The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Clearence light Location?

Looking to add Clearance lights to my 1 ton, was there a standard location the factory or dealer installed them at? I have seen many different combinations.

the current "standard" is set by your motor vehicle authority [fed now I'd think] and what you should go by as they are for identification in poor visibility conditions - and really not appropriate for pickups

generally "clearance" lights are single ones, as near to the outer edges as practical, and "marker" or "identification" lights are 3 in the center, 3-6" apart - so 5 across

Bill

25.13 Identification Lamps. All buses, trucks, and truck-tractors 80 inches wide or wider must be equipped with three (3)
identification lamps of amber color mounted on the cab of the ve
hicle, one (1) as close to the
vertical center line of the vehi
cle as
practicable and one (1) on each side of the center line, not less than 6 inches or more than 12 inches.

If your vehicle has dual wheels, it probably is 80" wide.

Have seen factory ones on the smaller 1 ton duallys and the 1 1/4 trucks. My 49 GMC 250 is single with the optional 9' bed. Was just interested in whether there was a template or actually factory location dimension they installed them at.

any given year the factory installed them as required by the laws in the area the truck was to be sold, it wasn't a GM decision or an option, cren cites the correct locations for the ID or marker lights, clearance lights are as close to the corners as you can get ..... aside from having duals those "smaller" trucks no doubt originally had flat/stake decks 6.5' wide with clearance and ID lights on the back as well, for the intended purpose .... which doesn't rule out the possibility that many of the trucks you've seen had lights added by owners, I've seen 1/2T trucks with half a dozen lights evenly spaced across the front of the cab roof

Bill

If your vehicle is a pickup with a 9' box and single wheels, I doubt that lights were were an option because it never fell within the 80" requirement. However, this cab was used on trucks that were over 80" wide. Texas required a light on each side which were known as clearance lights. The 3 lights in the middle are known as identification lights and were not required in Texas. Other states had other regulations. Back then, trucks engaged in interstate commerce were regulated by the ICC.

If you want lights, I would follow current regulations. Clearance lights on each side and 3 identification lights no less than 6" and no more than 12" apart.

This is a pretty simple bulletin on what is law now in the US and in Canada.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/standards/conspicuity/TBMpstr.html

Thanks Guys, STOVEBOLT never falls short of information.

My 57 2ton has 5 amber lights across the top of the cab. When I removed them to restore, they looked like they had been there since 1957.

It's not a Bolt, but I have a 59 F-350 parts truck that also has either 5 or 6 lights across the front of the cab, all equally spaced.