should have never been born!
The Chevy fire truck was at or just below it’s factory rated load capacity. Which when compared to the load rating and actual usage of the Deuce and a Half would appear to have been a highly conservative number.
Also the firetruck may have been operating at speed but that was also (usually) for only short distances over flat ground (military airports) and in the hands of an experienced, qualified driver/fire fighter.
However if I find that this fire truck had overload/booster springs I will certainly add them!
p.s. As to speed I would be more concerned over the loaded vehicle’s cornering abilities rather than its’ load carrying capacity. And for that the dual wheel rear tires widened the rear wheel track giving it a lower vehicle center of gravity, more or less solving any/most possible cornering concerns.
16500 pounds represents the GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) this is NOT its’ load carrying capacity but rather the total weight of the base vehicle PLUS the maximum recommended full legal load.
And this still doesn’t answer the question of having overload springs (Y/N?) so keep searching if you feel you must.
Also I suspect these numbers posted here are incorrect as a 7551 chassis weight plus a 3000 pound load weight only equals 10551 and not 16500. But maybe that is where the overload springs come into play??? We still don’t yet have an answer here.
Also asking a set of overload springs to carry an additional THREE TONS is a bit much. The Opel Blitz later added overload springs and it only raised its’ load rating from 3 tons to 4.
Bark or Robin can you provide a photo showing the size and arrangement of the Chevy overload springs? Again not doublting you guys, just skeptical (as usual) and now trying to prepare for what looks like it might be an inevitable scratch addition to my build.
Tire pressure? 
