VIN Tags

[Merle Coggins]

Does anyone have a good picture of the VIN tag on a 3/4 ton truck? Mine was missing and I have a new one from Vintage Power Wagons.

I need to know what numbers to put in the Gross Vehcle Weight spot and in the Horsepower space.

Thanks,

Merle

[Dennis_MN]

Merle,

I'll run out to the garage and take a picture of mine in just a minute but first I have a question.

What makes you think you have a 3/4 ton. According to the Don Bunn Book, the C had a 116 wheel base. You clearly have a 108 wb.

My previous owner also thought it was a 3/4 ton from the tires, the overload springs and the 4 speed trannie. My vin tag is correct and has it as a B1B

Dennis

[Merle Coggins]

Thanks Dennis,

2 things make me pretty sure it's a 3/4 ton truck. The 116" wheel base (according to my tape measure) and the Serial Number 83360295

When I bought mine I thought it was a 1/2 ton, because that's how it was listed in the add. But once I started going through some things I found otherwise.

From http://www.t137.com/registry/help/decode.php

Serial Number 83360295

Year 1950

Make Dodge

Model B-2-C

Engine 217.76 Flathead Six

Wheelbase 116

Rating 3/4 Ton

Engineering Code T174

Plant Detroit, Michigan

Build Number 20295

[Dennis_MN]

Yours sure didn't look like a 116 wheelbase.... so I guess items in this vin plate will be invalid for yours ....

first block is Serial Number 82108097

Next is model B 1 B 108

Next is gross weight mine is 4850

Next is Engine Horse Power 82 at 1200 RPM

I would think only the hp and rpm would be the same.

Dennis

[Merle Coggins]

Thanks, that helps.

In my service manual it shows the 1/2 ton rating at 4850 lbs and the 3/4 ton at 5500 lbs. Your data confirms that's the number I need.

Also, the RPM number looks more like 3200 to me. That would make more sense too.

[Allen I.]

I can take a pic of mine later if you still want it.

[Merle Coggins]

Thanks Allen, I think I'm getting it figured out. I was looking around on the DPETCA site, looking at different documents in the Pilot Knowledge section I found that the 1/2 &b 3/4 ton trucks with the 218 were rated at 95 H.P @ 3600 RPM. But this differes considerable from Dennis' tag. Then another "Salesman's Model Book" for '51 shows the 218 CID Certified Gross H.P at 97 @ 3600 RPM and the Certified Net H.P. at 86 @ 3600 RPM.

I figure that the engines got a slight H.P boost in '51. So by my deductions, I figure the '48 -'50 218 CID engines at 82 H.P @ 3200 RPM (Net) and 95 H.P. @ 3600 RPM (Gross)

Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Merle

[townwagon]

Merle,

From a truck at Jacks:

83344182

B-2-C-116

5500 GVW

82 HP

3600 RPM

in SD:

83356926

B-2-C-116

5800

82

3600

Another in SD

83353992

B-2-C-116

5800

3600

82

Another in SD

83356568

B-2-C-116

5800

3600

82

Another:

83353438

B-2-C-116

5800

3600

82

I have more, and pictures of all of these tags. Be aware that many of the 1950 trucks use a tag with white paint instead of the black paint like the 1948-49, and 1951-53 trucks.

E-mail me, and I will send you pictures if you need them. All of the tags I checked were B-2-C-116, dashes between all the items, not B2-C-116 or some variation like I have seen on other trucks. I can not answer why one of the tags is a 5500 GVW, and the rest are 5800, but I triple checked the tags, that is what they read.

Nice work on the truck, it looks great! I will have to stop by and check it out sometime.

Eric

[Dodgeb4ya]

The Data and factory books state a different horsepower rating as in "gross"/SAE/or "MAX" instead of Net (95 Net hp ) as on the truck data tag.

Take a look at Wikipedia and you will see a description of all the different ratings. Sales literature usually pumped up the horse power ratings by showing a different calculated horse power #. Helped sales I suppose!

Bob

[townwagon]

Merle,

I went through my pictures and found images of Eight B-2-C-116 tags, 2 were 5500 GVW, and the other 6 were 5800 GVW. The two earliest trucks at 83344182 and before were 5500, and the 6 later trucks at 83348819 and later were all 5800.

I do not know if there was a change by Dodge, or that it is just random chance that the early trucks were both ordered lighter.

I was surprised to find that 4 of those trucks were in WI junkyards, maybe they were more popular here?

Eric

[Merle Coggins]

Thanks guys. It's all good info. Especially the collected data from townwagon.

I messed up when I was stamping numbers into the new plate, so I'll have to order up another one from VPW. I'll be more carefull next time.

The replacements from VPW aren't perfect duplicates. Their earlier model tags have the data spaces that seem correct, but the logo on the far left has the older Dodge Brothers logo. The later models tag has the correct logo, but has an extra horsepower data space. One for Gross HP and one for Net HP. I've not seen this on any Pilot House tags. Maybe the Power Wagon tags were slightly different.

Either way, that's what I'll use, with the good data from you guys. I'll just have to wait until I get a new tag.

Merle

[townwagon]

Merle,

I checked my parts book, and I found a different rear spring listed for some of the early serial numbers. I am guessing that other rear spring is the cause of the lower GVW.

E-mail me your VIN and I will see where it falls.

Look at this page:

http://t137.com/registry/help/vinpage/vinpage.htm

As you can see the tag changed in 1951, the tags were the same across the line, PWs were the same as everything else.

There were some subtle changes to the tag in the 1948-50 era, if you are interested I can show you examples.

Eric

[Mike Perrin]

This thread has given me pretty good information but I'd like to further verify what I actually have. I bought a truck as a 1953 1-1/2 ton Dodge and the tag receipt says that also. The Model number plate is gone and the truck was never titled as it came from Alabama where titles were not required until 1975 and later vehicles. The VIN on the frame is 82838774 and according to the url listed earlier in this thread that falls in 1953 but as a 2 ton truck and model B-4-B. This truck also has a 2 speed rear axle which I thought always carried an "A" to designate so. Is there any way to take the VIN I have and send it to Chrysler and find out for sure what this is? Mike

PS, This is likely the finest sorce of information I have ever found on vehicles. Thank you guys for being here!

[Merle Coggins]

Yup, the charts show your serial number as a 1953 B-4-J 2 Ton truck. The VIN tag may have shown it as B-4-JA-***, with the *** indicating the wheel base. The chart shows possibilities of 128", 140", 152", 170", and 212" wheel bases.

There was a thread a while back regarding decoding build sheets. You can get a copy of your truck's build sheet from the Chrysler Historical Society. Search this forum for a thread on VIN Decoding for that info.

Merle

[Mike Perrin]

Thank you Sir! If I can get someone here to post the info from an existing 2 ton truck (gvw, horse power @*** rpm, etc) then I believe I will get a new Model tag from the Vintage Power Wagon site listed above in the first post and put a tag on this truck. I actually have an old Model plate someone gave me years ago off an older 1947 one ton truck but it is useless for this 2 ton I have now. It is curious though that the older 1947 tag has the "DB" emlem in what looks like a star of David super imposed over a worl map logo on the left of the model plate. This bears no resemblance to the logo shown in the plate shown on this thread. I wonder why the change?

Again, Thanks for the information and if anyone has a 2 ton I'd like to know the specs from the Model plate so I can replace my missing one using my own serial number. Mike

[Mike Perrin]

And it is a 152" wheel base. It was a propane gas delivery truck once upon a time and still has the pto controls for the pump mounted into the dash and under the cab. It now has an old aftermarket stake bed on it and was retired from being a hay truck on a farm. Thanks, Mike