1968 Ford F250
390
C6
88,000 miles

In the process of a modest Retrosound stereo upgrade: replaced original 5x7 paper speaker with 5x7 dual voice coil speaker: mounted and wired, ready to be plugged into main stereo harness; the stereo body is assembled--chassis, shafts *****, etc.--and checked for alignment while fitted in the original bezel--all of which looks right to my (inexperienced) eye.
I'm stuck, however, on the wiring connections. Retrosound states the red wire 12v switch wire and the yellow wire (constant) on the harness must be connected) to the truck's wiring system--see pic. The black ground wire is a given. I've attached 2 pictures of the old prong harness and the green and black wires that ran from it to the old speaker. I've also attached one picture of the red, black, and yellow wires provided by Retrosound.
The only wiring experience I have is making simple butt connections, usually--if not always--to same-colored wiring. In the original wiring, the red wire runs by itself to the pronged harness, where it joins the green and black wires that run to the speaker. I'm not sure how to sort this out, given Retrosound's wiring requirements. Is there something I have to add to the configuration to provide the connection to the yellow constant wire? Obviously, I'm new at this. Please don't hesitate to state what should be obvious to anyone who has worked around cars. I want to learn.
All comments are welcome. Thanks.

 

I don't really under stand what it is you are asking?
You know where the "Retrosound red wire has to go to 12v switch, the yellow wire constant 12v and the black is ground wire.

What is that 4 pin plug? That is not a Ford plug that I know of so must of been to another radio.
With a test light or meter check each pin looking for 12v switch, 12 v all the time and a ground.
I would then trace them back to see where they are getting power from and then splice in the Retrosound into the main truck wires not the 4 pin wires as they look thin and if not connected good at the trucks wiring will fail.

I also don't know why you put the trucks speaker plug on the new speaker does the Retrosound have the same plug for speakers? I think not.
If you want it to have plugs the easy way is to get a few flat 4 trailer male / female plugs and wire them on the radios speaker wire & speakers.
Dave ----

 

RED = switched 12v (ignition)
Yellow = Battery (hot ) for memory
black = ground I prefer direct to some metal not tied into old factory ground .
speakers are normally , green + green w black - gray+ gray w black - etc .

 

ignore the old weird speaker harness just run new direct to speaker

 

 

Yes, the harness belonged to an old Kraco cassette radio. I took a picture of it to show the wiring that was in the truck when I removed the old radio. I had no intention of using it, nor did I state that I wanted to use it. I certainly never said that I used it to connect the new dash speaker, which in fact was already directly connected to the new stereo's speaker harness connector when I started the thread.
I solved the absent constant wire problem by tapping into the cigarette lighter wiring, which is always on, thereby providing a constant connection for the yellow wire on the new stereo harness. I connected the red wire ignition wire to the red wire of the stereo harness, and connected the black ground harness wire to metal just above the stereo opening--all of which resulted in decent sound, certainly much better sound than the old Kraco stereo and paper speaker produced. The two USB connections work well. I'll set up the Bluetooth component tomorrow.
For a beginner, this installation is definitely doable, once one understands the rudimentary electrical principles underlying it. Since other threads have inquired about the Retrosound product, I'll comment on its performance after I've had it for a week or so.
Thanks to everyone for commenting.

 

Update on the installation: About two hours after the stereo was installed, it failed to display anything; the radio and USB functions continued to work, in terms of sound, but no display: no clock and date--nothing. I rechecked all the wiring connections for 12v voltage connections at the stereo's constant and ignition wires and also checked for any bridging or grounding issues--but everything checked out. Retrosound tech support was stumped. The technician suspected a display chip failure, and told me to return the head unit. Hopefully, I will receive a replacement next week. He said that they will replace it with a new unit.

 

I thought I'd add one more comment to the thread, as someone might search the forum, asking about a Retrosound stereo.
The installation is complete, and it is definitely doable for the inexperienced installer. I had to return the first head unit, owing to a failed display chip; but the replacement unit worked perfectly and Retrosound support was courteous and helpful. Earlier in the thread I mentioned that the sound quality was "much better" than the old Kraco cassette stereo it replaced. I checked the sound quality of the replacement stereo--this time with my hearing aids in place--and the sound is significantly better than the old model. Two USB connections, two aux ports, and bluetooth--all work great.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread.