New Member Question on finding Vin in frame

[William R. Malone]

We are the happy owners of a 2011 Elkmont 26 ES we purchased in Flordia. I have to take it for a out of state inspection to get tags and have looked all over the vin on the frame but to no avail. Can anyone shed some light on the location where it's stamped into the frame. All the paper tags are in place with the information and vin number on them. Any help would be appreciated.

[ShrimpBurrito]

The VIN on my TM, which is not an Elkmont, is stamped on an aluminum plate riveted to the inside of the tongue on the driver's side. If there is no plate there, are there maybe 2 holes where it used to be? Roughly 4-6 inches apart maybe?

Dave

[Bill]

Though they were nice units, very few Elkmonts were ever made, and I've never seen one. If I understand correctly, you know the VIN number because you have found it on the paper tags. But you need to find the same VIN number stamped into the frame. Is that correct?

On conventional TMs, I am not sure that it is actually stamped into the frame, but it appears on a metal tag that is riveted to one of the A-frame members - in other words, up front, in the area of the hitch and tongue jack, and plainly visible.

You have probably seen this guidance on line.
"The label is typically on the left front corner (lower roadside) of the RV somewhere near the bottom of the sidewall."

It is unlikely that the current factory will know the answer, since the business has changed hands twice since 2011. But I think the current sales manager, Bob Eickhoff, was part of the original company. You might e-mail him at [email protected].

Good luck. Since you know the VIN, and when you look it up it will match the vehicle, I imagine that the state has some process by which you can continue the registration process even if the vehicle was not stamped. It may not be convenient process ...

Bill

[William R. Malone]

Thank you for your suggestion. On our tongue there is no evidence of ever having a plate. Yes we do have all the stickers showing axle weights, tire size, etc. with the vin printed on the stickers. I have personally cleaned the frame on the driver's side from front to rear, and found nothing.

[Wavery]

I have a cargo trailer and found my VIN tag purely by accident once. I was re-wiring the trailer and saw it on the inside (driver's side) of the frame (not on the tongue), up front but I had to be under the trailer to see it.

[Bill]

Though I am uncertain of the outcome, it couldn't hurt to call the factory, ask to speak with Jacob or Paul (both very good helpful guys), and ask where the VIN is stamped on today's trailers. Emphasize that you have found the tags and labels that contain your Elkmont's VIN, but you need to find the VIN actually stamped into the frame. It is possible that the new factory simply copies whatever the old factory did.

Bill

[Bill]

Let's back up. Why do you think that the a VIN must be STAMPED INTO THE FRAME in order to be valid? I've spent an hour rummaging around the Internet, and everything I've found, without exception, says that the VIN number MAY BE stamped into the frame, but may also be stamped into a metal plate which is riveted to the frame. This is what Shrimp Burrito (above) described, and is done on every standard TM I've seen. A couple other locations such as the entry door frame are listed as possible, but unlikely. I've gone through the RVIA code, which governs almost everything that RV manufacturers do, and VIN location is not even mentioned.

I'm concluding that you need to ask the Registry (or whoever is telling you to do this) about this. With automobiles and trucks, apparently the VIN is usually (always?) stamped into the frame. But not so in all vehicles.

Bill

[Bill]

One other thing. A year or so ago, there was a discussion here on the forum about a missing or incorrect VIN. I happened to be going to the factory soon after that, and I asked both the production manager (Jacob) and the CEO (Paul) about TM VINs in general. What they told me is that the factory sets up (creates) the VIN as the factory's internal Production Order for that specific trailer is generated. And they further told me that once the VIN is assigned, they print it on the Production Schedule Order, fabricate all the tags and labels right there in the fab shop, and attach them as the trailer is built. No VIN is made up or assigned until the trailer is being built. This tells me that the VIN is not stamped into the frame when the frame is received. Instead, the metal plate and the paper labels are created in the factory, and attached to the trailer at that point.

Bill

[Wavery]

Here's mine on my TM. Looking forward from under the trailer.

[Bill]

That's a riveted-on plate. I have the same thing on the inside surface of the left side of the A-frame. I thought we were looking for a VIN that is actually stamped into the steel of a frame member.?

Bill