Beacon Placement on Ambulance

James Fischer

PCS Member
My goal is as pictured:

I would like to mount 2 184's on the 72 Superior....:rolleyes:

My question first off is are there "set" positions of the beacons on the roof ??
or just where they look good ??

second question: Can i just splice off of the beacon that is already in the center of roof (it will be removed) for the 2nd beacon ??

The Q will be going on after I finish with the beacons.....

Please let me know your thoughts on this......thank you !!

bth_001-6_zps78cc02e3.jpg
 
I agree with Mike, they should be further out.

Make sure your wires are large enough to support the extra current draw. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about electrical engineering to know how large it would need to be.
 
One beacon to two

I replaced one with two on my MM Criterion. With those, the cut skirts pretty much indicated where they were placed. With your superior, I agree with the above comments. If you only have one zippered location, good luck!

I did take the incoming power and split it in both directions. You'll need to run a ground wire back to metal since your roof isn't metal.

Looking forward to seeing how it comes out!
Kev
 
beacon location

just like the pontiac in the pics. perfect, perfect, perfect. id still have a third but hey, thats me. to bad amber was a califonia requirement back in the day as i think its well, not red. question for ya, does california require you to run amber? i mean as a restored collector car do you have to or is it done to be authentic?
 
This is another front on shot of the 76. I echo the other comments of favoring them spaced toward the outer margins of the roof.
 

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Thank you all so far for your input.......so I guess there really is no "set" area....I will move them closer to the edges......
Since I asked about side to side,how about front to rear ??
 
just like the pontiac in the pics. perfect, perfect, perfect. id still have a third but hey, thats me. to bad amber was a califonia requirement back in the day as i think its well, not red. question for ya, does california require you to run amber? i mean as a restored collector car do you have to or is it done to be authentic?

Kyle,
From what I can remember from waaaay back in the 70's was that there was never a requirement for ambers......the only requirement was the "STEADY burning red",,,,you didnt even have to have any other lights....I remember in the early 80's ...the company I worked for built 3 GMC van(homemade)
ambulances...and none of them had ANY lights except the steady red Unity spot on the drivers side.....of course after 6-7 months they added lightbars when they could finaly afford them.....
As far as MY ambulance goes.....the red/amber is just the way that the 72 was with the first company I worked for....I will probably switch it back and forth with red.....:)
By the way,I know there were ambulances with lights in all 4 corners,Grimes etc,but
rigs with 3 beacons was pretty rare back then wasent it ??
I
 
Superior usually used 184-H (high skirt) beacons - trimmed to fit the roof corner contours - as seen in these photos:
 

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the nice part about the in service pictures that get posted is you get to see what the cars looked like when new. you discover looking at them that no matter how you dream up the light configuration some one else all ready did it.

but you might thing of putting a relay on those 184s. that will keep the switch for getting hot. 8 bulbs will draw a little current off one switch.
 
Flashing Amber

The only other (Post 1956) CA Regulation that went along with the at least ONE STEADY RED Front Facing Light was that any Emergency Vehicle had to have at least ONE FLASHING AMBER to the rear. No regulation on any front facing or revolving amber lights. MM
 
The only other (Post 1956) CA Regulation that went along with the at least ONE STEADY RED Front Facing Light was that any Emergency Vehicle had to have at least ONE FLASHING AMBER to the rear. No regulation on any front facing or revolving amber lights. MM

Yes,
Your correct Mike,I do remember the cheap looking amber in the rear !!
I didnt realize back then (I was only 18) that it was a requirement,I thought since they didnt put any other lights except the Unity red spot,that they wanted to be "safe" and put a cheap looking flasher on the rear.....
 
3 beacons

james, i think it was a by choice thing for lights. i know that if there was lights laying around the garage we would try to find some place to put them but 3 beacons was and is my choice. we ran 3 on non hightops as there was no tunnel lights and on these long empty roads you could be sure you could be seen as we might be the only ones there until we were gone. made many a call where we would notify sherriff what hosp. we went to as they didnt know were we went. and sometimes all people were taken and there was only wrecked cars. made one where the dispatcher told us the sherriff said to handcuff victim to the gurney till they got there. we carried em but just taped him to the hospitals gurney as we had to get back in territory. they cut him loose and he took off. not our problem but found out he was wanted for murder. look at richards lifeliner and to me that light placement i s perfect for his beacons. but im partial to 184's so there you go. like hill climbers to and ran em but on your car try putting two on the front corners and one 1/3 way back on the roof and look at em for a while. they look sharp to me but hey i dont own it(shucks) and my taste is mine and mine alone , good or bad.
 
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