78-79
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78-79
the visible difference was the 78 thru78 1/2 was the round headlamps 78 1/2 thru 79 was square headlamps but the biggest difference was the emissions crap that was standard on the 79 that was the only difference.(but ya cant see that till ya lift the hood)
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78-79
Terry:
I still own the 1978 that I bought brand-new from the factory and it has square headlights. If you could park a 1978 and a 1979 side-by-side I think you would notice a difference in the grills. I don't quite know how to describe it but the 79 grill is more squarish than the 78.
Craig
I still own the 1978 that I bought brand-new from the factory and it has square headlights. If you could park a 1978 and a 1979 side-by-side I think you would notice a difference in the grills. I don't quite know how to describe it but the 79 grill is more squarish than the 78.
Craig
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From: Vegas
78-79
The 78's with roundheadlights are all Customs. The Rangers and XLTs have the square, starting from day one with the 78s.
Darrell Duggan
74 F-350 "Tweety"
71 Stang "Cletus"
70 Torino Conv. "Off Limits"
Darrell Duggan
74 F-350 "Tweety"
71 Stang "Cletus"
70 Torino Conv. "Off Limits"
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From: Aurora Illinois
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78-79
I see that there are still lots of people who are unclear about this... I think if you compare the numbers of round / square headlights you'll realize that there are only 10 trucks out of every 100 that have round lights (supposedly 1978) ... this doesn't make much sense to me. I'm thinking that there were trucks produced in 78 with round headlights as well as trucks produced with square ones depending on the package. So you really can't look at a truck and determine 1978 or 1979 based on the headlights alone, unless it has round headlights in which case it's a 1978. The grilles are identical between 78 and 79 other than the headlight border trim. The square headlights were an early taste of the 1980's ... a foreshadowing of things to come.... UGH!
Adam
Adam
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78-79
'78 had round head lights for the Custom (baseline) models and the Ranger/XLT got the Square headlights. The '79 had Square headlights for ALL models. this is the only obvious front end trim difference. Mechanicly the '78 enjoyed the lack of a Catalitic convertor for the F-150 and Bronco's with 6050# GVW as well as the F-250 anf F-350. In '79 the Fed's made all trucks have the Cat's ( 
). Driveline and engine avalibility I believe did not change, if at all. 351/400M, C-6/NP-435, NP-205 all the same. All had the good brakes and power steering. My 2-cents.
Eric
Proud owner of a '73 F-250 4x4 High Boy, 460 V8, NP435, NP205
And a '68 Bronco 289 v8 , NP435 , Dana 20
). Driveline and engine avalibility I believe did not change, if at all. 351/400M, C-6/NP-435, NP-205 all the same. All had the good brakes and power steering. My 2-cents.Eric
Proud owner of a '73 F-250 4x4 High Boy, 460 V8, NP435, NP205
And a '68 Bronco 289 v8 , NP435 , Dana 20
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