VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans Original style 37 p/u tail lights

I am thinking about puttung the original style tail lights back on my 37,I presume there are two different lights with one for a license light and one that does not but only finding the one with the license light at a couple vendors. Are the 37 lights made for two bulbs like the 47 to 54 style that are on it now and if they do will consider changing socket for one 1157 bulb since its 12 volts or go LED.

My recollection from having done this some 10 years ago, is the trucks came with only the left rear (driver side) tail light and it had the two bulbs, one for brake and one for the tail light/ license plate. I added one to the right side for additional safety. It also allowed me to add turn signals. It has the second bulb too. I think I got it from J C's. Since then I added a third LED light that mounts with suction cup to rear window. The other lights were not bright enough for the tailgaters to see. I may change these to LED's too.

That is right there was originally only one tail light and that is where the license is so that explains that,but now that the other side tail light bracket is being made they would have thought to make a light without the provision to light up the plate. I think the same tail light was used on 32 to 35 cars according to the vendors and I think they came with two tail lights so I am going to look up them for the cars and see what I can find.

According to Chevs of the 40s those tail lights are the same on cars back to 31? but when I looked at The Filling station the tail lights are different on the car then the truck so I am going to keep the modified 47 to 54 tail lights on for now. 79 dollars a piece and would have to modify one so there is no license plate light so I am going to forget about going back to the original style for now unless I can find some used lights cheap.

The Filling Station has the correct information. The early car tail lights looked very similar to the truck tail light in shape, of the late 30's, but is different in the fact that it is larger. It is larger enough to make it distinctively it's own tail light. If you were to use the earlier car tail light, I think you would have to most likely alter the mounting point in order to use it on the correct bracket for the trucks.

I gave up on the idea of the original tail lights for now,I am going to put LED bulbs in my lights. The car lights were cheaper then the one for the truck but if I can come up with a good set of used lights cheap then it might happen.