NBS/OBS Nomenclature Is Some BS

by "Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
Published 11/30/2017 at 12:00

Tags: rants ; terminology ; acronyms ; trucks ; pickup trucks ; chevrolet ; chevy ; ford
STARS: 3

Truck enthusiasts love using acronyms like NBS (New Body Style) and OBS (Old Body Style) as shorthand to identify which generation of truck they are referring to. But what counts as “new”, and when does it become “old”?

You would think that once something had been around for a while, people would stop calling it “new”, especially as something that was literally NEW came along to replace it. After all, everything that’s new does become old at some point.

But NBS/OBS terminology defies such logic. Instead of crowning the latest generation as “new”, and demoting the previous incarnation as “old”, it takes one particular generation and grants it permanent status as “new”. Or at least it would, if words meant anything. In practice, it seems more like NBS has abandoned its roots as an acronym and become a meaningless shorthand code for that one generation.

And what generation is that? What generation of truck has become the Anno Domini of automotive timekeeping? And whose bright idea was this?

Wikipedia credits service technicians for using OBS to differentiate Power Stroke -equipped trucks of the mid-late ’90s. Did these techs actually coin the term OBS , or did they simply adopt and perpetuate an existing nickname that was rising in popularity? Either way, the nomenclature stuck.

There was some overlap between Ford’s new and old body styles for the 1997 model year, so perhaps Ford is partly to blame for creating a need for clarification between the two.

But it’s not just Ford trucks that were subjected to the NBS/OBS phenomenon. It sees heavy use among the GM truck community. Like Ford, GM also had a lot of messy overlap between generations, but when it comes to the standard US-market pickups, the dividing line came a little later than Ford’s did, as 1999 MY trucks took on the name Silverado as more than just a trim level.

NBS and OBS rose in popularity among enthusiasts, thanks in no small part to the digital age. It became even more convenient to throw these acronyms around, using them on all kinds of websites, especially forums. Though it was hot and trendy to have acronyms for both the new and previous generations, it soon became apparent that other generations would need acronyms of their own.

That’s probably how the term OOBS was born. That’s right: Old Old Body Style . And naturally, there eventually needed to be an acronym for the generation that eventually replaced the NBS trucks... you guessed it: New New Body Style . Is there no end to this madness? You do see where this is going, right?

So for GM trucks, this plays out more or less like so:

OOBS (Old Old Body Style): 1987 and older C/K series

OBS (Old Body Style): 1988-1998 (GMT400 series)

NBS (New Body Style): 1999-2006 (GMT800 series)

NNBS (New New Body Style): 2007-2013 (GMT900 series)

Wait wait, hold on, GMT-what now? You mean that the manufacturer already has official alphanumeric codes to help identify these trucks and we’re just going to ignore them in favor of this NBS/OBS crap? You’ve got to be kidding me.

Now maybe I’m just not hanging out in the right places to be exposed to the term, but TBH I don’t see very many people using NNNBS for the current GMT K2XX-series trucks, so maybe others are getting as tired of this nonsense as I am. OBS and NBS do still see frequent use, but perhaps there’s hope for future generations after all. The K2XX platform has a replacement already on its way: the GMT T1XX. If we’re lucky, no one will start calling it the NNNNBS .

Replies (22)

"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
11/30/2017 at 17:21, STARS: 1

I’ve only heard new body style vs old body when discussing a model year and not know if it is the current or previous generation.

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
11/30/2017 at 17:36, STARS: 1

Except for a bodystyle changeover (or simultaneous models in a given year, in which case I prefer the terms Profitable Truck and Extremely Profitable Truck) this is ridiculous.

Kind of reminds me of when places put up signs — or even websites — saying “serving the community for 26 years” or “over 13 years of experience” when just using a year would mean never having to edit it.

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
11/30/2017 at 17:44, STARS: 0

Yeah, mid-cycle refreshes would be one of the most fitting ways to use “new/old body style”. A lot of car models get one major facelift halfway through their generation, and this would be a good way to distinguish between early and later versions of what is more or less the same car underneath.

"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
11/30/2017 at 17:55, STARS: 2

I have never heard of any of this and I work in aftermarket accessories specifically for pickups.

OBS has clearly been established for the 91-96 F-150/91-97 Super Duty, I’ve never heard anyone even semi officially refer to a GM truck as an OBS. The only time I hear what your describing is someone who’s trying to describe a truck, but either knows nothing about trucks themselves, or the person they’re describing knows nothing. IE they cant describe a truck by the year because they either don’t know it, or the person they’re telling doesn’t know it.

Want to know what’s some real bullshit? When Chevy face lifted the Silverado in 2007 from the more rounded front end to the angry eye (aka the cat eye), one of them is called the Silverado, and one is called the Silverado Classic. Can you guess which one is which? The fucking Silverado Classic is the newer truck. Fucking GM.

Anyway, most truck enthusiasts have pretty established nomenclature for most generations of trucks.

Ex. Ford: Bumpside, dentside, bullnose, bricknose, OBS, Jellybean 11th gen

Chevy: Squarebody, C/K series, round nose, cat eye/angry eye. On Oppo I usually see GMT400, GMT800, but I haven’t encountered that outside of Oppo yet.

Dodge: Not actually super familiar with Dodge names, the Cummins equipped truck are refered to as 1st gen, 2nd gen, (then IDK) but I don’t know much about the rest.

Edit: To answer your question more directly, NBS refers to the newest generation to come out, OBS refers to the generation before it (exception: OBS Ford refers to the 91-96/97 trucks). That changes as soon as the next generation comes out, when NBS refers to the new truck, the old NBS becomes OBS, and the old OBS, gets it’s own nickname, ie: GMT400, dentside, cat eye etc.

