The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 3100 or 3800 designation

Can someone explain the difference between the 3100, 3600, 3800 etc...? I thought a 3100 had to be a 1/2 ton and a 3800 a 3/4 ton but now I'm confused. Help me out here. Thanks.

I thought it went like this..

3100 is a 1/2 ton
3600 is a 3/4 ton
3800 1 ton

additional series indications..

3700 is a 3/4 ton 'forward control chassis'
3900 is a 1 ton 'forward control chassis'

1.5 ton trucks are in the 4000 series, with the specific number based on the wheelbase

4100 1.5 ton 137 inch wheel base
4400 1.5 ton 161 inch wheel base

Two Ton trucks are in the 6000 series, again the specific number indicates the wheelbase.

The Cab Over or 'COE' trucks are in the 5000 series, and again, the specific number in the series indicates wheelbase.

Additionally, you can tell specifically what your truck is, by inputting the trucks serial number (found in the drivers side door frame) into The Stovebolt Page's VIN Buster found Here .

OK, this is a perfect opportunity for me to increase my "not so useless knowlege" file,...

I was under the impression that the number designation was roughly the tonnage capacity of a truck.
K10-half ton
K15-3/4 ton
K20-one ton
The numbers being tens of hundreds, or 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 respectively (Thinkin these were later designations for the Chevy's tho).
Then in the bigger bolts, a 3100 would be a 1.5 ton & a 3500 a 1&3/4 ton.

Or,... am I gettin my numbering all screwed up with GMC here? I dunno, gotta ask tho so I can tell these things.
Also helps so I can finger out what trucks in the yard I can use to snag parts for my '56 2-ton!

The "C" stands for conventional, or 2 wheel drive. The "K" is for 4x4 trucks.
10 - half ton
20 - 3/4 ton
30 - 1 ton

I'm not entirely sure on what the difference is between the 14/15 designation, although I know it has something to do with the bed style or length. I'm guessing that 14 is a short bed and the 15 is a long bed if my memory serves me correctly.

the numbers only relate to whatever the GM office team was smokin that day
the "x000" designations were earlier years, as Fumblin lists - the C, K, etc numbering started in the 60's and the 10's were 1/2T, 20's = 3/4T, 30's = 1T - the C=conventional 2wheel drive, K=4x4, P=panel or walkin deliv

C/K10 would be the short 1/2T series, C/K15 = long 1/2T and that numbering gets pretty complex adding all the variations of weight, length, 4x4, etc, complicated by the fact that the "C10" is the series, but followed by 2 more numbers indicating the exact model, so a C1434 is a conventional 2WD short 1/2T pickup

GMC used entirely different numbering

Bill

Yea.. the 'series' numbers that I mentioned above started in 1947 and were used up until at least 1959, when they were replaced with the 10 20 30 series numbers that started with a C or K to specify 2wd or 4wd.

Not sure when they started it, but I had a '67 'C10'.. so it had to have been between 1960 and 1967 they started that.

Then at some point.. in the late 80's (maybe 1988?) they appear to have dropped the 10 20 30 and went with 1500 for 1/2 ton, 2500 for 3/4 ton using C or K to indicate 2wd or 4wd.. at least for the 'full size' trucks.

I don't know all those Ks and Cs but my 51 3/4 ton 2 wheel drive is a 3600.

The C/K lettering started in 1960.

I am pretty sure that the 3XXX designation started earlier than '47.

If it did, they didn't bother to put it on the trucks until '47 when the Advance Design trucks were introduced.

I've got stacks and stacks of info on truck models collected when I was building the VIN Buster, and the first time I saw the 3xxx designation appear in the data was beginning late 1947.

Altho that doesn't mean they didn't use it earlier, I just haven't come across anything indicating they did prior to 1947.. but I have heard individual truck owners use those series numbers to identify their trucks (i.e. saying '42 3100 instead of 1/2 ton)

Fumblin's right - before the AD's they just used letters for the series and model designation - see here

Bill

Must disagree with some of you. My 1958 1 ton is a model 38. A couple years earlier and it would be a 3800. A couple years later and it would be a 30.

I guess now the are called 3500's.

Not sure where you get that info Jhaa_lives, i'd like to see that documentation if you can get it scanned.

According to the information I have from various sources, including General Motors as well as the Stovebolt Pages' own TechTips section, the 1949 thru 1959 Chevrolet Trucks (U.S. Built) Have both a 'model' and 'series' designation.

In 1958, a 1 ton truck appears to have only come in one version and would have the following model & series designations:

Model.....Series.....Description
3G........3800.......135 Inch WB 1 ton truck

The serial number on the drivers door frame 'data plate' would start with these four characters:

3G 58
-- --
| |
| Indicates model year
Indicates Model Number

Followed by a single character that indicated the plant it was made, followed by 6 digits that indicate production order.

Additionally, 1949 thru 1959 Model numbers consisted of two characters, a Number and a Letter.

1/2, 3/4, and 1 ton trucks started with a '3'.

A '3B' would be a Series 3200 truck.. which is a 1/2 ton truck with a 123.2 inch wheelbase.. slightly longer than the standard '3A' 3100 1/2 ton trucks 114 inch wheelbase.

not quite guys ... the number/letter combo started in 56, the 55.2 just had a single letter, and that setup was the series designator for paperwork like the vin, which doesn't indicate the model ... 3A or 31 both designate a 114" WB 1/2T, but might still be a pickup, panel, etc, which will be the next 2 numbers, which was indicated on the trim before 58 by '3100', like saying 31xx

jhaa_lives - in 58 they dropped the '00' for trim and advert purposes, the 38 was the series, and 38 series included: FF Cowl&Chassis, Cab&Chassis, PU Step Side, Panel, Stake, or W/S Cowl&Chassis - the next 2 numbers indicate which of those models

some 56 up trivia for ya:
31xx = short 1/2T
xx03 = chassis/cab
xx04= pu
xx05 = panel
xx06 = burb w/ barn doors
xx16 = burb w/ gate
xx24 = cameo
xx34 = fleetside

Bill