VIN Dilemna

[Snoranger]

That is how Dynacorn bodies work in theory. The body is a new replacement part and generally you can transfer VINs to them

The snag is they have never had their own identity.

You go sticking the vin from car A on car B... you get into technicalities.

And I am sure it all varies state to state.

I saw a BII for sale a couple years ago on a EB running gear. For whatever reason the guy jumped thru all he hoops and had it registered as the old Bronco, he had the paperwork on it from the state.

Back in the day there was no VIN plate on the EB body... just a warranty Tag on the glove box door. Yes, it had the VIN on it, but technically it wasn’t a true VIN tag. The VIN was stamped into the frame.
Ford didn’t put the VIN tag on the body until 1980.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Back in the day there was no VIN plate on the EB body... just a warranty Tag on the glove box door. Yes, it had the VIN on it, but technically it wasn’t a true VIN tag. The VIN was stamped into the frame.
Ford didn’t put the VIN tag on the body until 1980.

It just seemed like a lot of legwork, the '86 BII definitely had its own VIN at some point.

 

[Grumpaw]

As a retired sheriff, I'm going to play the "Devil's Advocate" here...
To the OP, you may never ever get pulled over , have an accident, or have your vin checked against the registration, and no one would ever know...
However...
Once you start playing with changing vin's, new rivets, altering a vin'd cab to fit another non matching frame, your playing with fire. Even with a proper rivet, if it looks "new" and dosen't match the rest of the dash/vehicle, even a rookie could spot it.
When I was a sheriff in Fla, and had gotten involved with you/your vehicle, lets say for an accident or traffic violation, and ran your vin, and for whatever reason did not match up EXACTLY with the tag/registration/location, ect...
You may or may not be placed under arrest for certain altered vehicle/vin/tag problems. When I was active, I would have no problem arresting you...I'd let you and the courts hash it out.
At the very least, your vehicle would be towed and confiscated until such time as you could straighten out the mess. By the time you can possible un-screw everything, the tow and impound fees are going to kill you.
And, of course your going to have lawyer and court costs, time lost from work, and time and effort trying to "un-mess" everything.
Not to also mention that if an accident is involved, weather your fault or not, no insurance will cover you...your driving an altered registered vehicle.
Again, I know cops aren't the most popular people around, and you can take me to task on this. And, the laws in your area may be in your favor if you can explain and prove what you've done.
Just playing the "Devil's Advocate" here. I don't mean to offend anyone here, but if not done right as pertaining to your states laws you are basically committing a crime.
Grumpaw

 

[G8orFord]

@Grumpaw
Serious question here. If the person has a valid title to VIN that is in place on the dash and the rest of the cab matches the vehicle the VIN was assigned to, how would you even begin to think there was any foul play involved? Even if the VIN plate might looked tampered with, if VIN & the vehicle match the title and registration, that should be the end of it. I'm not seeing crime here (well not from a common sense perspective anyway, not sure exactly what the law says)

 

[Snoranger]

@Grumpaw
Serious question here. If the person has a valid title to VIN that is in place on the dash and the rest of the cab matches the vehicle the VIN was assigned to, how would you even begin to think there was any foul play involved? Even if the VIN plate might looked tampered with, if VIN & the vehicle match the title and registration, that should be the end of it. I'm not seeing crime here (well not from a common sense perspective anyway, not sure exactly what the law says)

Because tampering with a VIN plate is illegal. In theory, you could steal a similar truck and put your VIN plate on it... then it’s “yours”.
it’s not worth the chance of up to $10k and or 5 years in prison.
It’s also illegal, and not really an appropriate thing to discuss here.

 

[G8orFord]

Because tampering with a VIN plate is illegal. In theory, you could steal a similar truck and put your VIN plate on it... then it’s “yours”.
it’s not worth the chance of up to $10k and or 5 years in prison.
It’s also illegal, and not really an appropriate thing to discuss here.

You're not who I asked. I specifically tagged Grumpaw. You also did not answer the question I asked.

My question was more to the "why would you pursue it" side. If everything appeared to be in order and no one has questioned it, why would you assume that there was a crime when you had no proof of it, nor anyone claiming a crime had been committed? The VIN tag may or may not have been tampered with. Maybe a windshield replacement went wrong. There could be many reasons that were not in any way malevolent or criminal. That rings of "guilty until proven innocent" in my mind.

I respect law enforcement and appreciate their service. While I have personally not had any issues other than a traffic stop or two with an officer that had a God complex, I have had people close to me that have been pretty much railroaded by overzealous policing and overstepping their authority. Intuition or "my experience tells me" is not probable cause in my book.

I'll continue to defend law enforcement and their authority, but I'll also condemn that which I believe is a violation of basic rights.

I'm done here and will not discuss VIN plates or parts swaps involving them any further since you deem it inappropriate.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I'll keep this really simple.

I'm a retired State Trooper.

Swapping a VIN tag from one body to another is a felony. Plus, the vehicle will get seized, and you'll never get it back.

Get a good cab with a good title. Build the truck around that.

You've been warned.

 

[Grumpaw]

@Grumpaw
Serious question here. If the person has a valid title to VIN that is in place on the dash and the rest of the cab matches the vehicle the VIN was assigned to, how would you even begin to think there was any foul play involved? Even if the VIN plate might looked tampered with, if VIN & the vehicle match the title and registration, that should be the end of it. I'm not seeing crime here (well not from a common sense perspective anyway, not sure exactly what the law says)

The minute I spotted what looked like a tampered vin plate, that would give me probable cause to check the rest of the vehicles ID # to see if they match. Fresh/new rivets on an older vehicle are a dead giveaway.
I probably wouldn't arrest you, but I could hold your vehicle till I had an auto theft unit check it out. There are hidden ID # located in several places on the frame and body.
I came from a 3500 man dept, and had specialized units for everything.
Maybe the one who stops you isn't a car nut, or dosen't know exactly what to look for. But I am, and know alot about vehicles, vins, and where to look for the hidden #. Also know what I'm looking at, or for pertaining to a vehicle.


In my view, and under the laws that I worked to uphold, if I were still working, it's wrong, it's a felony, and I could give you a world of hurt.
Your simply taking a chance that it will never be found out, and the odds are in your favor. But on the flip side if caught, it's gonna cost you a bundle of $$$ to straighten it out.
Grumpaw

 

[Jim Oaks]

Serious question here. If the person has a valid title to VIN that is in place on the dash and the rest of the cab matches the vehicle the VIN was assigned to, how would you even begin to think there was any foul play involved? Even if the VIN plate might looked tampered with, if VIN & the vehicle match the title and registration, that should be the end of it. I'm not seeing crime here (well not from a common sense perspective anyway, not sure exactly what the law says)

I'm a retired State Trooper. I'm telling you, this is a felony. If the VIN looks tampered with the vehicle is going to get seized, inspected, and you're not going to get it back. We had vehicles in the Highway Patrol that were seized because the VINs were tampered with. Once they decide the VIN has been tampered with, you can't get it back because there's no way to prove what the VIN use to be, and who owned it. It's then considered stolen.

I now have to lock this so that we're not promoting illegal activity.