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jonathon <jemery@execpc.com> wrote:
> Need some help here. The M35A2C we got had date of manufacter listed as
> "unknown". We just got the SF97 and it shows no date either. Could anyone
> get us close on a year so the state is happy and we are reasonably close?
> The serial number on the on the plate is NK0575 0540-11857 and the
> 0540-11857 number is stamped in the frame.
My 2.5-ton was an "unknown" truck, too. It's an Army AM General M109A3
shop van, registration number NK03QM. AM General didn't put the date
of delivery on the data plate. I managed to guess that my truck was a
1972 truck, and convinced the VIN inspector of that.
The contract number on the data plate implied that the truck was built
on a 1970 contract, so I figured the truck wasn't any older than that,
and was probably built within a few years after that. The only other
legible dates I could find were on the engine (1980) and transfer case
(1972). Maybe the transmission had a 1980 date, too... I don't
remember. The engine had a 1989 rebuild tag, and did not appear to be
original to the truck. With 1.1 hours on the engine and 3100 miles on
the truck, that engine hadn't been in the truck for most of its life.
Given what I've been told about how the Army handles such things, I
figured they probably swapped in a previously-rebuilt engine-in-a-can,
rather then rebuilding the engine and putting it back into the same
truck. The transmission and engine both were much cleaner than the
rest of the truck, so I figured they weren't original. The transfer
case was as filthy as the rest of the truck, so I figured it might be
original, and it had a 1972 date. That line of reasoning was enough
for me to convince the VIN inspector that it was a 1972 truck.
If you can get DRMO to put a reasonable date on the SF97, that's
great... but they probably don't know any more than you do, and I'm
sure they would get in more trouble for putting a wrong date on the
form than for entering "unknown", so I don't think you'll have much
luck there.
So, you know your registration number (NK0575) and serial number
(0540-11857), and you know that your data plate is from your own truck
based on the frame stamping. The SF97 might include the registration
number as part of the serial number, which may not be technically
correct, but shouldn't be a problem. Check your data plate for a
contract number, which may include a date of some sort. Also check the
engine, transmission, transfer case, cargo bed/body, and each
differential for any dates on their data plates. Look carefully; my
diffs had "6.72" stamped on them, and I initially thought that meant
"June 1972", since I was expecting a year in the early 1970's... a
closer look at the faded and dirty data plates determined that 6.72 is
the gear ratio, and the date fields weren't filled in! :-)
Once you've gathered that information, see if you can come up with a
reasonable guess about the date, and then try to convince the VIN
inspector. If your state allows you to hire an independent vehicle
verifier to fill out the registration forms, rather than driving the
truck to the DMV, that might be easier. Since I don't have my CDL yet
(I'm working on it...), it would have been a pain to get my truck to
the DMV on a week day. It only cost me about $20 to have a vehicle
verifier who I knew from previous dealings to come out and do the
paperwork.
Good luck!
-- Mark J. Blair, KE6MYK <mblair1@home.net> PGP 2.6.2 public key available from http://pgp.ai.mit.edu/ Web page: http://www.qsl.net/ke6myk/ DO NOT SEND ANY UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL TO THIS SITE
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