Ford F-150/F-250: VIN Decoder
You don't have to be a Freemason or Tom Hanks in the Da Vinci Code to decode something. We'll help you feel like a true detective by teaching you how to decode your vehicle's identification number.
This article applies to the Ford F-150 (2004-2014) and F-250, F-350 Super Duty (2005-2014).
Each American automobile manufacturer generates a unique 17 character vehicle identification number (VIN) distinguishing each vehicle from another. Ford F-150 and Super Duty VIN has alphanumeric characters which when decoded show the country of manufacturer, manufacturer, specifications like brakes type, class, safety, and trim, the year of manufacture, assembly factory, and sequence. This walk-through will assist Ford truck owners decode their VINs to get down to its nitty gritty details. Ford Motor Company has an online resource that helps Ford model owners learn how to decode their VIN for free. That is a better option that having to pay at least $10 to many online VIN decoders.
Step 1 - Locate the VIN on your truck
The Ford F-150 VIN can be located on the windshield on the driver’s side dashboard or door plate below the strike pin. You can also find your VIN on the build sheet, a white sticker on the crossbar in trunk on the driver’s side. The VIN is also located on the rain tray in the engine bay under the back water deflector on the passenger’s side. Lastly, for 1988 to 1993 models, the VIN can be found on the clipper kit, hood and trunk lid.
Step 2 - Decode the VIN
Once the VIN is located, write it on a plain paper and begin decoding. For example, a typical VIN for a Ford truck can follow this format: 1FT-L-P62-W-4-X-H-128703. The number 1 in 1FT is the code of the country of manufacturer, in this case the United States, and FT stands for the model, Ford Truck.
L shows the truck’s specifications like the brake type, class and carrying capacity which for L it ranges from 14,001-16,000 pounds.
P62 shows the trucks line, series, and body type. Body type can be the style side whose bed is flush to the front cab or flare side whose bed’s wheel guard protrudes outside. It may also indicate if the truck is a regular cab (one cab room) or super cab (two cab rooms).
W indicates the engine type. In this case, the engine type is 4.6 liters and 8 cylinder engines for F-150 and F-250 Ford models.
4 (also known as the "check digit") is a randomly-generated compulsory number for all North American manufactured vehicles Ford F150 trucks included. This is calculated from the other numbers in the VIN.
X which in position 10 in the VIN indicates the model year. In this case, X represents the year 1999.
H in the eleventh position represents the assembly plant in Lorain, Ohio.
128703 in positions 12 to 17 in the VIN indicates the production sequence number of Ford models churned at a particular time of assembly.
Pro Tip
For any Ford model the most credible resource to be updated on any change on VIN sequence and codes is on their VIN decoder page, on their website.
