I would like to put a spotlight on my 55 F350. I bought a nice Unity light from 1950F2 (John).

I would like to see if you have any problems with it?

how long is the shaft?

Where is it mounted?

Does it interfere with your steering wheel?

Doe it interfere with the door mirror when the door is opened?

Thanks, Pictures of your truck with the spotlight would be appreciated.

 

You can buy brand new "original type" spotlights and the mounting brackets from unityusa.com

This is the same company that FoMoCo bought them from.

 

Yes, Bill, I've looked at the unity website. Their vintage spotlights with the
Ford name on them are cool but pricey, especially for a 6 volt. I may have to buy the 45° mounting bracket to mount it on the A pillar. The spotlight I bought from John came with a circular mounting bracket that is too big for the A pillar.

 

Yes, but you bought a 1950 spotlight, I doubt the 1948/52 bracket will work properly on a 1953/55 since the cabs are different.

I know a guy who has both the right and left spotlights on his 1954 F100. Both have red lenses, as this was originally a 'first call' aka brush fire truck.

I have no pics, but the truck is parked in his driveway...and can be seen using Google Earth, but what you can see will be minimal at best.

 

I'm not sure what year it is. I think John bought it at a flea market. I don't think he ever had it on his truck. I think he said it is a roof mount which makes sense given the large round mounting bracket.

Red spotlights... cool but are they legal on a non emergency vehicle?

 

Abe

My '50 had a stock spot light on it when found it. As you know the '50 had the spot mounted drivers side at the base of the pillar drivers door. At this location there was no interference with the mirror.





I removed the spotlight and filled the holes.

I'm sure someone will pipe in with the info you're looking for.

Tom

 

I see the 48-52 trucks have a bigger area where the A pillar meets the cowl. That mounting bracket looks like the size of the one with my spotlight. So it looks like a 53-55 truck needs a different mounting bracket. Thanks.

 

Bump to the top.

Do only 48-52 owners have spotlights on their trucks? Any 53-55 trucks with spotlights pictures?

 

I work on a lot of fire engines/trucks with Unity spotlights. I get tired of cleaning the swivel contacts in them, just did four today. There's an end cap, beneath the lamp, that covers the end of the shaft and the contacts. The shaft is pretty loose inside and coupled with the white grease they slob around, for the gears, causes a lot of intermittent issues as one rotates the lamp. Pop the end cap (tiny screw underneath), spray with contact cleaner, fold a rag over a screwdriver tip and hold against the contact areas while twirling the handle. Do it in both directions, changing to clean spots in the rag a couple times per revolution and continue until the light works reasonably well. One would think after what, some 60+ years they could make an improvement or two...

Don't mind me, just a pet peeve of mine ;-)

 

Yes I had one on my 49'


A pillar was rotted from spot light



PO converted to 12v

 

Found one:

 

Here is another 53-55 truck with a spotlight. This nice 55 belongs to FTE member Steves55. I haven't seen him around here lately, but it is a nice stocker.

 

Hello Abe. No, I'm still here just been busy with work and other activities as we approach the holidays. Here's a couple of pics of my spotlight that I purchased off of E-Bay a few years ago. You will see that it has a short handle. If I am correct, I think the original mounting location for this spotlight was on the top side of the windshield pillar which would put the handle the same height as my head! Didn't like that position for obvious reasons. Hope these photos help. By-the-way, the spotlight works great. Best regards, Steve.

 

Thanks, Steve. I also got your email. The pics answered alot of questions I had about mounting. First thing I need to do is buy the correct mounting bracket. And then get the guts to drill a hole in my A-pillar. I watched a couple of how to videos on YouTube.....