Acela Truck Company, a leader in high-mobility truck chassis manufacturing, is introducing its new Acela Straya four-wheel drive, high mobility, cab-over, 19,500# GVWR truck chassis in North America. The Straya is the first ever purpose-built wildland/urban interface fire truck chassis. Its cab-over design and military-grade performance offers best-in-class maneuverability and visibility and off-highway capabilities for use in the most demanding work environments.
Based on the extraordinarily reliable Isuzu NRR base cab and chassis, and inspired by Isuzu Australia’s 4×4 fire truck fleets, Acela Truck Company has leveraged its vast defense vehicle experience to incorporate military vehicle components and capabilities with Isuzu’s best-in-class chassis to create the Acela Straya for on- and extreme off-highway firefighting applications.
The new Acela Straya is equipped with Meritor 3000 Series axles, featuring many of the same field-proven US Army axle components currently in production on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), as well as Driver-Controlled Differential Lockers (DCDL) and 41-inch military tires. It is the only commercial vehicle chassis in North America with available onboard Central Tire Inflation System (CTIS), a driver-controlled push-button capability that adjusts tire pressures on demand from 95 to 17 PSI – a feature almost exclusively reserved for military tactical vehicles, allowing the Straya to be driven on-highway and off-highway through sandy, swampy, snowy, steep, washboard and other challenging terrain. The lower tire pressure selection allows the Straya to mimic tracked vehicle performance, providing otherwise unachievable access through the most extreme terrain.
“The Straya is by far the most capable wildland truck chassis available in North America, building out our portfolio and complementing the high-performance offering of our existing extreme duty 4×4 and 6×6, Class 6 through 8 Acela Monterra models,” stated David Ronsen, president of Acela Truck Company, “The Straya was designed primarily to provide high-mobility performance for operations in the wildland/urban interface, high water/flood rescue, as well as utility, oil & gas, pipeline, mining and border patrol operations, providing access that fleet operators have only been able to dream of until now.”
The Straya will be available in single- and crew-cab configurations in multiple wheelbases and provides 19.6 inches of ground clearance and up to 41 inches of water fording capability, making it well suited for high water/flood rescue applications as well. The cab-over design offers the best “chassis frame real estate-to-wheelbase” ratio, enhanced driver visibility and an extremely small turning radius of 49.9 feet (on 150-inch wheelbase with a 12 to 13-foot body), providing maximum maneuverability and significantly differentiating it from other truck chassis. The Straya seats up to seven people with multiple seating options available to suit almost any application.