tasteful49

my stereo was stolen out of my 1998 f150 lariat edition awhile ago, i just bought a new stereo but since the plugs off the original were tore off i cant buy an adaptor and have to tie in the new cables. my problem is that one the wire colours dont match up (as expected) but every wire diagram ive looked up or seen hasnt had the same coloured wires as my ford has? is it a different harness for the lariat edition? i have two harnesses, one has 6 wires : black with green stripe, green with purple stripe, light blue with black stripe, black with pink stripe, black, and dark blue. the second harness has 16 : tan, grey, black, yellow, brown, white with red stripe, orange with black stripe, purple with white stripe, purple, light blue with black stripe, light blue, light blue with pink stripe, white with orange stripe, green with red stripe, green with black stripe, green.
any info would help, thanks. (also doesnt have premium sound)

RCButler

I am guessing it's an aftermarket. Have you tried their website?
Use to be the wiring diagram that comes with the radio would have bylines specific to a car manufacturer.

If you have the wiring diagram for your truck it should be fairly easy to mate up the speakers, hot, ground and display wires with the installation instructions. If not, try Ford's website or a Hayes or Chilton repair manual. Might be able to find a YouTube video to help.

They make aftermarket harnesses that are vehicle specific. Perhaps getting a replacement one from a junkyard to mate with your cut wires so you can "plug-n-play"?

I know Ford stereo wiring can be different from one submodel to the next. Been through that before.

As a last resort, contact a local custom shop that does sound systems and see how much it'll cost to have them install it.

akdoggie

97-98 Lariats with Premium Sound, have 3 plugs in the dash, but you only use 2. The black small squarish is the speaker system, and of the two common flat plugs, you use the grey one. The other is black. Check to be sure that I gave you the correct color. The power plug is 7 wires and the speaker is 8. The square black plug is 8 or more. If you have a regular radio system, then the 8 wire flat plug is the speaker wiring. I hope that helps you with the wiring.

Warspite

Do you remember if your original head unit had an "auto set" button in the upper right corner? If so, your setup included an external amp, meaning you'll need low level signals from the RCA jacks on your replacement one. There's a special Metra harness available for this setup....in older threads here.