ive been wanting to add cab lights to my 96 f150 for awhile now and am now ready to. I've been reading up on how to do it to super dutys and all but am not sure if its the same for an f150. I plan on buying everything from ford, but the problem is i dont know anything about wiring. does the harness from ford plug into the passenger side kick panel like it does on a super duty? also how hard is it to tie the lights into the wiring harness itself? i appreciate any help

 

Only thing i think might suck is gettni gthem to line up.

newer f150's vs 350's are differnt. but i'm not sure about the 96 i think its the same for 150-350.

 

i don't know if it's considered Plug and Play, but the lights probably ground themselves to the cab, and a positive wire would need to come down to the lightswitch in the dash. Use a test light to find a positive wire that comes on and off with the lightswitch, tap into that, and the cab lights should come on w/ the running/head lights.

 

I have a 93 F350 crewcab, which has the same body style as your 96, and here is how my lights turned out (scroll to bottom to last picture):

http://www.midimonkey.com/~frederic/f350/overhead.html

The lights, whether ford or aftermarket, come with a gasket on the bottom and a pinhole that the positive wire goes through. When you drill the roof, you drill three holes. One larger for the whire, and two smaller ones for the mounting screws. As you screw them to the roof, you push the single wire through the larger hole, and solder them all together, to another wire that goes to your "roof lights on" switch, where ever you decide to mount that. I put mine in an overhead console from a minivan, saved drilling holes in the dash and running longer wires.

I should update my page, I've modded my cab lights with LED's instead of bulbs, and used diodes to make the ones furthest apart go on with the center three, but blink when I turn on the left/right signals.

Lining them up wasn't all that difficult...before I drilled anything I placed them on the roof where the slightly contoured bottom of the lights matched the roof as close as possible. The gaskets on my aftermarket lights were about 1/4" thick, and very easily compressed, so if its not perfect, the gasket will seal the gap well. I installed these last year with no leaks thus far.

While I was measuring and marking the locations, I used masking tape to hold them still. Also, to prevent walking of the drill bits, make sure they are either new, or razor sharp. You don't want the bits to walk across your roof, even a small amount as then your light will be crooked.

 

That'd look nice, the furthest ones being used as blinkers too. How many LEDs per light?

I've been wanting some of those lights, but am concerned with leaks. Guess the gaskets can take care of that? Where can I find some of these lights?

If you want them to turn on with running lights, run the wire to behind the light switch wiring. There, you'll find a Brown wire which you can tap into.

 

I just your page frederic and man, that's some nice work. I dont think I could tackle a job like that..Reverse Wiring? Reminds me of Reverse Polarity when *trying* to install Keyless Entry. Did you see my "Need Wiring Help" thread? It didnt turn out pretty .

Reminds me; did you ever finish the custom dash?

 

I put ones onm a 85 f250 once. We got the parts from ford and the wire pluged right in to the factory plug. We didn't have to do any wiring. Just plug and play. On the 85 the plug was down behind the drivers kick panel. Just a flat plug, the only diffucult thing was to line them up, but it wasn't that hard. The ford dealer should be able to tell you where the conection for the lights are located on your truck. That way they will work with your headlight switch and come on and off with the parking lights. If the parts counter can't tell you where the connection is try the service dept. they have wiring manuals that tell them where all the conections for everywire is located. Good luck