Eagle VIN Identification

DoubleEagle · August 21, 2016, 07:23:51 PM

I am getting conflicting information about where my 1984 Eagle was produced. The VIN plate says that it was produced by New Trails Manufacturing in June, 1984. Clifford has said that means it was built at Harlingen, TX, which is the plant set up as New Trails Manufacturing to produce the two-axle Model 10S (Suburban), and that Model 10's were made there as well. In a message from 11 Mar 07, LegalEagle82 (Evan) said:

"This was shared with me on the yahoo eagle bus nut group by Mike over at sivlereagle

All/Most of the VIN number are listed under a file on the yahoo eagle bus group.

Ok here is the deal with a Eagle VIN# .....here at Silver Eagle we
only really need the last 7 digits to dechipher the coach.

> The total VIN is of course 17 digits by law.
>
> The first digit is 1, which signifies plant # 1 which is
Brownsville. A # 2 would be the Harlingen plant and that would be a
Suburban 2 axle produced for several years.
>
> The second digit is E which signifies Eagle
> The third and fourth digits are U and A which signify United
States
> The fifth digit is just filler
> The sixth digit signifies engine cylinders 6 or 8
> The seventh digit is also filler but sometimes represents the
transmission A for automatic
> The eighth and ninth digits are a calculation of the previous
digits and are assigned by the computer
> The tenth and eleventh digits are also assigned by the computer
> Now we are down to the last 6 digits which really tell us what
is what...
> Twelve and thirteen tell us what coach you have , for example
> 02 Trailways Model 10
> 03 All other seated model 10
> 04 Austrailian RHD
> 05 Suburban 10S
> 06 Suburban TW
> 07 Model 15
> 08 Model 15 TW/GH
> 09 Model 20
>
> And 14 through 17 tell us what production series and or
options ...

> So to take your VIN and look in the book, I can tell that ....
>
>

Hope this helps, it sure helped me to understand the meaning behind the numbers.

Evan / LegalEagle82"

According to this decoding info, my bus was built in Brownsville, as the first digit is 1, not 2, which is Harlingen. Does this mean that Eagle took a lot of liberties with their VIN coding? Does anybody out there have the number 2 as the first VIN digit?

luvrbus · August 21, 2016, 08:42:22 PM

Eagle never used that system till the mid 80' heck in 57 they had a serial in the 58,000,then they went to 4 numbers then 5 in the late 70's, the 69 model 07 were in the 2000 .I looked at a couple of MOL built Eagles in Nev a few years ago and never could figure those out they had a 19 digit serial number and they were way head of the Brownsville Eagle with a air tag and big windshields .The straight 30,000 serial number was reserved for prototype Eagles.

With a Eagle one never knows for sure I have had to use the FLT number to chase a few down. I have a friend in Switzerland that has a Eagle we been trying to figure out where it was built I think his is a MOL Eagle but not sure yet it has a Volvo engine,As my old buddy Norris would tell me puffing away on cigarettes "it is what is with Eagle" FWIW we have several engineers and production people that worked for Eagle for years on our Eagle F/B page I'll ask one for you

DoubleEagle · August 22, 2016, 07:00:14 AM

Thanks Cliff, I would appreciate any information that can be provided. The history of Eagle production sure has a lot of twists and turns over the years, that's why it is important to get everything possible documented and straightened out, not just for us, but for future owners. It is not inconceivable that Eagles will be in use for decades to come. As the people who made them become fewer in number, it is all the more urgent that their knowledge be saved. I hope Norris is doing well and enjoying his retirement, he helped me out, and many other Eagle owners.

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · August 22, 2016, 12:03:55 PM

Like Cliff said, the Eagle S/N numbers seem to be all over the map and I am not sure what Model Eagle I have for sure either. However you maybe able to find information about your bus in the Eagle Production Records on the Eagles International site below. Someone painstakingly put together the records and posted them for all of us to use. Check it out and if you are not already a member of Eagles International now is a good time to join to learn more about your bus. My Eagle S/N is 8001. What can you tell from that?

http://eaglesinternational.net/category/eagle-production-records

luvrbus · August 22, 2016, 12:17:34 PM

The ones Joe Phillips did on EI are about as good as it gets I helped him chase down some early Houston Metro 05 that weren't even supposed to exist Jesse here on this board has 1 of those fwiw,then you have the Eagles that were rebuilt they were assigned a different serial number it's a mess. I have a stack of build sheets from Eagle and it is hard to even figure those out

