In 1984 -- nine years after its initial release -- the F-150 became the entry-level full-sized pickup in Ford's lineup. Prior to that year, it was a gap filler between the regular- and heavy-duty versions of the F-series. The 1996 F-150 -- one year prior to a drastic redesign -- had a standard AM-FM stereo or an optional premium stereo system, which included a CD-player and a power amplifier. Knowing the wiring colors for the 1996 F-150's radio helps in locating shorts and installing a replacement radio.
Both the standard sound system and the premium sound system in the 1996 F-150 have two power wires -- one that supplies a constant 12 volts for memory retention and the other supplies 12 volts to the radio only when the ignition is in the "Acc" or "Run" position. On both radios, the constant power supply wire is light green with a purple stripe and the switched power supply wire is yellow with a black stripe.
The 1996 F-150's two radio options have three ground wires each. On the standard sound system, the one set of ground wires are black with a light green stripe, and the other ground wire is black. When fitted with the premium sound system, one ground wire is black with a light green stripe, another ground wire is dark blue and the last ground wire is black.
The 1996 F-150's standard radio system has two interior lighting wires, one is light blue with a red stripe and the other is orange with a black stripe. If you are installing an aftermarket radio, you only need to connect the wire that is light blue with a red stripe to the radio's lighting wire; you can tape off the orange wire with a black stripe, using electrical tape.
The 1996 F-150's premium sound system has only one radio lighting wire. This wire is light blue with a red stripe.
The standard sound system's speaker wires run directly to the speakers. The left-front speaker's positive wire is orange with a light green stripe, and its negative wire is light blue with a white stripe. The left-rear speaker's positive wire is pink with a light green stripe and the negative wire is tan with a yellow stripe. The right-front speaker's positive wire is white with a light green stripe, and the negative wire is dark green with an orange stripe. The right-rear speaker's positive wire is pink with a light blue stripe, and its negative wire is brown with a pink stripe.
The 1996 F-150's premium sound system runs the speaker signal through a power amplifier before it reaches the speakers. The left-front speaker's positive wire is light green, and the negative wire is white with an orange stripe. The left-rear speaker's positive wire is light blue with a black stripe, and its negative wire is yellow. The right-front speaker has a white wire with a red stripe for positive, and a brown negative wire. The right-rear speaker has a positive wire that is purple with a white stripe, and a negative wire that is light blue.
The antenna cable is the thickest cable on the rear of the radio, and it is black in color. It simply pull out of the radio and pushes back into the radio.
