Joe has a keen eye for
Jeep trucks and is
always on the look out
for his next big find.
Being a fan of
JeepTruck.com for
sometime now he
admits spending allot
of time on our site
which we are greatful
for. As luck would
have it Joe was able
to purchase this gem
which adorns these
pages. Follows is his
story:
Story by: Joe Angelino, Norwich, NY
Edited by: Mark Smith, JeepTruck.com
The truck was
purchased new by the
Maybrook, NY Fire
Department and put
into service as a
wild-land forest fire
truck [brush truck]. It
remained in service
with them until
approximately
2009-2010. I did NOT
get the "great deal"
buying the truck as
surplus from the F.D. I
bought it from the guy
who got the great deal.
The truck had about
19,000 miles on it when
it left the F.D.
The truck is almost completely stock with the exception of the fog lights on the bumper
and a Eldelbrock 4bbl carburetor. The truck has NO rust and was undercoated when new.
It also spent 28 years inside a heated F.D., rarely driven, but washed and maintained
weekly.
The truck was ordered as a heavy
3/4 ton, which was then the
equivalent of a 'camper special'.
Instead of 16 inch wheels, this
truck has 16.5 inch wheels. It
wasn't easy finding new 16.5
tires, but I found five in a
warehouse in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
This truck is my 4th
J-truck. I currently also
own a 1963 J-truck with a
Willys data plate and a
very low VIN number. In
the past I have owned a
1973 J4000 and 1979 J20.
I also had a 1979
Cherokee Chief with a
401ci.
I'm 54 years old
now, and since I
was 18, I have
owned continuously
some sort of vehicle
with a Jeep name,
mostly a slew of
CJ's. My wife
currently drives a
2012 Grand
Cherokee.
Specs:
Owner: Joseph Angelino
1982 Jeep J20
360ci V8
Auto trans with Quadra-Trac Full time 4X4
Radio delete
8400lb GVWR
VIN 1JTNA27Y5CTxxxxxx
Factory ordered Warn 8724 winch and
bumper w/Jeep data plate in place of
Warn data plate.
Right now the truck has
21,7xx miles on the
odometer. The truck carried
a 150 gallon water tank [1
gal water = 7lbs] so it
carried 1050 lbs of water. It
also had mounted in the bed
a gasoline powered pump
and 100ft of hose. With no
weight in the back this truck
rides like a buckboard - very
rough.
photo courtesy of Maybrook FD
Photo by Michael Prohira
Thanks Joe for sharing your story with our readers and for preserving these
great looking Jeep trucks for all of us to enjoy.