taillight question

[Andy96XLT]

I am looking to get a new set of tail lights for my explorer but it seems all the ones I like are for the 98-01 explorers and I have a 96. I have seen that there are lights for 95-97 explorers and lights for 98-01, but when I look at my 96 and look at my buddies 99 the tail lights look exactly the same. I don't want to order the 98+ lights and not have them fit but I can't understand what the issue is. Can somebody please clear this up for me and let me know if the 98+ will fit a 96 or if I can get them to fit? Thanks

 

[Magicland]

I'm not sure what the differences are, but it might be something as simple as the connectors. I'd gotten a set of visors from ebay to replace mine, looked exactly the same, but mine had a single wire connection while the replacements had a 2 wire setup. Ford seems to like changing electrical connections every few years whether there's a reason to or not.

What I'd suggest is pulling off one of the taillights from your buddy's '99, and compare it to yours, that'd probably be the quickest way to find out. As long as the mounting hardware is the same, the electrical connections can usually be modified easily enough.

 

[Ray Lobato]

I'm pretty sure that the lights for 98+ are not the same as the lights for 95 - 97.

 

[97ford50x]

take the ones ou of your friends and see if they will fit ????????

 

[Blee1099]

ray is right, 95-97 & 98-01 don't share the same taillights. I believe Section did a comparison thread on them a while back.

 

[Charlie]

Yep, the new lines in the 98-01 tailgates don't allow swapping them. I had looked into it, because I like the style of the 98-01 lights.

 

[Andy96XLT]

damn that sucks, alright, well thnks everyone