Is my cargo lamp upside down?

[68RGR]

Maybe the factory guys were vertically dyslexic now and then?

Maybe they did it as a joke or to protest the writing on the lenses being upside-down when the housings were installed the "right" way?

BUT, the photos in the Ford brochures show them as flat side down. Hard to argue with that.

However, the cargo light on my parts truck arrived flat side up . . . It had been painted at least once though.

Here's my real thinking - The glass lenses were used on earlier T-birds as backup lights and were mounted with the writing right-side up and the housings flat side up. So, that solves the upside down writing issue.

The Ford truck brochures show the cargo lights mounted flat side down. Which means the writing on the lenses is upside down.

My '68 and '73 have not been repainted and both have the cargo lights mounted as shown in the Ford brochures - Flat side down.

So, on the T-birds, the lights were factory mounted flat side up and on the trucks they were mounted flat side down.

If your truck has the cargo light flat side up, I suspect someone replaced the bulb (or painted the truck, etc) and assumed the writing should be right-side up because they didn't remember how it was installed originally. So, when they re-installed the housing, they installed it flat side up to make the writing on the lens right-side up. Which, housing-wise (for trucks) is upside down!

In other words, if you want the writing right-side up, you'll have to install the housing upside down.

Whew! After all of that, I am inside out!

[shortbedCUSTOM]

Thanks guys, I turned mine around a few days ago. Honestly, it looks more aesthetically correct flat side down IMO. On a side note, it also aims the light downward at the bed. I believe that this is the way Ford would of done it and I think those of us with them flat side up were victims of a wrong install at one time or another.

[Mancar1]

Mine is who knows what That said I always tell others that if it is theirs right is what they want. So mine is on right. I did use mine in the dark of night recently and it made me happy. My crazy mind will not except upside down lettering

[68RGR]

I don't blame you for wanting the writing to be right side up. Apparently, Ford had a boat load of the lenses and finding a use for them was more important than having the writing right!

Some of the repo parts seem to avoid the issue altogether - As far as I can tell, no writing at all on them.