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
11/30/2017 at 18:00, STARS: 2

Yeah, NBS/OBS seems to be mostly on the forums, especially GM ones.

Y’know, come think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard a Dodge referred to as NBS/OBS. Good.

"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
11/30/2017 at 18:02, STARS: 1

Check out my edit if you haven’t already, but basically the only truck able to permanently claim OBS is the 91-96/97 Fords.

"cmill189 - sans Volvo" (cmill189)
11/30/2017 at 18:27, STARS: 2

I always wondered when it would come to this. When I had my OBS trucks, the NNBS had just come out. It wasn’t weird at that point. Now it’s just stupid. Thanks, FSC forum.

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
11/30/2017 at 18:40, STARS: 2

I stay away from the GM truck forums, unless I have a specific question. The OBS/NBS/NNBS stuff is confounding. My truck is almost 12 years old ... it was the last full proper model year of that body style ... yet it’s the NEW body style ... which totally makes sense.

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
11/30/2017 at 19:44, STARS: 1

And my truck’s supposedly “old” body style. I guess that’s not entirely untrue in the literal sense, but it’s awfully vague. Anything that’s not the current generation has reason to be referred to as “old”, even your truck.

"ranwhenparked" (ranwhenparked)
11/30/2017 at 20:14, STARS: 0

Technically, you never have to update the “over 13 years” kind. I mean, even if the business makes it to 100, 100 years is still over 13.

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
11/30/2017 at 20:33, STARS: 2

Agreed. I like the Oppo way of referring to them by their GMT number.

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
11/30/2017 at 21:59, STARS: 1

Oh man, when I had an 01 Suburban, I perused the forums from time to time.... and I really couldn’t get the NBS, etc at all. I was aware of the BMW system of E30, E36, etc and just could not fathom the shortsightedness of using anything but manufacturers codes.

"RT" (rt-p)
12/01/2017 at 05:23, STARS: 1

The only time I’ve found these unofficial ‘old and new’ nicknames useful, would be for some recent Saabs - and that’s because they often only have two generations.

This is an OG Saab 900.

And here is a NG 900.

Again, OG 9-3.

And NG 9-3.

OG 9-5.

NG.

This works because it’s two nicknames used to describe two  generations that don’t always have an official chassis code designation.

It must be a nightmare using these same two nicknames to describe so many generations of GM trucks though. Let me know when the NNNNNBS is a thing.

"adamftw" (adamftw)
12/01/2017 at 07:12, STARS: 0

The round eye to cat eye was in 2003. The 2006 and 2007 Silverados were called the “Silverado Classic” and were the older body style (GMT800)... in 2007 you could buy the newer style (GMT900) but only in a 1500. 2006 and 2007 Silverado Classics had a very slightly different grill and hood than the 03-05.

If you wanted a MY2007 3/4 or 1 ton, it was available in the GMT800 or GMT900, and you apparently could get a 2007 GMT800 1500, but AFAIK it was only available for fleet purchase. I’ve never seen one.

"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
12/01/2017 at 09:37, STARS: 0

That clears things up a little, still confusing as hell though.

"adamftw" (adamftw)
12/01/2017 at 10:20, STARS: 0

Yes.

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/02/2017 at 19:36, STARS: 1

Haha having previously owned an 1999 “OBS” Yukon, I was also annoyed more groups didn’t use the frame/ chassis designation (GMT400, etc).

And yeah, the transition from OBS to NBS (I had not seen “NBS” used before this post) was super messy. The NBS seems to have started as early as 1998, but you could still get an OBS Yukon/ Tahoe Denali as late as 2001, I think. The major swap for the Yukon/ Tahoe/ Suburban was 2000.

Man I loved that car...

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
12/04/2017 at 10:59, STARS: 0

This must be more of a forum thing? I’ve never heard this OBS/NBS used in reference to Chevy. I’ve heard of OBS for the early 90's Fords. For Chevy’s I’ve heard reference to squarebodies, C/K series (the generation after sqaurebodies), and GMTXXX

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
12/04/2017 at 11:13, STARS: 1

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered these acronyms in verbal form at all. You’re right, a lot of it is happening on forums, but I think a lot of it has to do with the digital age in general. There was no “OBS” designation until there was a “NBS” to clarify it against. So these terms all started to come into use in the latter ’90s, just in time for the internet to start catching on.

"Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street." (demon-xanth)
12/06/2017 at 14:59, STARS: 0

Generally I like using new/old in the case of generation splits.

Dakota generations according to Dodge:

1987-1996

1997-2004

2005-2011

Dakota generations according to fans:

1987-1990

1991-1996 (the 1991 refresh included longer fenders, magnum engines including V8s on non-shelbys, switch to six lug...)

1997-2004 (the 2000 refresh was mostly dash, other changes were minor aside from the 4.7 replacing the 5.2)

2005-2007

2008-2011 (MUCH more squared body style

1987:

1991:

1997:

2001:

(yes, I can point out the differences between 1997-1999, 2000-2002, and 2003-2004 from a distance)

2005:

2008:

"Tristan" (casselts)
08/13/2020 at 10:56, STARS: 0

Squarebody: 1987 and older C/K series

Pretty shitbox: 1988-1998 (GMT400 series)

GMT800, A.K.A. The GOAT: 1999-2007 classic

Hideous, disfigured GMT800 beaten with the ugly stick: ‘03-’07 Silverado

Plastic Fantastic Cracky Dash: 2007-2013 (GMT900 series)

This post is 3 years old... How did I even end up here, Kinja?

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
08/13/2020 at 18:35, STARS: 1

Trust me, you’re not the only one. The time circuits on the Kinjalorean seem to set to 2017 for whatever reason lately . This was a fun one to revisit though!