97 Base Radio To Premium Swap?

[97shitbox]

Hello all, wasn’t sure how to word the title but I’ll get into it. I’ve just gotten a ‘97 ranger with a cassette and cd player radio and pulled it out cause it wasn’t working. Looking at the connectors in the dash it’s two long 90 degree connectors I assume for a base cassette only radio. The current radio has two square connectors. There’s also an adapter for both original connectors that go to an 18 pin for an aftermarket unit but I can’t find anything on that. I guess my main question is does anyone know of an adapter harness to make the current radio work? Or would it be worth it to get the correct radio for the plugs? Maybe just aftermarket? I don’t enjoy wiring diagrams Thanks for any help and sorry if this has been asked before I haven’t found much of anything from my googling

 

[superj]

i would go to an aftermarket versus putting a stock one in. my truck came with the 6 speaker set up and the radio had a cd player in it so i assume it was a higher level one. it started losing volume on its own so i just put an aftermarket pioneer in and have been great since then. i got the radio and the adapter kit, plus the mounting kit at walmart because i don't use all those weird carplay android deals, i just listen to the radio.

my kids always want to hook their phones and all that junk and we have bought the radios and mounting/adapter kits from different places with no issues though. lots of people like crutchfield too because you can search by vehicle

 

[James Morse]

Are you saying the radio in it is aftermarket?

If you look at the '97 brochure (TRS) it gives all the options for the different models. The shop manual gives the various wiring diagrams, you said you're not interested in that so you might want to have it installed by someone.

I'd assume dash wiring would have been universal to fit any of the available oem units, not specific to any one of them, others would know better than me.

I have the radio w/ cassette in mine with the CD changer. For hooking up phone, there's a cassette with a wire coming out of it, maybe not high tech, but works (to get sound from the phone).

Sometimes Best Buy has specials with free installs. Lot of guys here have swapped stuff out.

 

[RonD]

I would use 3rd party radio and its wiring kit for 1997 Ranger

 

[97shitbox]

Are you saying the radio in it is aftermarket?

If you look at the '97 brochure (TRS) it gives all the options for the different models. The shop manual gives the various wiring diagrams, you said you're not interested in that so you might want to have it installed by someone.

I'd assume dash wiring would have been universal to fit any of the available oem units, not specific to any one of them, others would know better than me.

I have the radio w/ cassette in mine with the CD changer. For hooking up phone, there's a cassette with a wire coming out of it, maybe not high tech, but works (to get sound from the phone).

Sometimes Best Buy has specials with free installs. Lot of guys here have swapped stuff out.

Sorry the radio that’s currently in it is OEM which has the optional cd player, it’s just not the right one for the connectors the truck has. It’s got some adapters connected to the factory connectors for an aftermarket unit that wasn’t with the truck for some reason. I’ll go with a 3rd party one like the others mentioned seeing as the correct oem radio is triple the price of a Bluetooth unit. Looking at the brochure it also looks like the it has the wrong seats in it as well..

 

[James Morse]

If the seats are nice and in good shape maybe you keep them?

 

[superj]

thats what i would do. my 04 has nice looking but hard as a rock seats.

 

[RonD]

Ranger wiring diagrams here, so you know what factory wiring you have now

Ford Ranger Radio Wiring Diagrams - The Ranger Station

Now What? Ok, you bought a Ranger but the radio is missing. If the factory plugs are there, you should be able to pick up an installation kit from the parts store. The plugs in the kit will plug in … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

two 8 pin connectors
or
one 8 pin and one 16 pin

 

[97shitbox]

Ranger wiring diagrams here, so you know what factory wiring you have now

Ford Ranger Radio Wiring Diagrams - The Ranger Station

Now What? Ok, you bought a Ranger but the radio is missing. If the factory plugs are there, you should be able to pick up an installation kit from the parts store. The plugs in the kit will plug in … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

two 8 pin connectors
or
one 8 pin and one 16 pin

Looks like I have the two 8 pin connectors. I see now the radio that was put in was made in 2001. I’ve found some adapters on Amazon and eBay that may be worth a shot.

thats what i would do. my 04 has nice looking but hard as a rock seats.

Mine don’t look too bad but aren’t very comfortable but looking at pricing of the 60/40 seats I think I’ll hold on to them lol

 

[RonD]

1997 won't have it but Ford added a MUTE WIRE for radios in 1998 and up, red/black wire
It has 12v when key is in START.....................ONLY while in START, this would MUTE the radio when starting
People often think it is a 12v wire to power radio, so twist it together with the other 12v power wire
When they turn on the key.....................starter motor activates, lol, OOPS

1997 and earlier the ignition switch cuts the 12v to most systems when key is turned to START, so radio turned off, as did most electrical devices in the cab
As more "modules" were added cutting the power in START wasn't a good idea, so they added the MUTE in 1998

 

[James Morse]

If you can get buckets in good shape do that, they are super comfortable. You'd want the center console as well.
Probably hard to find since they were a lot less common than bench seats, I think.