01 Sport Tailights on 98 4door?

[TJM623]

Would a set of 01 sport tailights or whatever year has the all red light except for the reverse light (2nd gen only) fit on my 98 XLT? I wanna tint the tails myself, but i don't wanna use mine for obvious reasons, such as i'd have to have them out, and if i screw up i'm outta tailights. Plus with it being all red I wouldn't have to tint as dark to cover up the orange turn signal

 

[celly]

They don't fit. '01 Sport tails only fit on any Sport from '01 onwards. A 98 XLT will only accept tails from ANY Explorer from 98-01 EXCEPT the '01 Sport. Tails from '95-97 Explorers will also fit but will look like crap because of the dimensions of the liftgates.

Get a second set off eBay or a boneyard, cover the amber with a few coats of Testors Candy Apple red, then tint with 2-3 coats of VHT Nightshades and liberal coats of clear coat.

Been there, done that.

EDIT: I did mine following excellent instructions posted on another site by "Anabolic Frolic". I have the links, but now they're dead. I pretty much got the same results he did following his example. Now if only someone could convince him to re-post those directions. I see he doesn't have tinted tails any longer, but he definitely knows what he's talking about.

 

[TJM623]

whatta you mean 95-97 will look like crap?? I wanna get these blackouts if i don't tint or even if i do there 10 bucks and i can sell the headlight portion for 10$ and make my money back...but there for 95-97 will they not look right?

 

[Heavymentill]

You can tell a difference in shape.

 

[celly]

whatta you mean 95-97 will look like crap?? I wanna get these blackouts if i don't tint or even if i do there 10 bucks and i can sell the headlight portion for 10$ and make my money back...but there for 95-97 will they not look right?

Search the archives. Somewhere is a thread where a guy took 95-97 tails and put them on a 98-01 and vice versa. Complete with photos.

It said everything and a picture really was worth a 1000 words.

 

[TJM623]

You can tell a difference in shape.

i've seen the thread with the pictures of those, but......i'm not talking about the actual light it's a blackout cover, thinking that it might be able to have a little movement don't you think i could get it to fit?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127378

those are the ones i'm talking about.

 

[celly]

i've seen the thread with the pictures of those, but......i'm not talking about the actual light it's a blackout cover, thinking that it might be able to have a little movement don't you think i could get it to fit?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127378

those are the ones i'm talking about.

I doubt it. The 98-01 is completely different shape. I've owned a '97 and a '00 and the rear end and tails really are that much different. The 98-01 bulges out a lot more. The 95-97 is much more compact and "squarish".

 

[Heavymentill]

I'll put money on it, They won't fit right.

 

[TJM623]

ok such a good deal 2 i was gonna get both the headlights and tails for 10$ shipped, and then keep the tails and the guy second in line told me he'd buy the headlights back off me for 10$ so i woulda basically gotten 40$ taillight covers for free *sigh* Nothing ever fits when I want to buy it :fire: