Truck Serial Numbers

[Frank54]

I looked on the SDC site but did not find… Is there a list or table that gives truck serial numbers by year? For example: R10 8765. How do I know what year 8765 was built in? Thanks!

[StudeRich]

The Truck Serial Number listing in the Front of my '49 to '56 Studebaker Parts Catalog only puts it in the '49 to '53 Range starting at R10-001, I don't see a Yearly breakdown as in the Stude. Car Parts Catalogs.

However, I did find a Copy of an attachment to the Catalog that DOES break it down.
Serial Number R10-8765 is a 1949 3/4 Ton 169 cid Engine Truck.

The 1950 Model Year Started at 20,101, so any Trucks Lower than that and above R10-001 are 1949's.



Sorry, it appears to be Too small to read a Copy.

What year is it Registered as?
Is THIS better?

[RadioRoy]

Gad! a 3/4 ton truck with a Champion six engine. What were they thinking back then? 35 MPH was sufficient for farm work, I guess? Imagine having to pass on a twisty hilly narrow road.

[Frank54]

Thanks Rich and Roy! The number I used is hypothetical. But the information very much appreciated.

[Skip Lackie]

WRT truck serial numbers: I have been planning on adding a truck serial number table to the truck history, but haven't been able to resolve one uncertainty, and also keep getting diverted onto other things. The table in the Truck Data Book that Rich posted is pretty authoritative. It's worth noting that Studebaker did not consider the model year of its trucks to be very important. As noted in the page above, the company allowed unsold prior-year models to be registered as the new year models. This was not duplicitousness, as there were rarely any changes to the 2R trucks associated with the model year change. Instead, Studebaker made many running changes to the trucks during the year, and documented the serial numbers in the parts book. The focus on model year has become much more important because federal safety and emissions standards are keyed to them.

https://studebakerdriversclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/A-Brief-History-of-Studebaker-Trucks.pdf

[Greenstude]

Canadian-built 2R5 trucks had serial numbers starting at HR5-001. I owned HR5-719 for 14 years. A 2R shop manual should show the numbers at the change of model year.