I didn't even think about it, but i cut up my old frame and tossed it in the trash back in '01. And it just so happens that there's not a VIN tag to be found. I heard this is the place to decode VIN's since everything online says our ****s too old. I found a guy on eBay that sells repop tags and will stamp them, but I'm missing the date and the DSO number on my CA registration card. Can anybody help? VIN F10J8L12064
I got WB at 110, Color R, Date ???, Trans A, Axle 01, GVW 3500 (or is this 5000?), Net HP 126, RPM 4000, DSO ????

 

Welcome to FTE. I guess you can pick any date you want. If your truck was made on March 18, it would say C18. Looking at the unit number of 12064, March might be a good guess as there were about 21,000 style sides made in 1958 and that would put you about in the middle of the production run. As for a D.S.O., Domestic Special Order, leave blank unless you know it was ordered "Special", some feature about it, and then you would have to make up a number as there are not any surviving records for DSO,s!
Got any pics of that thing?

 

Thank you and glad to be here. What's the expression - first time caller, long time listener?
I appreciate the response. Would the DMV records show the date? TBH I haven't really been concerned with not having a tag until recently. Do you know of any site that does a Marti Report for pre-66?
Pics of the truck? I thought I put one on the profile pic...guess it didn't show up

 

I bought one of those VIN reports from a place like Carfax, and it was pretty useless for my '58. I think you already have all of the information that you're going to get.

 

So your VIN decodes as

F10 - series F100
J - engine code 223 6 cylinder
8 - 1958
L - Long Beach CA assembly plant
12064 - consecutive unit number

Unit numbers started a 10001, so yours is pretty early truck, 2064 orders in. They weren't build in vin order exactly, but probably wasn't too far off. I found an old thread decoding a 58 that may shed some light on your date. Yours is earlier than the one in the thread listed as built January 8. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...in-decode.html You would have to find Long Beach built trucks and compare numbers to narrow down an accurate date.

Being built in Long Beach, it could have been ordered from any district sales office (DSO) on the west coast. All records are destroyed for Ford vehicles before 1967, so whatever number you want to make up for a DSO, no one will know the difference.

 

Well that is some really good information. Much appreciated!! I think I'll run with that same date. One thing I have noticed on other VIN tags is GVW is 5,000, but on my CA reg, the truck is listed at 3,500. Were they all 5000 GVW?

 

Good info Wayne.

 

The truck's maximum gross vehicle weight rating, GVWR, was 5000 pounds. The weight of the truck plus payload. I would think 3500 pounds would be pretty close to the actual weight of the truck. Either someone made a mistake at the dmv or it was never licensed to haul anything. Typically trucks have a weight tax based on payload capacity, and the gvwr.