The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks marker lights

I have a question about the front marker lights. I have a 65 that I have been restoring and rewired it with a american auto wire kit which all went really well. My question is are the marker lights on when the headlights are on with a stock harness. My marker lights stay on with the headlights now but I am positive with my factory harness they shut off as soon as I turned on the lights. Maybe my old harness was messed up but I was just curious, maybe I am loosing my mind it was almost ten years ago.

"marker lights" are the ones on the roof corners of big trucks, they're on any time any lights are on - if you mean the parking lights, yes originally they would have come on at the first switch position and the 2nd switch position would have been headlights only, but modern vehicles have the park and headlights on at the samre time ["running lights"] and the harness maker may have incorporated that feature, easy enough to do

Bill

As squeeze stated, driving lights/lamps and running lights/lamps, are (were) the lights/lamps used on a running/rolling vehicle. Marker lights/lamps were additional light/lamps.

To simply state and understand the purpose of Parking Lamps/Lights, slowly say the words out load and consider their meaning: start with "Parking".

In many states, parking lamps were not allowed to be on unless the vehicle was on/near the side of the road and was not moving.

It was also illegal in many states to be driving with only parking lamps on (perhaps because they are parking lamps and you were not parking).

And, in some states it was illegal to be parking on the side of a road with the driving lamps on (blinding and confusing on-confusing drivers).

yeah i meant parking lights, but if i say parking lights slowly that would be incorrect now that they are on all the time so I guess I will consider them running lights. I just noticed they stayed on all the time now and was sure they did not before.

In my old trucking days, I would use my "Parking Lights" while driving on rainy days and also when it was dusk. Another words, I wanted my lights on, but not the Headlights. Then when it got dark, I would then pop on the Headlights.

Now today in Virginia, if your wipers are working, you need to run your Headlights. Interestingly not on intermittent use, but on full time wiper use.

Bill