mrt23 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I bought a 1980 Model R, bill of sale only, no title, (risky I realize but I did it anyways). The trooper will come inspect the vin and issue me a title is the way it should work, but I can not locate the cab vin tag. It is not on the driver's door like I have seen on similar trucks. I have located the 13 digit vin on the frame and a non-vin tag on the cab. Is my vin tag supposed to be on the driver's door? I see factory mounting holes but no sign of there ever being a vin tag there, at least not in a long time. What does that other tag on my cab mean? It does not seem to have any correspondence to the vin number. Where do I go to decode my vin number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 The FS is a F model, 685 is a 237 engine, LST is lightweight, six wheel tractor m, T is for tractor, that cab tag is believe body number? Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeH Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 You say you bought an R model? Your VIN on the frame says otherwise. Terry is spot on. Last 5 digits means it's the 31744th truck built on that VIN sequence. Not sure if the cab tag is a serial number or just a cab model part number. My trucks all have the same tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67RModel Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 (edited) Looks like there is another digit after the 31744 on the frame rail....looks to be an "8" in smaller font. Edited January 29 by 67RModel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70mackMB Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Welcome to BMT mrt23 You need to post a picture (more the better) of your truck so we can see what you bought. An R or an F model. .....Hippy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 what appears to be a F might be an R not fully printed ???? even the S's don't seem to be strongly stamped ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 possible a glider kit with numbers hand stamped. even the distance between figures looks spread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 2 hours ago, mechohaulic said: possible a glider kit with numbers hand stamped. even the distance between figures looks spread. But didn't glider kits come stamped with a K in the seriel number? terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrt23 Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 I'm new to the Mack world. I guess I don't know what model it is, I thought it looked like an R just from googling, but I guess not. Here is a pic. Thanks for you guys' input so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrt23 Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Here is the door. I don't see a vin tag. Should there be one here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1961H67 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 It’s a R Model ( Western) that should make you a good dump truck . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 The glider kits that I've seen had, GK, in the vin.. just tossing that out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Looks like a RS model, maybe the F is a misstamped R 🤷♀️ But it seems like I have seen some RS models with that dark interior. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freightrain Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Id say RS685LST. The first letter just kinda didn't get stamped fully. Aren't the tags on the passenger door? Quote Larry 1959 B61 Liv'n Large...................... Charter member of the "MACK PACK" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladislav Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 No, I'm afraid the things are more complicated. Although Eastern R's and F's (sorry for one more long story typed) had different style of the chassis rails RS was Western Hayward built model. And it rode on constant section "straight" rails front to rear. FS were also Western models. And they were also built using straight rails. So my guess is someone modified FS (cabover) into conventional RS we can see on the picture. And while doing that the cab tag was eliminated. Or just lost in action. The stamping on the chassis looks quite factory. No digits after the last "4", that's a dog Mack put in the front and after the chassis stamping starting from a certain year. So if nobody restamped the rail that's a chassis off Western Mack model FS cabover truck. Ok, "lightweight six wheel tractor". The tag on the cab in the door opening is the cab number I belive. Cab model was indicated shorter, two letters and two digits. I just have no idea though who can identify that cab's origin by that number. Vlad Quote Никогда не бывает слишком много грузовиков! leversole 11.2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackaholic Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Contact the Mack museum and request the build sheets. The western built sheets I have seen from Hayward have serial numbers that appear to be in order as the trucks came out of the factory(or as they were ordered?) with RS and FS models appearing as sequential numbers. I could be wrong but I believe there will only be one built sheet with the serial number 31744 and it will show whether it's an FS or RS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrt23 Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 At this point I am more concerned about not finding the vin tag on the door. I fear that the state trooper will not issue me a title without having a cab vin. Is it such a thing it would have not came with one, or is it straight up missing/removed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67RModel Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Honestly If I was Johnny Law I would trust the VIN stamped into the frame rails to be the actual VIN of the vehicle. So long as that matches what is on the title what's the problem? I ran into this issue exporting a truck once. Door had been changed and the VIN the port people were looking at didn't match what was on the title and bill of sale. The dock workers initially refused to load the truck onto the boat. A bunch of phone calls later had them looking at the frame rail and all was good. It wass partially my fault for shipping the truck without removing that door tag. The door had clearly been changed. The cab, hood, and passenger door was white the drivers door was blue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackaholic Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 If you're really concerned there are some reproduction door tags available on ebay. See below. Not sure if this is the correct one for 1980. There are others as well. Stamp the correct numbers matching the frame and away you go. State troopers should know to look at the stamped frame number, not a tag that can be unscrewed on a door or seat riser. But there are some..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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