Not All Tail Lights And Headlights Are Created Equal: Three Reasons Not To Confuse Parts When You Replace Them

People who do not know their way around cars and trucks make many mistakes learning about how to take care of them. One such mistake is when they want to buy a tail light, they buy a headlight instead, or vice versa. These are not universal parts and should not be confused. Here are three reasons why you should not confuse these parts when you need to replace one or the other.

Headlights Use Brighter Bulbs and More Watts/Amps

Headlights are meant to shine brighter than tail lights, and with good reason. Your headlights signal to other drivers that you are on the road and headed their way. Headlights also help you cut through fog and really dark places where there are no street lights to help you see. As such, the bulbs that are frequently used in headlights require more electricity, either in watts or amps, and you can see that when you pick up a headlight lamp and compare it to a tail light lamp in the auto parts store.

Trying to put a headlight in the rear of your car or a tail light in the front of your car sends other drivers mixed signals. They will either see one bright headlight and one faint or non-working one or a very bright tail light that looks like a single headlight. The confusion that ensues can result in a car accident. 

Headlights Are a Different Shape and Size Than Tail Lights

Tail lights are almost always small, boxy and colored orange or red. That is quite different from headlights, which can be rectangular, round, oval, etc. and almost always white/clear. The sizes between the two types of lighting for your vehicle are nearly impossible to confuse, but there is always somebody who insists that the "headlight" he or she bought does not fit the car or that the "tail light" is the wrong color. This would be why, as well as why it should be nearly impossible to confuse the lights, but people do all the time.

Headlights and Tail Lights for One Car Do Not Fit Another Make/Model

If you have a Chevy product but you buy a Ford tail light, there is just no way those things are going to fit together. The headlights and tail lights designed and manufactured by one auto company are not going to fit a vehicle from another auto company. Most auto manufacturers design their own vehicle lights and lighting systems, so you need to buy the correct lights and mounts if you expect them to fit and work properly.