Other: Production Order Deciphering

[GlennJohnson]

I have the Production Order for my 2R14 truck, and would appreciate help deciphering a few things:
1) Box FRT.BUMP.CHROME has "FC". Does this mean my big front bumper should be chrome plated? I don't recall seeing a truck with chrome front bumper.
2) Box QT.AIR CLEANER has "QA". What does that mean?

Thanks for the help!

[Skip Lackie]

Yes, FC means front chrome bumper. Chrome bumpers (and rear ones, too, on pickups) were optional on trucks 1949 - 1959. Just a guess, but QA probably just means the standard quart-sized oil bath air cleaner. On truck production orders, the fact that something is typed in a box means that the truck was built with that item. The actual code used was often pretty meaningless (or obvious).

[GlennJohnson]

Thanks! Funny a plain green farm truck would be made with a chrome front bumper.

[GlennJohnson]

I checked the parts book and it shows chrome bumper for 1/2 and 3/4 ton (it notes “special order”), but no listing for 1-ton and larger. Has anybody seen a big truck with chrome front bumper?

[TWChamp]

I checked the parts book and it shows chrome bumper for 1/2 and 3/4 ton (it notes “special order”), but no listing for 1-ton and larger. Has anybody seen a big truck with chrome front bumper?

I'm not sure if you only mean the later "R" series of trucks, but I saw a 1946 M-16 with a front chrome bumper.

[Skip Lackie]

I checked the parts book and it shows chrome bumper for 1/2 and 3/4 ton (it notes “special order”), but no listing for 1-ton and larger. Has anybody seen a big truck with chrome front bumper?

Good catch. The 57-61 truck parts book does show chrome bumpers as being available on 3E and 4E big trucks. I have seen a couple of such trucks equipped with them, but have no idea if they were ordered that way.

Addendum: Not all optional equipment and/or accessories are listed in the parts books or even the accessories brochures. There were much more detailed listings of available accessories (with prices) that were provided to dealers to aid in ordering commercial vehicles. I have a few of these, but haven't been able to find one that lists chrome bumpers for big trucks. It's possible that that truck's bumper was a unique special order. Who knows? Studebaker might have had to send that one big bumper out for chroming.