1968

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66patrick
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1968

Post by 66patrick »

OK, gents, I noticed the discussion that had spoke to whether all of the 1968 Dodge trucks had them. The answer is YES! In fact, it was a Federal requirement that ALL 1968 vehicles sold in the US had to have reflectors or lights on the sides - one red and one amber per side. This is in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

Where you MIGHT find reflector-less '68 trucks would be the Dodges and Fargos built for the Canada market, but I do not know if Canada required them then, or if all '68s bound for the Canadian market had them, anyway.

Notice that 1967 cars and trucks have no side lighting or reflectors. All 1968 and newer cars and trucks DO. Look at 1967 Ford trucks versus 1968 Ford trucks. Same with 1967 vs 1968 GM. The 1967 and 1968 Kaiser-Jeep, International, and all others are the very same way. If your '68 doesn't have them, that means a past owner along the way removed them, or put earlier fenders on to replace a damaged one and did not replace the reflector. Pretty simple, really.

That's the way it is.
[b]Patrick - 1969 D300 cab & chassis[/b]

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Re: 1968

Post by 712edf »

Correct.... and at some point reflectors became side marker lights.

Concerning Chevy trucks, the addition of the reflectors ruined the post 67 models.

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Re: 1968

Post by swptln »

66patrick wrote:OK, gents, I noticed the discussion that had spoke to whether all of the 1968 Dodge trucks had them. The answer is YES! In fact, it was a Federal requirement that ALL 1968 vehicles sold in the US had to have reflectors or lights on the sides - one red and one amber per side. This is in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

Where you MIGHT find reflector-less '68 trucks would be the Dodges and Fargos built for the Canada market, but I do not know if Canada required them then, or if all '68s bound for the Canadian market had them, anyway.

Notice that 1967 cars and trucks have no side lighting or reflectors. All 1968 and newer cars and trucks DO. Look at 1967 Ford trucks versus 1968 Ford trucks. Same with 1967 vs 1968 GM. The 1967 and 1968 Kaiser-Jeep, International, and all others are the very same way. If your '68 doesn't have them, that means a past owner along the way removed them, or put earlier fenders on to replace a damaged one and did not replace the reflector. Pretty simple, really.

That's the way it is.
A lot of 1968 dodge trucks were built before January 1, 1968.

http://www.dodgesweptline.org/technical ... ectors.doc
Mark D.

61-71 Dodge Truck Association
http://www.sweptlinesunlimited.com


1968 W200 Sweptline
1969 D100 Utiline
1993 D250 Club Cab

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66patrick
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Re: 1968

Post by 66patrick »

I've never come across a '68 that did not have them. So tell me this - why would Dodge trucks be the ONLY known 1968 vehicle where some had them, and some did not. I have NEVER run across a 1968 ANYTHING sold new in the US that did not have sidemarker lights or reflectors!!! Ever. And I've owned cars and trucks of many, many makes over the past 45 years or so. You look at 1968 model year cars AND trucks - ALL of them have them!...unless an owner has removed them. My two '68 D100s are far apart in build number sequence - one fairly early and one fairly late. Both have them from original, as the mounting holes are in identical spots.

To quote the article: In June of 1968, Chrysler Parts Group made available in Group 8-48-12 Reflector, for all Dodge Trucks 100 – 1000 Series except A100.
Part Numbers:
2906374 Amber 2-required.
2906375 Red 2-required.


So this was when they became available across the parts counter, is how I read this. Again, why would every other Mopar vehicle line, and every other US vehicle manufacturer, have all of their '68 vehicles eqipped WITH side markers, and Dodge did not. They were not exempt from the law, and it would not make any sense for a Federal requirement to be introduced halfway through a model year on ONE line, and not the rest of the other lines.


Color me skeptical on the accuracy of the quoted article. You know why there are some trucks that have them and some don't? Because the reflectors are butt-ugly and a lot of owners probably removed them when the vehicle was new or near-new! It was a new thing, right? Some people didn't like that little reflector on the truck, and chucked them! One simple Phillips screw holds each of them on. They were not stuck or glued on, so who's to say that some owners of the new '68 trucks simply removed them and tossed them??? Or a later owner, thinking they were just cheapo hardware-store reflectors installed by an owner, chucked them for the same reason???
[b]Patrick - 1969 D300 cab & chassis[/b]

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Re: 1968

Post by swptln »

The thing that is odd on this whole topic is that as you mentioned all Chrysler passenger cars and other manufacturers including trucks have side marker lights, not reflectors.
Assuming that Dodge did put reflectors on all 1968 trucks and then carried it through the 1969 model year. Why would Dodge be the only one not to put side marker lights on there trucks, but reflectors until 1970 when all other manufacturers had them on 1968 models.
It wasn't due to the fact that they didn't know about the federal mandate, because all the manufacturers including Chrysler passenger cars had marker lights for the model year 1968 which would have started production in 1967 for 1968 models.
The other fact that the reflectors weren't available over the counter at dealerships until June of 1968 is also very odd, if these parts were being manufactured before or around the beginning of production in 1967 for the 68's.

