Projects 58 Apache

My fleet side only came with one tail light housing from the factory. But I'm planning wiring up the other side. Where can I find one? Original, or remanufactured?

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All the truck parts places sell them.

 

really? who sells a 58-59 fleetside tail light housing? I was looking for one for a long time...never did find one.

they repop the lens and bezel, but not the housing

 

I thought by 58 everything had 2 taillights? I'd really like to see that. That's gotta be rare.

 

I've got a 59 Apache and I believe they sell every piece of it at LMC truck and possibly Brothers. Google em, go to the website and get their free catalogue.

 

LMC lists the lens and bezel, and the lens gasket. Any other suggestions?

Turn signals were optional back then...and the law only required one tail light and one brake light.

 

i thought the fleetside beds all had 2 tail lights? its the full box bed right?
maybe i never noticed

 

The Fleetsides should have two taillights if it is a Fleetside, one has been removed. Now in 58 a passenger side taillight was still an option industry wide for stepsides.

 

Thats what i thought, stepsides only had one light

 

Even the wiring harness didn't include that side of the truck at the tail light

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So is there just a hole on that side of the bed?

 

Since its a round hole, wouldn't the housing be the same, left or right? Maybe just flipped over on the opposite side?

 

they have different part numbers...
899036 L.H.
987870 R.H.

 

You may have more luck contacting a breaker. There are a bunch of guys around the country that dismantle these trucks and sell off the parts.

 

here's how I fixed mine. Old trailer light. Beautiful, eh?

 

I want to see what was in place of the tail light. I'm a weirdo, and would like a fleetside tail light delete plate. I really like Task Force trucks, and stop and look at every one I see, for probably the last 45 years.

 

probably a lens and bezel, but no bulb. would make it fun for getting pulled over all the time these days.

 

I've never seen the the insides for sale, lenses and bezels everywhere but nothing else.

 

I don't want to get your hopes up but a friend of mine has a bed in his back yard. Some asshole stole the side trim but maybe not the housing.

 

side trim is worth big bucks....

 

Have to wonder with everything repopped these days, why they haven't done the fleet side stuff. Most asked question is do you have another bed? I do have a set of chrome and hear some say they make the the end pieces but not the long stainless strips....but I haven't seen it.

 

The tail light housings don't usually go bad, so there isn't enough demand to repop them. Similar with the stainless strips, they can be repaired and polished. The end pieces are cast pot metal, which gets pitted and ruined over time. Although the ones on my 59 are cherry....

 

Squirrel-that tail light fix of yours finally gives us proof that you are not a super-human robot-car-problem-solving machine-incapable-of-error-or-bad-taste.

 

heh...I usually build things appropriate to what they need. That old truck just needed a tail light, it was never going to look good.

 

You're luck is as good as mine, they were both stripped. I will keep you in mind though. I have a 59 stepside 4wd that I need the hood trim for. I'm going down to Scottsboro next week to a "field of dreams" to hunt it and I'll keep an eye out for one.

 

Update: Just got back from the "field of dreams". It's gone! It was just a field with about 50 old vehicles (some real old.) The old man died and his nephew told me he "sold em for scrap." It shouldn't have bothered me but it did. I hope they didn't actually go to the crusher. What a waste.

 

Got a new LMC catalog today. I'm not certain this is the part you need but if it ain't I'll always think it shoulda been.
part# 36-4194 tail light bezel-aluminum Chevy GMC 58-59

 

I just picked up a 58 fleetside longbed (bed only) last week. It looks original but who can really tell after 50 years. It has both right and left tail light buckets. It also has two lights inside, one is the brake/flasher and the other looks like a driving or reverse light. I'm new to fleetside beds so I don't know much here. I took it all apart to start working on the rust. There are two of these buckets, does this look like what you guys are talking about?

Not trying to hijack maybe we can use it as a visual record for others.

 

The housing and center socket look right, the other socket that's laying in there looks like someone added it on, but we'd probably need some more detailed photos to be sure. I've owned a few of the Fleetside beds and trucks over the years, and never seen that before.

 

Squirrel is right, even the trucks with turn signals just had the single bulb in the center. Someone added that second one probably for signal light.
Mine had a real small bulbs added to the side of the original kinda like that.
And to my knowledge there's still no one making those buckets