Someone please edumacate a newbie?! After countless web searches, I can't find VIN and model number info specific to Toy 4x4 trucks. Everything is generic. "if you have a number in xx position, you might have a vehicle" and other such hi-tech goodies. I want to know and see all the options for each possible letter code. I bought the truck used, and have no idea what the difference is between a DLX, a base, and an SR5. I also don't know what gearing is in the diffs (assuming no one changed them out, of course). Can someone lead me in the right direction? Appreciate all the help I can get.

Roger Brown comes through again;

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ToyVIN.shtml#VIN

I appreciate the link. The link shows the pre-1990 VIN breakdown, but is missing the information for several characters. The 4-7 character options he lists does not match up, or is missing the descriptors for my vehicle. My VIN is JT4RN63AXJxxxxx. I figured out from some other sites that the R is the engine (22RE) and the N is for Truck (his listing shows D and P). The 63 in my VIN is supposed to be the Model and Series, which I can't find the descriptors for. His listing says this is where the engine and model code go. His breakdown shows 18 characters, mine is 17. My VIN seems to be one character off from his breakdown. See where I am going with this? I have verified my VIN on the title, door post, and dash pad. I am also still trying to locate the C/TR/A/TM breakdown from the plate on the firewall. I got the color code and interior trim info, but missing the rest (mine is 138 LL11 G292 W56). What is the G292 and W56? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

See the links section on the web page for additional information:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ToyVIN.shtml#VINdecoders



W56 would indicate a W56 transmission and G292 would be the axle code (8" diff, 4.10 gears, 2 pinions - i.e.a 4-cyl carrier):
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ToyVIN.shtml#VINlocator

The last set of links helped a great deal. Now the funny part: I went by the Toy dealer at lunch to get a fuel sending unit and he laughed at the VIN and said he was clueless. He thinks there is a character missing. I told him I was a character and I am not missing and neither is the truck. Seems I may have bigger issue. I should note that when I registered the truck and changed over the title (one Texas county to another), the lady said everything on the title was fine. I did a history check before buying and everything came back clean. Guess I'll have to do some more digging...

FYI - My 87 has 17 characters in the VIN.

Mine is 17 too. But when the parts guy tried to enter it, it came back as a Sequioa?? (I want to spell it right but I ain't in the mood) or Highlander. Guess what? It ain't. It's just a big ol' 4x4 truck. Maybe between work and home I just screwed the whole thing up. Think I will go home in a little bit and start from scratch. Maybe it was National Dyslexia Day when I attempted a confirmation.

Okiedokie. I am home. The VIN is as I stated and matches the door post, the dash, AND the title paperwork. Anyone out there with an 88 4x4 Truck, please share the first 10 characters of your VIN, if don't mind. I need to have someone idea of whether there is something wrong, or there is a parts guy here in Fort Worth who may be more better ignorant than me. My VIN is JT4RN63AXJ0205777. My truck is a base model, regular cab, 5-speed 4WD (no deluxe, no SR5).

I have EPC, which is a toyota parts catalog for windows. It allows me to type in you VIN and it will give the corresponding parts as well as a bit of information like carb or efi, extended cab or reg cab, etc. As far as the gears go, the only thing that I see that looks like a ratio is 41:10 for front and rear axle final gears in the parts lookup. If there's anything else, let me know, I will see if I can find it.

I found a copy of EPC at yankeetoys.org/docs.htm early this morning and downloaded the zipped files. I haven't installed yet, but will try this evening if the kids leave me alone for a few minutes. I had not heard of this (EPC) until you mentioned it and did a search online. Hopefully this will either straighten things up, or just make it worse. Thanks for the prompt and info. I think after sleeping on it last night, I have decided that the VIN situation is by no means a show-stopper. There is abundant resource, like 4x4Wire, to find the parts I need to fix and keep my truck going. The less I have to rely on Toyota specifically for parts, the more money will stay in my wallet for my kids to spend. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />