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New Mexico Law says you must have it.....66-3-805. Tail lamps.
A. Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer, and any other vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles, shall be equipped with at least one tail lamp mounted on the rear, which, when lighted as hereinbefore required, shall emit a red light plainly visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear; provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the tail lamp on the rearmost vehicle need actually be seen from the distance specified. And further, every such above-mentioned vehicle, other than a truck tractor, registered in this state and manufactured or assembled after July 1, 1953, shall be equipped with at least two tail lamps mounted on the rear, which when lighted as herein required shall comply with the provisions of this section.
B. Every tail lamp upon every vehicle shall be located at at [a] height of not more than seventy-two inches nor less than twenty inches.
C. Either a tail lamp or a separate lamp shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate and render it clearly legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear. Any tail lamp or tail lamps, together with any separate lamp for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the headlamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted.
actually thru the 70's Rear bumpers were optional ... I don't believe New Mexico has Specific bumper laws I know there are not any in Texas but some states do have Specific bumper laws.
BUT even with no rear bumper the LP Light is still required in both NM and Texas.
and most of the time rear bumper was a dealer installed option. they usually left the factory plate light up under the bed, and plugged in the lights in the new step bumper they put on.
If the step bumper has the 2 holes on either side of the plate that is where the lights went.
You can get the lights at most parts stores and IIRC come in 2 different dia.
Here is a picture of my 81 F100 Flare Side with the plate in the factory location.
There are 2 holes in the rear sill that the plate bracket is bolted to and the light then screws to the top of the plate bracket.
I don't know if the bumper was a dealer install or not on the flare sides back then?
And no the factory tail lights did not have the plate window on the bottom as the modern replacements have today.
As posted some states have laws that said you had to have equipment the factory did not offer or install and it was up to the dealer to make it legal.
You will see posts in the older truck areas about this.
Dave ----
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