Hello im picking up a what I thought was a 56 f 500 tomorrow morning come to find out it is a 1955 by vin - it is a dump truck, and not too bad of shape for a old farm truck sitting for years

so far I have figure out what I believe to be correct from the vin is this
f50 = f500
v = OHV = 239 V8
5 =1955
a =- assembled Atlanta
11924 number off line?
14000 gvw 154"wb 113.5hp at 3600rpm.
4syn= 4 speed synchronized
rear axe 6.2 ? not sure i understand that one it is a two speed rear i think
color U = meadow green

it also say 26l I do not know what that means
then the production code 1118b not sure what that is either

any help on the 26l and the axle? and do i have the rest correct particularly year, in g we have no title on this old so we have to make the bill of sale correct thank you!


here is pic of vin tag

 

Welcome to FTE, the best Ford Truck Forum on the world wide Web and to the world of Ford trucks.

You have done a great job on decoding the data tag. It looks like you do not have a 2 speed rear. On 2 speed rear trucks the data plate would have a smaller number then a / then a bigger number. Two speed rears were standard on F600s and optional on F500s.

Rear axle of 6.2, I think it would read 6.20.

I don't know what 26L means.

The production code will tell you what day it was made. I don't remember off the top of my head what the code is but someone else will help you.

 

Thank you
there is a switch on the shifter so I just assumed it was a designation for the 2 speed rear
perhaps it was optioned this way

 

That looks like a 2 speed shifter to me!

Oh, by the way, you have to show us several pictures of the truck, inside and out. And I love the color of your truck! Ha ha!

 

yup rust is a color <grin> all kidding aside meadow green is one of the colors I like on the big truck, but now my wife has realized its a 55 and she seems to think everything 55 should be a hollywood green (hd color<g>)

BTW I need to find the VON on the frame to see if it matches, i have to look and see where it might be at

the roof of the truck has some dents on top which IMO is the worst of it, (hardest to me to repair) I have a front shot, at least the fenders are not all rusted out ill need door glass

and I do not like the wheels (split in half type) so if all goes wel, ill try to find "better" replacements for it
I think the truck had pretty low miles but was a farm truck for a long time so its got dents and dings

 

A 2 speed rear will have a box on it near where the driveshaft connects in to change gears. It's possible one has been swapped in or maybe the switch does something related to it being a dump truck.


The Vin on the frame... mine was located on the top passenger side, near the firewall. I was only able to see it once I took the fender off. Yours might be located elsewhere.



One thought I do have... that color on the front is no where near meadow green. Maybe Waterfall blue or faded Aquatone Blue. My truck was repainted at the factory from Light Meadow Green to Meadow Green (I know that's confusing, so light green to dark green) and the original light green is still there under it all. Unless someone stripped it to the bare metal to repaint it, it makes me wonder about that VIN tag.

This is Meadow Green:





Between that and the 2-speed button, I can't help but suspect that's not the original VIN plate. Granted they come off with a couple screws and thus can go missing easy enough, doesn't mean it's stolen if that's the case, not when it's 60 years old. Just something to be aware of.

 

See the picture below.

The vin is most likely to be found somewhere in box "A". Some '53s, mine included, it is located in box "B", but I don't think it was there on the '55s.

They are typically not stamped very deep, so be careful cleaning away the rust and grime. You don't want to grind the numbers off.

 

About your color. Sometimes the man on the data plate stamping machine made mistakes. My 54 has R for the color code. Code R in 54 is Vermillion red. My truck was bought by my grandfather new so I knew it was Meadow Green. I saw no signs of red up under the dash or other hidden places that a repaint would not cover.

I found out that R in 53 was meadow Green.... so the operator used the previous years code when he punched my data plate. So that could be your case. But look under the dash or behind the ashtray for any signs of Meadow Green.

 

under the paint by the door jambs looks to be meadow green, we noticed it today, where the paint is peeling,

it was a job getting it home the right front wheel locked going forward, last time truck was tagged was in '11 I think,

 

thanks, there is definitely fender above that area, I looked best I could today while we were loading it up

 

..

that could definfitly be the color under the peeling im seeing, it was a long day and raining getting it loaded up and a 3 hour drive back

but it is here, ill play with it some next week

 

it was some work getting it loaded today, the right front wheel locked up solid, but we had no choice to try and get her up on the trailer, after some time trying to get her loose thinking a brake shoe locked, I finally drove it on the trailer it was raining so it just slid that front tire up the metal ramps, it broke loose and rolled a bit, backed up fine.

anyhow, I did not notice yesterday but the darn thing has two different lug patterns 5 on front 6 on rear

I only took a couple pics, we were soaked and it ws still a long drive home






Truck actually runs pretty good, it needs a lot but the dump worked fine, start up (although a tad rough idle but stays running) there is more rust than I thought looking at it closer, but I like it, might have bit off more than i could chew and not sure it is worthy of a real restoration, but I think ill clean her up and see how decent of a paint job she can handle unless I find some real bad rust hidden - left window finished it self off and right one took some more damage on trip here but I think I can get side glass reasonable, windshields isnt broken, now to get the wife to drive it HAHAHAHA - kidding for now, its a project but im going to give her a go over good in the next couple weeks and make a decision on what to really do with her, in the mean time, ill have a working dump truck for the little things i do here

 

Oh awesome, looking forward to more pictures and seeing your plans for it! The difference in lug nut pattern might lean towards the rear being swapped.

Mine locked up the rear tire when being loaded onto the trailer. Ain't that fun?

 

btw I did get the registration in the fellows name and bill of sale I bought it from with vin I on it, dont think it was ever stolen since it was registered here

 

yup, it was, ill admit I wish it wasnt raining when we got it, had to fool with her a bit to get it running (put gas in her, battery (then battery died) swap battery (fellow let me use one of his) take battery back out ect ect you get the point, it was just run over drive it on and leave, anyhow I think the rain actually made it better to load it up with a front locked wheel, it let it slide a bit easier <g>

oh almost forgot there was bird nest in the corner of the glove box didn't find any rats though <g> im scared to take the cover off the seats and see how bad they really are though <g>