I am a new member that just purchased a 1948 F5 Marmon Herrington and am looking for assistance with the various codes. It appears there are codes on the front axle housing, the Ford tag in the glove box and the MH plate inside the cab. Who knows Marmon Herrington codes?

 

Welcome. The below 1951 M-H chart will help you sort out the info on the big plate located above your windshield. Your truck is in the M-H “R Series”, like mine and several others of us on the forum. Unlike others, your Ford F-5 model could be a M-H R5-4 model, or an R6-4 if it has a longer wheelbase. The Ford F-6 was in the M-H “V Series”.

The model codes on your Ford Serial number plate tell us the truck is a 1948 with the “R” indicating it has a V8 engine. On the other two digits I’m no help.

The info on your axle looks to have the manufacture date, but the other info I’m no help on. I have an archive of axle info on my R3-4/R32-4 trucks, but haven’t undertaken that on the bigger models.

The guy you’ll want to get to know is Chuck Mantiglia of Chucks Trucks in CT. He is the M-H guru. Stu

Chucks Trucks LLC., Chuck's Trucks, Chucks Trucks

 

Burlew, welcome to FTE the best Ford truck forum on the world wide Web!

Congrats on your new truck and congrats on finding FTE! Your truck looks pretty good. Was it an old brush truck firetruck? There are several guys here at FTE that are experts with the MH trucks and you've already met Stu, the most knowledgeable expert here.

Let us know where you're from and tell us more about your truck and it's history.

 

One other thing I’ll suggest Mike. Please do some Google time reading up on the wheels that are on your truck. The one we can see on the left front is today called a “widow maker”. Trade name is “Firestone RH-5°”. Probably they are all alike, and replacements in your future. Stu

 

Thanks for the spec. information. Are there any codes you know of that indicate a factory paint color?

This truck was used as a brush fire truck in Greenfield and Weldon Iowa. It now is at my shop located in Springfield, Missouri.

I am reaping the benefits from firefighters that have a reputation for taking excellent care of their equipment. The truck is in great shape for being 70 years old.

 

There should be a stamped series of digits and numbers in the center of the cowl. That gives build info and should have a color code iirc. I’m no good at sorting out these stampings so hope one of the others will help with what you find. The other thing I’ll add, it seems fire trucks were commonly resprayed by the company that did the fire apparatus installation. So your code might show something that got covered up right away. You might be ahead to look for color in hidden pockets inside the cab. Stu

 

The 8R8T model is F5 with 158" wb

If you find the stamping on the firewall/cowl I can decipher it for you. Not all trucks were stamped.

 

Fantastic find and in incredible shape by the looks of it. Welcome to the club.