Do I have a K3500HD or just a random beefier truck?

[skylark]

3500hd. Wide 5 lug front , 10 lug rear, 4 wheel disc brakes, I beam front axle with leaf springs, filler panel below the grill, 19.5 wheels and a ladder straight frame with a standard 34 inch spacing. C&C, none of that except the 34 inch flat frame.

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[GoToGuy]

What do the door tags and glove box tags list? GVWR and GCVWR ?

 

[mountainfarmer]

What do the door tags and glove box tags list? GVWR and GCVWR ?

That was the first thing I looked for to find GVWR, but the door tags are both worn off so they're unreadable on the truck. The vin on the windshield is also unreadable. I told the seller this and said that I'm going to have to price it as if it's between 9k or 10k GVWR and he understood.

The only tag left that is somewhat readable is the one in the glovebox with the RPO codes where I saw MT8, which I believe is an earlier model NV4500.

He had it parked in a barn for almost a decade and had forgotten a lot of stuff about it.

 

[mountainfarmer]

3500hd. Wide 5 lug front , 10 lug rear, 4 wheel disc brakes, I beam front axle with leaf springs, filler panel below the grill, 19.5 wheels and a ladder straight frame with a standard 34 inch spacing. C&C, none of that except the 34 inch flat frame.

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Sounds like a solid front axle and disc brakes all around are probably going to be the easiest way to find those then. I'll have to keep a lookout so I can snatch one if one ever come up for sale. That's a nice truck!

 

[movietvet]

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Click on tools, upper left, and the VIN Decoder and when you type in the VIN, make sure you do all CAPS. It will show you a build sheet. The only drawback is, a 1993 might be too old for the system to work. You have VIN on paperwork, right?

 

[454cid]

That was the first thing I looked for to find GVWR, but the door tags are both worn off so they're unreadable on the truck. The vin on the windshield is also unreadable.

How is the VIN unreadable? That would be a huge red flag to me.

 

[someotherguy]

Lot to unpack here but bottom line is that's a K3500 that is probably a C&C. The original window sticker probably said "HD" .. but that's not the same thing as a 3500HD; hope that makes sense. The 3500HD is its own model and as Skylark mentioned and pictured they have many differences from the lighter models, mostly in the frame and running gear.

Back to your K3500 - it absolutely did not come with an NV3500 from GM and I sure hope nobody swapped one in. It should be an NV4500 and those are easily identifiable by the twin PTO covers; one on either side of the cast iron case. They're 5 speeds with granny low and overdrive 5th, so for all practical purposes it's really a 4 speed granny, with overdrive added - think of the old heavy 4 speeds (SM465) that came in the earlier trucks.

VIN not legible on the dash would have me concerned. Do you mean it's been damaged, dirty, covered with crud...? That's the legal VIN for the vehicle and if it's not legible, agreed, that is a huge red flag.

Richard

 

[Caman96]

According to build sheet I sent you it has GVW 12000. Came with MT8.

 

[GoToGuy]

I would think that the Dept of Motor vehicles, or whoever titles inspects, might have an issue or questions about a VIN tag that's unreadable or appears damaged. You know, the kind where you get stupid questions for stupid answer's .

 

[mountainfarmer]

How is the VIN unreadable? That would be a huge red flag to me.

The door stickers are worn off from use and faded so you can't read it there. The VIN on the windshield isn't tampered with, it's just covered in junk like mouse crap, and mud from thirty years of use around the Appalachian mountains.

Either way, I'm not too worried about it. The guy I bought it from is a friend of a friend. We all know each other in our small community. He's a cop and I know him through the volunteer fire service as well. We've fought fires together before, I know his Pastor and his fellow Church members. Not the kind of guy that tampers with VINs.

In a tiny community like ours way back in the mountains if you scam someone then your name becomes mud and you're practically shunned. The community grapevine is a real thing. Nobody is going to trade with you, or buy or sell things with you and when you get stuck in a blizzard or in the wet clay in the spring nobody is going to be pulling you out if your name is trash.

It's sort of self-policing. We have to be with the drug addicts here. Without the support of your neighbors here you're going to have a rough time. In any event I've already tagged the truck as a farm vehicle at the DMV and have it insured with no problems.