Final word on clear tails?

[EO]

After reading many posts, I'm trying to figure out the state of legality of clear tails.

The way I understand it, what makes a clear tail illegal is the red light bulb or source. You can't have red bulbs. But if you have a white light filtered through a red lens, then that's OK.

I've seen pics of the new Altezzas - but can someone confirm the light source? And even if it's a white bulb, are they legal? If not, then why?

I really like the new Altezza tails and would like to order a set, but I'd like to know a little more first.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Quick]

Your best bet is to check with your local police station and ask. They will know better than anyone else.

Good luck!

 

[00XLT]

From reading so so many webpages and laws, what I can best gleen from them on legality is this:

1. Brake lights must be red.
2. The red light must be made by a clear light bulb behind a red lens.
3. You must have a red reflex reflector visible on the side of the car.
...there are others regarding visibility of light output and exposure tests on plastics used, which render pretty much every aftermarket tail illegal as APC/Car Wear/etc. don't do them, but I have never heard of anyone getting a ticket because their taillights weren't properly weather tested...

The best way I can explain #3 is if you look at an older Caddy (with the thin taillights; there are plenty of other examples I can't think of right now), you'll notice you can't see the brake lights from the side, what you do see though is a red reflector which makes up for the lack of visibility on the sides. If you take a picture of your stock Explorer tails from the side at night with a flash, you can easily tell there is a red reflex reflector built into the housing. Euro/Altezzas don't have that red reflex reflector, neither do clears. What a lot of people can tell you though, myself included, is that the closer you are to appearing legal, the less likely you'll get pulled over.

I personally have the Euro/Altezzas on mine and have actually received compliments from police officers (half the Seattle PD eats at the restaurant I work at) on them. If you want to get aftermarket tails, I'd say go for them, they're about as close as you can get to legal right now.

 

[RytM1]

EO, depending on the color of your truck, some people are waiting for the carbon fiber altezzas, which should be out in a couple months. Check them out at http://autosyndicate.com/

 

[EO]

Thanks for the info, 00XLT. I really like the look of the tails on yours - my Explorer is very dark as well, and I think the clear tails look sharp - a nice striking contrast.

I did see pics of the carbon fiber tails (for the Ranger, I think), but the regular Euros look great.

I agree - being close to legal as possible is good enough. I see enough other mods on ricemobiles that can't possibly be legal (including totally clear tails, ridiculous rims that stick way out, blue (I mean REALLY blue) non-hid lights, etc), so I figure I'd be pretty safe with "close enough".

 

[newbz]

Hey EO, I got those "all clear" tails and I am NOT some stupid ricer. wtf?

 

[DarkFox1]

it seems you are sort of confused on the matter of clear tail legality EO? heh.. if thats the case then join the crowd.. your original post is actually a bit confusing to me.. how can having a red light in a clear lense not be legal? I've never heard of that.. and thats the ONLY way you can prevent blinding the person behind you I beleive.

if you are interested in clears, but do not know how strictly the cops enforce them, conduct an experiment.. start looking around for cars with clears.. notice what kind they are, if they are total clears, clreas with red reflectors or altezzas.. and make note of how often you see them.. if you see the same car in like a 6 month period that has consitatnt clears on it, then chances are the cops in your area are ont sticklers on the law and it should be safe to go with them. As far as I know ALtezzas are 50 state DOT.

 

[EO]

No offense intended on the all clear tails. I'm just trying to find the minimum requirements for a legal tailight. I couldn't begin to tell you the difference between a red light and a white light behind a red lens, but that seems to be the thing.

If you look in the ads for just about every clear tail, they say "for show or off-road use only". This implies they aren't street legal, but there's no explanation why.