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Truck ID. Help!!!

BigWheelBob

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Muskegon, Mi
Need some help here, I went down to the local DMV with my handy SF97, and they laughed. The gsa people had listed the year as 1111, and the body style as unknown. I need some help with the year, make, and what model to call the troop carrier. Sorry, but i am new to this, sorry for the headache. The vin is, 19207-7354276. Thanks, And if I can get some halp, I have 2 more trucks, I purchased at the same time.
 

Recovry4x4

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Bob, what mfr is it? This helps a bunch. Also a pic of the nose can help. Is it air shift? Spring seat? All these things can help narrow it down.
 

ken

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Look by the front shock on the pass side. A lot of them had the year stamped in the frame. You may need to remove paint.
 

BigWheelBob

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By the way, It is a spring seat, and air shift t-case. The tag on the engine has a date of 88, and so does the seat belts. The little tag in the left door jamb has a date of 90086. Means 86 I guess. It is the tag that says MWO.
 

Desert Rat

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BWB,
That MWO tag was put in when the seat belts were installed. The framerail by the front shock absorber on the passenger side of the truck has the VIN you need. Carefully chip away at the paint to remove the untold coats to gain access to the numbers. If you have a hard time reading them use a work glove, remove the dipstick and clean it with the glove and rub the oily glove on the numbers to make them easier to read.

Looks like your truck got caught in the crossfire of a white paint war!
 

Recovry4x4

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Both of my trucks have the VIN on the drivers side so it could be there. Is there a data plate on the dash? It's probably a 1970 or newer. The 1969 stuff had air shifts but not the spring seat. The headlight doors indicate it's 68 or newer as well.n I would start looking for ID tags on transfer case and axles to see if a date is present. It's almost certainly an AM General.
 

BigWheelBob

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There are no date plates on the dash, that would have been to easy. I will check the frame out today. What years did am general build these trucks? The white paint is because a fire dept almost got this truck, and started the body work. lol. Glad they didnt finish it. By the way, I am going to sell this truck. Any thoughts on a asking price? Have a good day all!!
 

Recovry4x4

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AM General started making them in 1971. It was American General in 70 I believe and most if not all trucks produced from the early nid 60s thru 69 were Kaiser Jeep. The headlight doors on your truck weren't produced until 68. The spring seats started showing up in 70 or 71.
 

Recovry4x4

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Does this truck have a brake idiot light in the center of the instrument panel? I know they still made new deuces in 1987. Maybe they did in 88 too.
 

Recovry4x4

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There we go! The newest I've had was a 1987 and it had the split brake system with the idiot light in the dash. 89 it is.
 

rflegal

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I keep hearing this rumor of a date code on the frame in front or behind the shock mount, passenger side. Well, I have yet to find it and I've just about stripped the whole framerail looking. Where is it hidding? Is it on the vertical of the framerail of maybe on the edge? What is the format, e.g. "15SEP75" for September 15th, 1975? What does one look like? Here's a pick of my ID from the drivers side. Near as I can figure, my rigs an early M36, REO gasser OA331, probably mid-50's to early 60's. No data plates, no tags on the axles, it almost looks like someone tried to cleanse the unit of ID. Can someone post a pic of a frame stamping so we know what we're lookin' for? I'm thinking when I get all this sorted out, I write up a tech page or something for newbies like me.

Bob
 

Recovry4x4

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Bob, I'm fairly well versed in the deuce but no authority. I've never seen a date stamp on a deuce frame. Not saying that they don't exist, just never heard of one or seen even a pic of one. The author of the second edition of the Standard Catalog of Military Vehicles is my friend, David Doyle. He has helped me before with dating deuces and he has never seen one either. I wouldn't put too much effort into finding it. If the data plates are gone off of the axles then go to the transmission and transfer case to see what you have. There is also a date stamp on the wheels (or at least most have this.) When all else fails, just assign it a date that looks suitable to you. Without data plates, it gets tough. Some of the older alxes even had what mfr used the axles such as Curtis Wright and so forth. Too bad they are missing. I had a 1952 M275 at one point. It was a Studebaker and had the serial number of M2752. Judging by the number of digits on your truck it was probably later in the 50s. I'll ask David if he is aware of the first year for the M36.
 

BigWheelBob

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Muskegon, Mi
Well, the other 2 trucks werenot as hard to ID. My firetruck has all the tags still on it, appears to be a 72, man is this truck super clean. The tanker has air shift t-case, no spring seat, must be a 70. So I guess I will call the troop carrier a 73. What would the military designations be for these 3 trucks? I am calling the GSA lady today, to get my paper work. Appreciate all the help!
 
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