Folks help settle a beer fueled question here. I have stated that the rectangular headlights came out for the 79 truck. My friend states some 78's had the rectangular headlights. Can anyone settle this? When did we get the rectangular headlights? A couple of beers are riding on the result.

Thanks,

Great forum!!!

 

You owe your buddy some beers. 78 Rangers had rectangle head lights.

 

Yeah my 78 ranger got rectangle head lights i could get pics for proof if ya want

 

Early 78's with the custom trim level still had round headlights, all other trim levels had rectangular headlights, i believe somewhere around mid 78 the custom trim level came standard with rectangular headlights as well.

 

Thanks for the replies. Guess I buying the beers for the Thanksgiving football games!!!

 

My 1978 F-150 Ranger Lariat has rectangle headlights. I prefer the round headlights and plan on doing a swap eventually.....got to get it running first!

 

Do either the round or rectangular lights put out more light than the other?

 

I'm constantly having people flash their high-beams at me to get me to dim my lights - I don't run my high-beams so when I flash them back, it's a painful experience for them...

I have them angled significantly downward, but that doesn't seem to matter...

My theory is that it has to do with the shape of the lens itself - the convex shape of the round lens throws the light out in all directions - kinda like a floodlight - whereas, the rectangular lenses seem to focus the light in a tighter pattern - more noticeably on the newer rectangular lenses...

Case in point - those gawdawful bright driving lights you see on some of the newer cars/trucks - some of the ones I've seen are smaller, but round - you can have a smaller convex lens throw out as much light as a larger focused lens...

This is all just a theory I'm playing around with so, if anyone out there actually knows the science behind this, I'd be interested in reading about it...

 

1978/79 Rangers, Ranger XLT's and Lariats all have rectangular headlamps.

All 1978 Customs have round headlamps, as do 1979 Customs sold as "fleet" vehicles.

 

Ditto on the shape of the lights, which one is better? My 78 has round but I've toyed with changing to square if they are better.

 

personally i think the round vs. rectangular headlight debate is just based on style, some may argue either way, personally round looks better to me, and has a more classic look, rectangular headlights don't look as good to me,

but if you noticed modern cars and trucks are actually going back to the round shaped headlights, well they have a clear stylized cover for aerodynamics, but the return of the round is in full swing, thus if rectangular is better, than why are they going back to round?

i think its all style, personally a round headlight looks way better, rectangular just clashes with the design and style of our trucks, also it can be said spot lights are round, and they are very directive, why haven't they gone with rectangular?


but people can run what ever they want, i just think the switch to rectangular was a style switch, as many people want that "NEW" look, and besides the cars started the rectangular headlight trend, the trucks just had to switch to stay in "style" kinda like how almost all car companies went with dual headlights in 1958, some went earlier in '57, but by '58 all cars and even trucks had dual headlights, thus it wasn't really a upgrade (dual headlights appeal as better to car buyers as they think dual lights, dual amount of light) and the dual headlights were just a style change, kinda like how people were told the rectangular headlights were better than round, and look at there "NEW" styling, even the dual headlight look came back in the 70s and 80s on some cars, and even the dual stacked look came back on some cars, thus the auto industry will reinvent old things over and over again, and state there all "NEW" to grab attention, much like how they are using round and bullet headlights on "NEW" cars and trucks,

-Brent

 

i have had both round and square lights and personaly like the round better for more "light on the road" but i like the looks of the square style i run hellas in all my units to make up for the shortfall of light pattern and they work realy well i realy have a personal beef with the "new car/truck" headlights of today seems there is way too much glare compared to the older style the new ford/dodge pickups have to be the worst as i face them every day driveing heavy trucks as a job mostly " oil feild off road"

 

i personally like the looks of square headlights....but i like the 73-77 grill style which have round headlights but in a 78 or 79 i like the square

 

The square Silverstars with LMC headlight wiring harness that powers them direct from the battery...they light up the road great, even better than the expensive PIAA's I have in my other car.
And no one flashes their brights at me.

 

I have round standard seal beams in my 77 F250 and round GE Halogen sealed beams (Not much more expensive) in my CJ7 Jeep and no fancy wiring but from the cab the CJ7 are night and day difference. The Halogen are that much brighter and I can see twice as far but I have never got flashed at with them on.