I do know Dodge did a lot of unusual and non-standard things with the truck line between 61-71 vs the passenger car line and over the last 15-20 yrs. we all have found and proved that the truck line was far from standard and cannot be compared to the car line.
In my opinion for whatever reasons the whole side reflector thing was an afterthought or oversight by Chrysler on the truck line.

I looked at the trucks on the sweptline registry by doing a search of all 1968's with pic's and sorted by sequence number and almost all of early production trucks are without reflectors that look pretty original and then all of a sudden all of them have them.

I don't know maybe I'm totally wrong, but all the information and reference is there to make your own decision or conclusion on the topic.
Mark D.

61-71 Dodge Truck Association
http://www.sweptlinesunlimited.com


1968 W200 Sweptline
1969 D100 Utiline
1993 D250 Club Cab

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Re: 1968

Post by wally426ci »

I also think it is wierd that the production trucks don't have the round marker lights like the cars in 68

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Re: 1968

Post by soopernaut »

The parts book for the page with the reflectors is from June of 68. It says that it supersedes October of 67. I don't believe this necessarily means the part number was issued in June. They probably didn't update the parts book every time there was a change until they had enough changes to make it worthwhile.

I think there are probably 68 trucks built in 67 that didn't have or require reflectors.

I have a 68 IH Scout with no marker lights or reflectors. I don't recall any evidence of it having them but didn't check that well because it didn't cross my mind. I ran the VIN once and the decoder said built Feb 68.

February of 68 is also when that Chrysler bulletin that referenced marker lights on D100/D200 trucks was typed, stating they were optional/standard.

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Re: 1968

Post by soopernaut »

It also appears that 68 Jeep Gladiators and related vehicles didn't have reflectors/marker lights until 69. This is according to the book Jeep: The History of America's Greatest Vehicle and looking at pictures.

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Re: 1968

Post by 66patrick »

Notice the effective date of the FVMSS standard in question is 1-1-68, so anything built after that date had to have them, regardless. Someone had taken them off at some point. To me, that is the logical explanation. Makes for a good discussion, in any case.

My Dodge Parts book from September 1967 (1968 Model Year) does not show the reflectors yet, but the above reference is when they show in the revised parts book, mid-model-year.
[b]Patrick - 1969 D300 cab & chassis[/b]

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Re: 1968

Post by soopernaut »

66patrick wrote:Notice the effective date of the FVMSS standard in question is 1-1-68, so anything built after that date had to have them, regardless. Someone had taken them off at some point. To me, that is the logical explanation. Makes for a good discussion, in any case.
The effective date for vehicles less than 80 inches wide was 1/1/69. Light Duty Sweptline trucks were under 80 inches wide. Camper Specials were considered over 80 inches wide with a camper and therefore had an extra set of lights on the front fenders. I would guess 1/1/68 to be when Sweptlines got the reflector, due to the Camper Special being required to have the extra light, so they installed the reflector on all the light-duty trucks.
“Standard No. 108 - Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment - Passenger Cars, Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles, Trucks, Buses, Trailers, (except pole trailers and trailer converter dollies), and Motorcycles (Effective 1-1-68 for vehicles 2,032 mrn (80 or more inches) in width and Effective 1-1-69 for all other vehicles)

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Re: 1968

Post by swptln »

If in fact for whatever reason the Dodge Truck engineers :thinking did get caught behind the 8 ball on the federal mandate. The reflector would be a quick fix as well as a huge cost saving on production, tooling, etc. and it satisfied the mandate. As an option you can still add a screw on light too. So, why not carry it for another model year before going to non-optional lights.
A lot easier and cheaper to drill a hole and screw on a reflector or light than re-tooling to die cut a fender.
Oh and lets add some chrome next year to 100 & 200 sweptline series. :dance
Mark D.

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1968 W200 Sweptline
1969 D100 Utiline
1993 D250 Club Cab

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Re: 1968

Post by swptln »

Just found some info on the Reflector issue, Side reflectors and marker lights were only on models manufactured after January 1, 1968 as standard equipment.
So, if you have 1968 that was manufactured prior to January 1, 1968 it did not come from the factory with side markers or reflectors, would have been a dealer only installed or aftermarket only.
Interestingly or not, Dodge knew about the requirement prior to January 1, 1968, because they printed it in a August 1967 sales brochure for the 68 models.
I'm going to update the article I wrote on this and include photo of the dealer brochure, with the foot-note on side reflectors and marker lights.
Mark D.

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http://www.sweptlinesunlimited.com


1968 W200 Sweptline
1969 D100 Utiline
1993 D250 Club Cab

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Re: 1968

Post by swptln »

Just updated the Article under the Technical page of the site.
Mark D.

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http://www.sweptlinesunlimited.com


1968 W200 Sweptline
1969 D100 Utiline
1993 D250 Club Cab

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