military or civilian?

[gjwilliamsjr]

I was wondering if there was any way to check and see if a 715 was ever in military service by the vin number. I am looking at a '68 with the number 31-091.. It is all red(inside and out) except under the hood and suspect that it was sold to a fire department. Any help would be greatly appreciated. . Thank you

[gjwilliamsjr]

My phone sucks. . Lol. ...vin number 31091

[tndonor]

All M715s were sold to the military. Some were later decommissioned and sold to fire departments, forestry, etc but they all started life with Uncle Sam

[brute4c]

Not exactly...

It has come to light that after the military contract was satisfied, there were a few trucks that were sold via Jeep dealers...particularly a dealer in California...in the 1970-72 era...this is maybe a dozen trucks...

For the most part, yes, they were in military service.

There is a guy on another site that is able to get info on vehicles and their military service...I have never done it and dont have the link offhand...others have done it, maybe someone will post with the info.

[Blitz]

Checking the Vin directory here, it was delivered "around" 10 of 1968.

Some of the VIN's get out of order, for special military or even factory "experiments" or special use equipment installations..

but that VIN has never been recorded here, but it fits in that "range" of 10th month 1968.

the best thing you can do it ask the previous owner the history, then ask that fire department its history...

If you had some previous photos of it, on the web from the previous owner, you could do a "tin eye" reverse photo search, and try to find that photo posted somewhere else years ago... and go from there... reading what you can.

And Yes, there is a gentleman on SS that will do the VIN / Military reverse search for you, ** IF ** you follow his instructions exactly, and are patient... and he is in a good mood that year.



Congratulations for when you get the truck.

I can pretty much assure you, if it was in fire service, it was "relatively" well maintained... as Lives depended on it.

If there are holes in the bed and mounting positions for fire tanks and pumps, or brush guards, or platforms built on it to firefight "brush fires"
I can assure you it was in Government service ( even civilian ) as a Life saving Piece of equipment, and is probably a good buy.


Good hunting.

welcome to the Zone GjwilliamsJr.

Make yourself at home, and we love photos here...
like a Dog Loves a steak.

Someone here may recognize your truck and can give first or second hand insights, or at least point out to you what to watch out for.

[gjwilliamsjr]

Thank you for your help. ..I will post pics when (hopefully) I get the truck. . It looks like it's in pretty good condition. .

[md1970]

when I was a kid I saw one for sale at a jeep dealer in gary, Indiana. it was in there show room on hwy,s 12 & 20 next to U.S. Steel

[MrNeutron]

I think you can be sure it was a military vehicle by the military data plate on the dash that says "US Property"

[tndonor]

I forgot about the leftovers…… broke my heel, ankle, and foot in three places. The pain meds give me fuzzy logic sometimes