Good Luck Buying Taillights

[Gary Lewis]

Today I'm emailing various vendors to see if they have anything but the latest TYC 11-3268-01-1A taillights.  This is what I'm telling them and I'm including the pictures above:

I'm looking for a LH taillight for my 1985 F250 that fits.  And the late TYC ones do not.  I've ordered from two different vendors and have gotten the same TYC taillight model in and it is too tall.  The number on those lights is 11-3268-01-1A and they are silver on the back.  (It isn't my truck as I have two trucks and they won't fit either truck.)

 

In the attached pics you can see the taillight I took out that says Ford on it and it measures 12 11/16" long.  Then you can see the TYC unit that measures 12 7/8" long.  And in another pic you can see that the issue is the extra plastic that TYC is leaving on the unit.

 

So I'm looking for a taillight that fits.  Do you have any?

 

And, by the way, I'm documenting what I'm finding on the Bullnose Forum here, so you might want to follow along.  Your answer will be recorded there so the Bullnose community will know where to find taillights that fit.

 

 

Thanks,

Gary of garysgaragemahal.com

[Gary Lewis]

So far I've emailed to:

• Dennis Carpenter: Response: these taillights we have are the TYC lights. they measure the same...  Chris Casterlin
   
• Jeff's Bronco Graveyard: Response on 11/4: "Unfortunately, we list that same set of TYC taillights and that is all that we offer."
   
• Summit: Response on 11/4: "The TYC-11-3267-01 ad TYC-11-3268-01 are the only tail light assemblies that we offer for your vehicle."
   
• Highbeamkits on ebay: Response: 

  • highbeamkits

    Glad to help if we can.

    I did find one Glo-Brite brand on ebay item number 226280286059.

    Good luck in your search.
    Steve

• LMC and cc'd Keith/@FORDification
   
• NPD: Good response from Derek that they carry other than TYC lights.  See the full response in this post.
   
• Classic Industries: Response: Thank you for contacting Classic Industries Support! We do not carry part you are in search for. We advise our customers to try to google or forums to locate part.

I called CJ Pony Parts but they don't have any lights for Bullnose trucks.

[Xr650jkallen]

I experimented today with my stock ones, granted mine isn’t busted like yours, but it made a pretty decent difference. I cleaned them really good with a red scotchbrite pad and sprayed them with clear coat. 

[Gary Lewis]

Have you put a bulb in them and tested them at night?  That's what I did after polishing mine and discovered that polishing the outside didn't make much difference in the amount of light that got through.  Yes, it looked better in the daytime, but not much better at night.

[Xr650jkallen]

I agree, they are pretty dim at night. I might try some non long life bulbs in mine, they are normally brighter. 

[Xr650jkallen]

Another option would be to put the new lights in the oven on low heat and separate the lens from the housing. Then do the same thing to the factory ones and reseal the new lense onto the factory housing. 

[Gary Lewis]

I think it is the other way around.  Long-life bulbs run at cooler temps to increase their life span, and that means they pull less current and put out less light.  If anything you want a "short-life" bulb to get more intensity, although no one markets them that way 'cause no one would buy them.

Anyway, see the response from Highbeamkits!  The Glo-Brite he found is now on its way to me.  

[Xr650jkallen]

Sweet!!!  I may order a set too. Appreciate the research. 

[Ifitaintbroke]

22 hours ago, Gary Lewis said:

Where will you order these from?  And the product manager will work for whom?  Just trying to understand.

From work. The "green place". The manager I'm referring to will be over the TYC stuff, headlights, small bulbs and the like. The company takes stuff like this seriously, and will do what they can.

[salans7]

I took a fine grit flap disc to mine and it took less than a minute to clean each of them up. I'm personally more worried about whether they end up leaking than how long they were.