I have been told that there are more than one locations in which VIN and other vehicle information is stamped or tagged. Can anyone point me towards all the locations? The title for my truck says 1982 but nothing about it represents that year.

Also, any VIN decoding information would be helpful. Cheers.

 

For future reference, search and you shall find (install of posting threads like this). I knew of a web page that had the VIN decoder details but I never booked marked it. Did a google search and found these

Try these links:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ToyVIN.shtml

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Vehicle...yota/VIN_Codes

http://www.motoverse.com/tools/vin/toyota.asp


Google is your friend...

 

http://members.iinet.net.au/~stepho/newcodes.htm

http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/t...ion-18588.html

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ToyVIN.shtml

http://www.toyotareference.com/truck/1979-1983

on my 80, driverside door jam, passenger inside front fender, passengerside frame near front wheel. 81 was when the standard VIN system was adopted.

 

What do you mean "nothing about it represents that year"?

Looks like its got the right headlights & grill. Different between earlier ones and later ones are, basically: length of the front axle truss, round vs square headlights, instrument cluster, tailgate latch, 20R vs 22R...that's more or less it.

82 shoud have square headlights, middle tailgate latch, not-as-cool instrument cluster (79-81 had the tach in the center). Those would be the most obvious.

Pretty sure it's my door jamb plate which tells me the actual month my truck was built. 83 model, made in Dec 82, if I remember correctly.

 

Thanks for the reply 83. Well the VIN says its a 1982, but it has 20R engine, 4 speed tranny, tach in center of instrument cluster, round headlights but the grill doesn't line up very well with the radiator support. This is why its so confusing and I say it doesn't represent the "82 year on the title. The ID tag on the inside fender well is missing and no tags on the door either.

Any other things I can check to verify the year?

 

I'll let you do the searching yourself, but there are threads with photos of the different year front axle truss. That's one way.

Could be someone put a later model cab on earlier chassis or something.

Any other photos? From your avatar photo, it looks like you've got the grill that comes with the square headlights...

That's part of the "fun" of these trucks...piecing together what previous owners have done throughout the years...

But this shouldn't affect much. When you get parts, they're basically all the same. If you're getting them for the engine/tranny, get them for the 20R/4speed. Body parts are darn near all the same, along with most of the other parts. So other than to satisfy your curiosity, there's really not much reason to bang your head against a wall over it, if you were.

 

Very well put 83.

 

Thanks. Oh, and that is a round-headlight grill on there. Not the square one. I looked at a bigger photo...

 

Thanks 83! It's good to know that body parts and such are basically interchangeable between these years. That is what I was really trying to get at. I wasn't confident that if I bought chassis parts for an '82 like my title says that it would fit right if the chassis was actually an '79/'80/'81. I am digging into doing a complete brake system, steering system, drive-train joints/seals overhaul and it would be frustrating to purchase parts that don't fit.

Much appreciated guys!

 

Won't hurt to compare, when you go to the parts store. I won't claim to be an expert on this...The body panels and most of the parts should be the same through all the 1st gen years (other than the tailgate), but I'm not 100% positive all the brake system and chassis parts are the same.

Just so I don't feel like I'm the cause of you wasting money or anything. When you get parts the first few times, just have them look up the code for a 79 and an 82 or something like that. My guess is that they'll be the same code. Won't hurt to check it out the first couple times, though.

Good luck!

 

I've tried every link. My truck is burnt and i need to find another vin somewhere on the vehicle. I located the chassis stamp, and it matches the production number digits on the title. But that doesnt seem to be good enough. Is there anywhere else on my 1990 PICKUP that may have a full 17 digit stamp. I can't find tags, and the vin plate isn't there. The partial chassis vin isnt good enough for proving that the truck matches the title because it is only 7 matching digits.