heater hoses ?

I have a newly acquired 1996 Ford F150 w /4.9 L engine and 5 speed transmission . Can anyone tell me the correct heater hose hookup ? As they come out of the firewall , which hose ( looking from the front of truck - left or right ) goes to the water pump and which to the thermostat housing ? I'm having overheating problems and , though this probably doesn't figure into that , I would like to make sure they are correct . All help will be truly appreciated !

I'm not familiar with that truck but if you have heat in the cab then the hoses should be hooked up correctly.

Overheating should not be caused by the heater core, if anything it should help with cooling the engine down by acting as another radiator, there are a lot of reasons for overheating this is probably not it.

Make sure your antifreeze level and mixture (usually 50/50 water/antifreeze) are correct, try using a water hose and spray out the back side of the radiator to remove any build up of bugs and/or other debris from the front of it.

Does the engine have the correct thermostat installed, if so have you tried replacing it?