71-RT tail light question

[WheelsOfTerror]

Posting for a friend:

He wants to install 71 R/T tail lights into this car. Is there any reason he couldn't do a one to one straight swap? Is the rear bumper shaped or bracketed differently on 71 RT's?

My understanding is that 71-74 tail lights are all basically interchangeable but I wanted to consult the great 3rd gen brain trust we have going here. Can y'all weigh in?

 

[moparmarks]

Bumper is the same. R/T lights have different housings too so he will and the complete R/T light setup. Will bolt right into his bumper.

 

[WheelsOfTerror]

Bumper is the same. R/T lights have different housings too so he will and the complete R/T light setup. Will bolt right into his bumper.

just to be clear- will the regular 71 or 72 light assembly not fit these lenses? The rear assembly is different for the RT lights only?

 

[moparmarks]

Correct, the standard housing are different than the R/T ones.

 

[WheelsOfTerror]

Correct, the standard housing are different than the R/T ones.

thanks a lot moparmarks! I'll let him know

 

[moparmarks]

 

[randysong]

Posting for a friend:

He wants to install 71 R/T tail lights into this car. Is there any reason he couldn't do a one to one straight swap? Is the rear bumper shaped or bracketed differently on 71 RT's?

My understanding is that 71-74 tail lights are all basically interchangeable but I wanted to consult the great 3rd gen brain trust we have going here. Can y'all weigh in?

View attachment 1288534 View attachment 1288535

 

[randysong]

Hello Patrick!! Thank you so much for helping. Yes I am trying to change the tail lights to R/T lights

 

[randysong]

 

[Nacho-RT74]

As mentioned... you need the full tail lights assembly to proceed with any tail light change between 71/74. Any tail light change between any 71/72 model is more straight out than involving 73/74s for minor details, but still perfectly doable.

The only lenses changes without consider the housing change need are 72 standards with 72 SEs ( same with 73/74 SEs with standards ) because this involves just cosmetic differences on same hardware.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Along with the previous pic posted about the 71 R/T tail light bezel and lenses ( and 72 Rallye just blacked out ) the required part is the housings

 

[WheelsOfTerror]

Along with the previous pic posted about the 71 R/T tail light bezel and lenses ( and 72 Rallye just blacked out ) the required part is the housings

View attachment 1288680

so are the 71-72 housings all the same, just with different lenses or is there a specifically different housing particular to the RT/Rallye lenses?

 

[T2R9]

R/T is a specific housing, no others interchange.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

71 R/T and 72 Rallye are the same. Rallyes just changes the bezel finish ( black )

Then 72 Standard are diff monster

 

[chargervert]

I couldn't find housings when I was putting R/T taillights in my 73 Charger so I fabricated them myself. I made a rectangular box using the lenses as a template and used dividers between the lights. I made them two inches deep, drilled holes for the bulb sockets and used bolted in clips to keep the sockets in place. They bolted right into the bumper easily. I used silicone to seal the lenses to the homemade housings to keep the water out. I drilled through the lenses right through the back of my housings and used long screws to bolt the housings lenses and bezels to bolt the assembly together. I used bright chrome silver paint on them so that they would be reflective. My friend said if you can't find the parts you need, make them. If I ever take them apart I would add curved aluminum flashing around the bulbs to improve brightness even more. As the factory housings were curved around the bulbs. There is plenty of room in the bumper to move them around for proper fitment.