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The stock horn on my '89 pickup is... well pretty pathetic. The little Herbie "beep beep" just isn't cutting it. I was thinking to replace the horn with one of those old Cadillac 4 note horns (you know, the really obnoxious LOUD ones from the 70s and 80s). Is this possible? If so, is it difficult?
I found an old lever actuated OOOOGAH style horn years ago, built a bracket and mounted it to the frame rail near the radiator. I used classy old bike shifter and cable to actuate it. Love tooting my own horn...
It is a pretty easy job depending on how big of a horn you get. Most importantly use correct relay(s) and correct gauge wire. Here is the one I installed behind a Smittybuilt tube bumper, not sure if it would fit in there with a stock bumper:
Do "air" horns require some sort of air reservoir? Or do they just have electric pumps that only wind-up when you give them the juice? (so if no reservoir, do they react instantly? I wouldn't have to wait even 1/2 a second if I want to be an a__-hat with a horn.)
Last edited by scope103; Aug 16, 2019 at 06:27 AM.
Do "air" horns require some sort of air reservoir? Or do they just have electric pumps that only wind-up when you give them the juice? (so if no reservoir, do they react instantly? I wouldn't have to wait even 1/2 a second if I want to be an a__-hat with a horn.)
The one I posted does react instantly even though there is no tank. I never laid on it long enough to see how long it goes before petering out, that would be a downside to not having a tank along with not being as loud. Also, a non-tank system will have a much bigger amp draw when the horn is depressed activating the compressor(s) instead of just the small draw of opening the solenoid on a tank-fed horn.
Last edited by Paul22RE; Aug 16, 2019 at 12:13 PM.
Thanks for the replies. After a bit of looking, I found these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/MARCO-XB2-1...K:MESE:IT#rwid . There probably the same as Paul22RE's but I really like the tone of the horn and I may consider buying these. I have very little wiring experience so I hope its not to difficult to instal. By the way, nice horn OldBlueMidnight!
Yeah, those look the chrome version of the ones I installed. Was tight to fit everything and make sure you use both relays that come with the kit. Each compressor draws about 17-20amps which is a lot! I used 10ga wire from battery to relays and relays to compressors. And ground should also be 10ga from compressors to frame. Most important is using fuses as close to the battery as possible for the 2 wires feeding the relays.
Last edited by Paul22RE; Aug 16, 2019 at 12:15 PM.
Do you think a horn like that would be legal here in California? It's technically not a "train horn" and I'm not going to use it obnoxiously, only when necessary.
Aug 15, 2019 | 07:25 PM
