So you are sitting in a field looking over a Dodge truck, and it looks great, despite being covered in years of dirt, several layers of mold, and having two flat tires.
The farmer looks at you and says "Yep, this 1958 1 ton 4wd Dodge truck sure served me well over the years, see it is so strong I got 3 Ton plates for it!"
You look at the truck, and sure enough, it says "100" on the hood, and the farmer is telling you that means 1 Ton. You look at the truck and think it looks awful light duty for a one ton, but the farmer must know what he is talking about right?
Only one way to know for sure, CHECK THE SERIAL NUMBER!
Now you need to know where to find it right? Well the best place to find the Serial Number on a 57-60 Dodge truck (location holds true for 54-56, and probably earlier) is the frame. Why the frame? Well tags get taken off the door jamb, cabs get swapped, other problems come about that make finding or trusting the VIN on the cab a hard job. Finding the VIN on the frame is not always easy, but it is more reliable.
Above you can see a section of the drivers side front frame rail. The cleaned area is where the Serial Number is, and the bracket is one for a 2wd front bumper. The triangle shaped piece below the frame, and end of the serial number, is the front spring shackle on the drivers side.
The number on this frame is 1180132750, which makes this a 1960 D100 with a V8.
1957 and early 1958 Dodge trucks use a paper tag located in the glovebox to give all the Serial Number, and other vehicle information.
Because the tags were paper, and the gloveboxes were cardboard, most of the trucks I have checked no longer have this tag. I have seen several trucks with glue residue in the glovebox where the tag would be, but none with the tag still intact.
A 1957 tag is pictured below, it came out of a 57 Town Panel, and it is the only paper 57 tag I have ever seen. Because of the rarity of these tags, 57s and early 58s almost all need to be checked by the number on the frame. If you find this tag the important numbers for identifying your truck are the ones above "serial no." K6 D100, and 82427054.
1958 Dodge trucks used a tag on the drivers door jamb soon after production started that year, so if you own a 58 you may get lucky and have the tag pictured below.
The important number on this tag for identifying your truck is the L6W1 L18158 number in the upper left hand corner
1960 gets a bit more tricky, as there are now two tags. The big tag is just like the 59 tag, and has the same information.
The number in the upper left hand corner of the big tag, (in this case 1160103896) still matches the frame number, but now there is a second smaller tag with another number.
The Dodge literature uses the number on the smaller tag (in this case 0 6D1 L102695) to explain what a truck is, and ignores the number used on the frame and the big tag. Having both numbers if you have a 1960 is useful as Dodge did not provide starting serial numbers for the frame/big tag number.
Now that you know where to find your serial number, go out and get it, and then go back the the serial number page, and click on the correct size for your truck to decode your Serial Number.
By the way, a 58 Dodge truck with a 100 on the hood is supposed to be a 1/2 ton, though it is possible the hood or badges were swapped at some point in the truck from the story at the top of the page.