1939 to 1947 Dodge Truck Body Tags

How to Decode a 1939 to 1947 Dodge or Plymouth Truck Body Tag

The Body Tag (also sometimes called a Cowl Tag) for a 1939-1947 Job Rated Dodge or 1939 to 1941 Plymouth Truck is found below the Serial Number tag on most trucks. The Body Tag references the body, so there are different numbers for Regular Cabs, Flat Face Cowls, Panels, etc.

The Body Tag on a 1947 WKA-66 is shown in the two images below. The majority of 1939-1947 Dodge Trucks have the Body Tag located as shown in the images, on the front door jamb below the Serial Number tag. The body tag moved from the passenger side door jamb to the drivers side at the same time the Serial Number tag moved in mid year 1946.

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Flat Face Cowl trucks and other special bodied 1939 to 1947 Dodge trucks sometimes got the Body Tag mounted on the passengers side of the cowl, on an area the hood covers when it is down. An example of a 1946 WF-31 tag in that location is shown in the two images below. This was mounted on a Sheriff's Department Equipment Truck that was built on a Flat Face Cowl base. The Body Tag may been found in other locations, like mounted to the glovebox door, or other places on the firewall. If a tag is not found in the standard location it may be hiding somewhere else on the body.

Click for larger image

There are two basic layouts to the numbers on the Body Tags, the 1939 layout from a PT-81, shown on the left, and the 1940 to 1947 layout from a 1947 WF-32 shown on the right.

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The 1939 Body Tags break down as follows

M-	What the M stands for is unknown at this time. It may stand in for the model year.
1-2	The style of cab it is, 1-2 is the most common cab, it is the style used in pickups, stakes, etc.
-26223	Sequential number for that cab style, all cabs got numbered in order by style.

The 1940 to 1947 Body Tags break down as follows

41	The Year that cab was designed, or possibly the year that cab design was ordered. Every time something major was changed in the cab the first two digits changed. 40 = 1940, 41 = 1941 and 43 = 1943.
12	The style of cab it is, 12 is the most common cab, it is the style used in pickups, stakes, etc.
-191549	Sequential number for that cab style, all cabs got numbered in order by style.

There are charts of Body Tags in the parts books, but from checking real trucks there are very few numbers used in the real world. More data is needed to complete this chart, as so many of the numbers in the books have never been seen on real world trucks.

M-1-0	Flat Face Cowl	1939	TC, TD, TE, TF, TH
M-1-2	Standard Cab	1939	TC, TD, TE, TF, PT-81


4010	Flat Face Cowl	1940	VC, VD, VF, VH, VG
4012	Standard Cab	1940	VC, VD, VF, VH, VG, PT-105
4013	Panel	1940	VC
4022	Standard Cab	1940	VF, VH, VG
4023	Panel	1940	VD-21
4052	Cab Over Engine	1940	VM
4110	Flat Face Cowl	1941-47	WC, WD, WF, WH, WG
4112	Standard Cab	1941-47	WC, WD, WF, WH, WG, PT-125
4113	Panel	1941-47	WC
4122	Standard Cab	1941-47	WF, WH, WG
4123	Panel	1941-47	WD-21
4152	Cab Over Engine	1941-47	WFM, WHM, WGM
4330	Flat Face Cowl, W/S Cowl	1946-47	WK, WJ, WR
4332	Standard Cab	1946-47	WK, WJ, WR

I hope to update this page from time to time as more info becomes available, and feedback is given about other information that would be good to include on this page.

Please contact the Registry maintainers at the below email address if you have any suggestions or questions.