DoubleEagle · August 22, 2016, 06:42:58 PM

The Eagles International list goes up to 1980, only. The older ones have more documentation than the newer ones, but the lists don't provide much more information than the outfit that ordered the bus. In my case, I know who ordered my 1984 Model 10 because I have the purchase invoice and first registration (and the original manuals), but what I would like to know is, what plant produced it under the name New Trails Manufacturing, Inc. The 17 digit VIN started in 1984 or earlier, and mine is 1EUAC6A18EB031309. If it was made in Harlingen, TX, where 84 two-axle Suburban's were made from 1982-83, and closed in 1985, it seems that only a relatively few out of the 2217 Model 10's built, were built there. Harlingen is only a half-hour away from Brownsville, so there must have been a lot of interaction. I realize the history of Eagle is convoluted and mysterious, but I want to know where my Model 10 was born. It is an Entertainer Coach, and the custom Electrical Switch Panel has the names of all the tradesmen that did the interior, but I know nothing of who built the shell, and no one else who has a Model 10 made by New Trails Manufacturing, has popped up yet.

eagle19952 · August 22, 2016, 07:16:18 PM

Quote from: DoubleEagle on August 22, 2016, 06:42:58 PM
The Eagles International list goes up to 1980, only. The older ones have more documentation than the newer ones, but the lists don't provide much more information than the outfit that ordered the bus. In my case, I know who ordered my 1984 Model 10 because I have the purchase invoice and first registration (and the original manuals), but what I would like to know is, what plant produced it under the name New Trails Manufacturing, Inc. The 17 digit VIN started in 1984 or earlier, and mine is 1EUAC6A18EB031309. If it was made in Harlingen, TX, where 84 two-axle Suburban's were made from 1982-83, and closed in 1985, it seems that only a relatively few out of the 2217 Model 10's built, were built there. Harlingen is only a half-hour away from Brownsville, so there must have been a lot of interaction. I realize the history of Eagle is convoluted and mysterious, but I want to know where my Model 10 was born. It is an Entertainer Coach, and the custom Electrical Switch Panel has the names of all the tradesmen that did the interior, but I know nothing of who built the shell, and no one else who has a Model 10 made by New Trails Manufacturing, has popped up yet.

Perhaps you have a one and only

luvrbus · August 22, 2016, 07:45:33 PM

Walter why would Eagle keep a plant open for 3 years after production stopped on the 10S ? do you have the FLT frame number for your bus

DoubleEagle · August 22, 2016, 08:00:59 PM

I probably don't have the only one, and it looks like they operated during the three years after the Suburban without using the 2 code in the VIN for Harlingen in order to cause confusion and mystery that has lasted for at least 31 years now. The question still remains, where are the other New Trails Manufacturing Model 10's? How big of a club is it? As that guy sitting on the ground looking at Dirty Harry's Magnum said "I gots ta know".

luvrbus · August 22, 2016, 08:09:42 PM

I had a 1979 model 10 believe it or not according to vin plaque

DoubleEagle · August 22, 2016, 08:13:48 PM

And it probably had a short entry door and driver's window to cause model 05 confusion!

luvrbus · August 22, 2016, 08:16:56 PM

Quote from: DoubleEagle on August 22, 2016, 08:13:48 PM
And it probably had a short entry door and driver's window to cause model 05 confusion!

Yea the 10's had that till about the mid 1980

RJ · August 22, 2016, 08:56:36 PM

The 17-digit VINs were required by the feds starting with 1980 model year vehicles.

GMs may have their faults, but at least the factory was relatively consistent with the VINs up until the end of production.

MCI VINs are hard to track down, too. Seems the only online list is for Canadian deliveries, with the oddball US or Saudi cars listed. My 5C doesn't show up.

Are Prevosts somewhere in the middle??

FWIW & HTH. . .

luvrbus · August 23, 2016, 05:16:45 AM

Eagle never went to the 17 digit vin number till late !983,lol but remember this is a bus manufacture that was building and selling 45 ft buses 2 years before they were legal to run on the hiways

DoubleEagle · August 23, 2016, 06:19:19 AM

Quote from: luvrbus on August 23, 2016, 05:16:45 AM
Eagle never went to the 17 digit vin number till late !983,lol but remember this is a bus manufacture that was building and selling 45 ft buses 2 years before they were legal to run on the hiways

Looks like the wild and carefree past of Eagle has been revealed. We need some former employees to weigh in and tell some tales!

I still don't know where my Eagle was made; did they build the frame in Brownsville and ship it to Harlingen to finish? Did they build them off the books and sell them for cash?