VIN decoding

[AZreGuy]

A pic of my tag is in my garage. I went to a bunch of links in other decoding threads and I still have a few questions about mine.
Tag reads
U15NLC19138

WB. Color. Model. ?? ? ??
092. U U152 9U98 C B9J
75


I get U15, 289, Michigan Truck Plant. The VIN decoder web site starts at C42000 for month of build. Mine is a lot lower than that. I found a old registration and it says 1st registered in July 1967. So what month/ year was mine built?
92" wheel base, Color is confusing depending where I look. It shows up as Med Green, Lunar Green or Tahoe Turquoise.
U152 model. What is the 2 now representing?
I do not know what 9U is and I think the 98 is heavy duty.
C is a 3 speed, B9 is the 3.50 gears. What is the J?
75 is Phoenix.
Can anyone answer the above questions.

 

[slim811]

1st post Welcome aboard.
J limited slip front axle
9U98 Parchment colored bucket seats with rear seat
U lunar green Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[okie4570]

Welcome

u15-wagon
N- 289
L- Michigan Plant
C19138- Going with August 67' built 68'. I'd have to dig a little to confirm that.
92- 92" wheel base
U- Lunar Green
u152- Heavy Duty 4900lb GVW
9U98- Parchment front buckets with rear seat/ and wagon top
C-3 speed maual trans
B9J-3300lb big bearing 3.50 J was limited slip in the front
75-Phoenix DSO

 

[AZreGuy]

Thank you for the quick responses.
I took out the gas tanks today and is the front one supposed to be plastic and the back metal?

 

[DirtDonk]

Yes. All years of Early Bronco got a plastic side (auxiliary) tank with a steel skid plate and two straps.
All years between '66 and '76 got a steel rear (main) tank, until '77 which got a plastic tank held in place by a steel skid plate.

The capacities varied by year most of the time, with the side tank varying from 5-7 (I've heard of 8 and 9 gallon versions, but never known anyone with one) and the rear tanks from 10-14 gallons. The '77's were typically at the bigger end of that scale I think, with 14 gallons.

In mid-year '70 they added the Evaporative Emissions stuff (charcoal canister) which had two distinctly different designs over the years, but all did the same thing by keeping the vented gas fumes captured.
Gas caps don't interchange between the with-EVAP trucks and the without-EVAP trucks.

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Thank you for the quick responses.
I took out the gas tanks today and is the front one supposed to be plastic and the back metal?

What's the plans for your rig...?

 

[AZreGuy]

Paul. My side tank is 11 gallons. The rear tank is bigger.
SPDRV1. My plans for now is to get it running. Starting with cleaning the fuel tanks and all new lines to a rebuilt carb. Thinking 4 wheel disc brakes next.

 

[DirtDonk]

Wow, 11 gallons! Not many of those around I'm guessing. If we all had 11 in the front and more in the back, I'm betting that many of us would not have a need for the large rear tanks.
Mine was only 7 and 11 unfortunately, and that 18 total was just not enough for long excursions.

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Paul. My side tank is 11 gallons. The rear tank is bigger.
SPDRV1. My plans for now is to get it running. Starting with cleaning the fuel tanks and all new lines to a rebuilt carb. Thinking 4 wheel disc brakes next.

Right on, Good start...

here's a link for you to see info first hand

http://www.broncohio.com/tech/ebvins.html

 

[AZreGuy]

I seen the decoding but they have no listing for the U color and other sites have it as 2 different ones.
Paul. Main tank is 16.5 gallons.

 

[DirtDonk]

Wow. Very unique in the Bronco world then I'm thinking.
Anyone else have big tanks like AZreGuy's? Love to hear what year yours are if so.

I'd guess at least part of that is the pre-evap tanks (pre-'70) perhaps not having as much air-space at the top for expansion.
I know Viperwolf and some others have even modified their tanks so that the filler neck did not extend as far down into the tank so that they were able to take advantage of some of that unused space up above, but never even saw a rating for 16.5 gal tanks.
The largest was supposed to be the '77 with only 14 gallons.

But enjoy your extended range for sure.
You've got almost the same capacity stock that I did after adding a 23 gallon rear tank to my 7 gallon (on a good day) front tank!

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

I seen the decoding but they have no listing for the U color and other sites have it as 2 different ones.

Different colors for the same year, or different years? Unfortunately for us, Ford had a very nasty habit of renaming the same color in different years, re-coding the same color in different years, and using the same code for completely different colors in different years!
Oh, and then they made running changes before and after the model year transitions too.
Where a "U" on a '67 might actually have been a '68 color officially.
Buggers! I think they did that on purpose to mess with our minds.

You could have run across this then, or just that one source was correct and the other incorrect. Hard to know unless one of the Ford color gurus chimes in.

Paul

 

[okie4570]

Look at the Ford truck color charts, 68' U is Lunar green.

 

[Viperwolf1]

I'd guess at least part of that is the pre-evap tanks (pre-'70) perhaps not having as much air-space at the top for expansion.
I know Viperwolf and some others have even modified their tanks so that the filler neck did not extend as far down into the tank so that they were able to take advantage of some of that unused space up above, but never even saw a rating for 16.5 gal tanks.
The largest was supposed to be the '77 with only 14 gallons.

I didn't modify the filler neck. It was the 5/8" fill vent. The stock one is angled down inside the tank. I angled it up so I could get more fuel in before it spit fuel back into the filler when pumping.

 

[AZreGuy]

Filler and vent tube are welded right to tank side They do not extend into the tank at all. The aux tank appears to do the same but no vent tube.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Filler and vent tube are welded right to tank side They do not extend into the tank at all. The aux tank appears to do the same but no vent tube.

This was on an aux tank. The early aux tanks didn't have a filler vent.

 

[Rickb1b]

My Aux tank is 9 gal. Sometimes I get 10 into it. Rear tank is 14.

 

[DirtDonk]

What year is your rig Rick?

Paul

 

[JefeAZ]

16.5 main tank is strange, maybe a custom build?

My NWMP aux tank is 12 gallons.

 

[sprdv1]

I seen the decoding but they have no listing for the U color and other sites have it as 2 different ones.
Paul. Main tank is 16.5 gallons.

16.5, interesting....