CAD drawings for specs??

[Ledebuhr1]

Has anyone hired someone to do a CAD drawing of a detail that you wanted on a truck? For example you might want a pump panel laid out in a certain way, or a front bumper designed in a certain way. It is not always easy to say what you want in words.
Sometimes even a simple sketch could be enough to make sure you get what you want

[chiefengineer11]

We have a career guy who might be able to do that. He has a computer library containing just about anything you can imagine. That includes cabs, compartments and tools.

His tool library contains just about every tool there is with dimensions and weight. You give him compartment dimensions and what you want to carry and he will lay it out for you. If you're spec'ing a vehicle and don't have your dimensions worked out yet, so much the better. Tell him what you want to carry and he'll give you recommendations on what size your compartments need to be to carry it all. If you want roll out shelves, he has them in his library, too.

I haven't seen him do a pump panel. That might be better left to the truck builder. I would imagine that you can have input with most builders. When Toyne made their preliminary pitch to us, their wheelbase was too long because of their pump panel layout. We gave them the parameters that we needed to hold and a couple of suggestions about what we were looking for and what would be acceptable. They came back to us with a layout that was about as nice as anything I've seen. It shortened the wheelbase by 14 inches.

After they got the contract we visited them for our pre-construction conference. They showed us a three dimensional layout on their computer. They were able to show us that everything will be accessible and the controls will function well.

I've done some rearranging on both of our current engines. I had a crude hand drawing how I would do the new one. But after seeing what they could do, I'm happy to tell them what we need and let the rest to them.

Stay safe out there, everyone goes home!

[taskforce16]

Pump panel layouts

When writing your specs, you could add a paragraph that a approval drawing for the pump panel is required. That way you can design the layout or try to get to match a existing unit. Also including reference pictures of a pump panel layout that you like would be helpful to the bidders. This way you can already show them what you want. Good luck.