86.5 & 87 Tail lights different?

[SupaMan]

Ive had this pair of 87 tail lights for awhile they and went to put them on my 86.5 today along with new gaskets because they arent cracked or broken. The 87 tail lights are physically larger, and the studs didnt line up, They were off from 2-5mm in some places and as you can see from the picture they are larger.

Is this a noted difference that i just havnt seen or what? I managed to get them to fit and they fit MUCH better.

The 87 tail light is on top, 86.5 on the bottom.

 

[TweeT91109]

if they fit, and dont leak....hey all the better...

 

[SupaMan]

Oh no doubt. I was just wondering if i was goin off the deep end or if they really are different.

 

[shaeff]

I've never heard of any physical size difference between any of them. If you line up the plastic parts, it seems like they're the same size (but again, I'm going of the pic you posted that appears to be at a slight angle)

 

[gtsfirefighter]

That's very odd. I don't recall any differences in my 86.5/87 taillights.

 

[SupaMan]

I lined them up and checked them every which way the 87 is larger by how much i cant be exactly sure i was racing daylight to put them back on the car.

The biggest difference was the studs being off, Horribly off. I had to file out the holes slightly to get them to fit and even then it was extremely tight.

A friend of mine even noted "Are the new tail lights from the same year they look larger?" Im not exactly sure wtf is goin on there but they were either curved different or actually longer, Only 3 of the studs would line up on each one and it was different ones each way you tryed to fit it to the car.

But thats exactly why i posted this thread, I dont recall any differences with pre 89 tails sizes.

 

[RazoE]

yeah, they should definitely be the same, seeing as 89+ taillights fit just the way they should on my 86.5, so if it were different from other years, it wouldn't have fit at all...

maybe the studs were bent from being in an accident..

 

[SupaMan]

Yea i thought that too, but i looked. all the studs on my old tails were cracked at the base and what not. The new tails were perfectly mint. not one bent or cracked.

I digress. They are on and working great.