Taillight question

DatKat933 · May 22, 2026

Hi everyone, I apologize if this is posted in the wrong spot. I had a couple of questions about the taillights on my 79 K10. I am prepping it to be driven more after sitting for several years. The taillight were out since I had to replace the bed on the truck. Since then the bolts and screws for the taillights have gone missing. Does anyone know what size screws it takes to secure the housing to the bed and the lense to the inner housing? Also, are there clips that need to be ordered to secure the housing of the taillight to the bed itself? The holes in the bed are larger than the screw holes on the taillight housings.

Secondary question, is it normal to have alignment issues when installing taillights back into a new bed? The taillights do not sit flush like I remember them doing on the original bed of the truck. Instead they leave a pretty noticeable gap when I put them in place.

Thank you!

TotalyHucked · May 23, 2026

I don't have my screws handy but the backing plates are LH/RH specific. If you get them mixed up, the lights will protrude more than they should.

CountKrunk · May 23, 2026

Been a minute since i replaced the housings on mine but

The inner housing uses these screw clips to attach to the truck. The exterior housing (the nice looking part) screws into holes on the inner housing.

And yeah they should be marked LH RH

bucket · May 23, 2026

Going off memory...

All taillight screws are #8 sheet metal screws. The ones in the housing are phillips head. The ones for the lens are panhead torx, in stainless. Older trucks are maybe phillips there too, and stainless. 3/4" or 1" long.

DatKat933 · May 23, 2026

Perfect thank you!!

DatKat933 · May 24, 2026

This is the alignment issue I was talking about. I am still getting the screws and clips together to actually secure them, but they seem to have this rather large gap between the lense and the body. The housing is pushed all the way into the taillight socket and the lense is pushed against the housing.

neiltee · May 25, 2026

DatKat933 said:
Hi everyone, I apologize if this is posted in the wrong spot. I had a couple of questions about the taillights on my 79 K10. I am prepping it to be driven more after sitting for several years. The taillight were out since I had to replace the bed on the truck. Since then the bolts and screws for the taillights have gone missing. Does anyone know what size screws it takes to secure the housing to the bed and the lense to the inner housing? Also, are there clips that need to be ordered to secure the housing of the taillight to the bed itself? The holes in the bed are larger than the screw holes on the taillight housings.

Secondary question, is it normal to have alignment issues when installing taillights back into a new bed? The taillights do not sit flush like I remember them doing on the original bed of the truck. Instead they leave a pretty noticeable gap when I put them in place.

Thank you!

I think you should be able to order the specific ones at LMC.

bucket · May 25, 2026

Got a picture of your taillight opening, without the lense and housing in it?

TotalyHucked · May 26, 2026

DatKat933 said:
This is the alignment issue I was talking about. I am still getting the screws and clips together to actually secure them, but they seem to have this rather large gap between the lense and the body. The housing is pushed all the way into the taillight socket and the lense is pushed against the housing.

Every time I've had that happen, it's cuz I had the LH and RH backing plates swapped. Check to make sure you have the correct backing plates on each side, they should be labeled LH or RH

DatKat933 · May 29, 2026

TotalyHucked said:
Every time I've had that happen, it's cuz I had the LH and RH backing plates swapped. Check to make sure you have the correct backing plates on each side, they should be labeled LH or RH

I double and triple checked that because I thought that was the issue and they were on the correct side. Im hoping to try to bolt them up in the next week or two to see if securing them to the bed will help suck them in any.

bucket · May 29, 2026

DatKat933 said:
I double and triple checked that because I thought that was the issue and they were on the correct side. Im hoping to try to bolt them up in the next week or two to see if securing them to the bed will help suck them in any.

Very stupid question:

Are you maybe installing the housings upside down?

I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, I just thought there's a small chance it might be worth asking.

DatKat933 · May 30, 2026

bucket said:
Very stupid question:

Are you maybe installing the housings upside down?

I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, I just thought there's a small chance it might be worth asking.

Haha I know you're not. I don't think they were but I will try it none the less the next time I work on the truck just to make sure. And if that is the issue then no one will ever know and I will disappear into the background. Haha

Radiohead · May 30, 2026

If that's the case, let us know. Don't run away!
So we can
1) have a chuckle over it
2) remember not to do it too
3) inevitably something else will come up and you will be back. It's the natural way of things.

DatKat933 · May 30, 2026

Radiohead said:
If that's the case, let us know. Don't run away!
So we can
1) have a chuckle over it
2) remember not to do it too
3) inevitably something else will come up and you will be back. It's the natural way of things.

Oh ya, I'd be back haha. Over the years I don't know I would have survived this entire project without this forum.

DatKat933 · May 31, 2026

You must be registered for see images attach

It might be a dumb question, but LH is left hand/drivers side right? I tried it on the passenger side and it looked way off. This is how it fits on my driver's side. It is possible it is a fit and finish issue with the bed side. I bought a bed and the new replacement bed side came with it. So it may just be an issue with where the bed side came from.

Taillight question

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