So I got the truck a month ago and I am haveing to redo the rear lights apparently the previous owner when converting from tow truck to flatbed desided to put a set of trailer lights up instead of actual light fixtures so I have no reverse lights
my father keeps telling me that the 1988 f350 7.3 NEVER HAD the back up lights from the factory so I don’t technically need them ( I WANT them to be safe ) can someone else confirm or deny this. And if they were factory standard how could I / where would I splice in to the wires to install some after the fact ?

 

I don't know which '88 Ford pickup your father was looking at but it sure looks to me like it had backup lights.
IIRC, the switch for the backup lights is located inside the ZF5 manual transmission and is most likely combined with the Neutral Safety Switch on the automatic transmission.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/lig...?q=tai%20light

 

Yup, 1988 trucks have backup lights standard. Even an '86 has them.

Like awhtx said, there is a switch on the side of the ZF5; but it might also be easier to just find the wiring harness on the frame and pull the right wire out of that.

 

They've been mandatory since the '60s. How does your father reckon Ford got around that?

Is the connector to the rear light wiring harness intact? One of the terminals in that connector is for the reverse lights.