GTA V Vehicle Bone Names: Complete Reference

GTA V's engine recognizes a fixed set of bone (or "dummy") names on vehicle models. These names control where wheels mount, which lights blink, which doors open, where suspension travel attaches, and dozens of other behaviors. Get the names wrong and the engine silently does nothing - the wheel will not steer, the door will not open, the headlights will not light. The list below is sourced from the alt:V multiplayer documentation, which mirrors the names recognized by the GTA V engine itself.

Chassis and frame

• chassis - the main body mesh root
• chassis_Control - control reference for animations
• chassis_dummy - the documented entry point used by exporters and rigging tools
• chassis_lowlod - low LOD chassis variant

Wheels

The standard four-wheel layout uses these bone names:

• wheel_lf - left front
• wheel_rf - right front
• wheel_lr - left rear
• wheel_rr - right rear

For trucks and trailers with extra axles, additional middle-wheel bones exist:

• wheel_lm1, wheel_rm1 - left/right middle, first row
• wheel_lm2, wheel_rm2 - second middle row
• wheel_lm3, wheel_rm3 - third middle row

Doors

• door_dside_f - driver side front
• door_dside_r - driver side rear
• door_pside_f - passenger side front
• door_pside_r - passenger side rear
• door_hatch_l, door_hatch_r - rear hatch / trunk panels (when present as separate panels)

Note the convention: dside = driver side, pside = passenger side. This is consistent across right-hand-drive vehicles in GTA V too - the engine treats the side names by physical position, not by which side has the steering wheel.

Bumpers and body panels

• bumper_f - front bumper
• bumper_r - rear bumper
• bonnet - hood
• boot - trunk lid

Suspension

Suspension bones are what the wheels visually attach to for travel:

• suspension_lf, suspension_rf - front
• suspension_lr, suspension_rr - rear
• suspension_lm, suspension_rm - middle (for multi-axle vehicles)

Lighting

Lights are dummy points that the engine emits light from. The mesh of the actual light bulb/LED is separate; these dummies just tell the engine where the light origin is:

• headlight_l, headlight_r - main headlight emitters
• taillight_l, taillight_r - rear tail lights
• brakelight_l, brakelight_m, brakelight_r - brake lights (left, middle, right)
• reversinglight_l, reversinglight_r - reverse lights
• indicator_lf, indicator_rf, indicator_lr, indicator_rr - turn signals on each corner
• doorlight_lf, doorlight_lr, doorlight_rf, doorlight_rr - puddle/door open indicator lights

Other commonly used names

The full alt:V documentation lists many more bones, grouped roughly into:

• Wing/fender meshes (wing_lf, wing_rf)
• Window meshes (window_lf, window_rf, etc. for each pane)
• Seat positions (seat_dside_f, seat_pside_f, etc.)
• Exhaust dummies (exhaust, exhaust_2, etc. for multiple pipes)
• Siren positions (siren_1 through siren_20 for emergency vehicles)
• Engine bay parts (engine block, fan, turbocharger meshes)
• Specialized bones for helicopters (rotors), military (turrets), and cargo vehicles

What happens with wrong names

The engine matches by exact name. A typo (weel_lf, wheel_LF) means the engine cannot find the bone and the corresponding behavior breaks silently. Some specific failure modes:

• Misspelled wheel bone: wheel does not mount, vehicle drives without that wheel visible or steering applied
• Misspelled headlight: light still emits from the model material's emissive shader, but the engine-controlled spotlight cone does not project
• Misspelled door: door is part of the body mesh, will not open

Sources

• alt:V Documentation: Vehicle Bones
• RAGE Multiplayer Wiki: Vehicle Bones
• GTAForums: List of Entity Bone Index Hashes