95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners 4th gen pickups and 3rd gen 4Runners

Anyone else tired of the horn?

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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 11:38 AM
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cackalak han's Avatar
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Anyone else tired of the horn?

I got fed up with my horn the other day when a Civic cut me off, and all my 4Runner could say was, "um, excuse me, sir. Would you mind not cutting me off next time. Sorry for the inconvenience." The stock horn sounds like a gay uncle farting. So, today, I went to Pepboys and bought this:



It was around $24. I had the triple air horn set before and didn't like them. There is a half to one second delay in the response time of the air horn, which got a little annoying, so I chose these ones.

If you're at least semi-familiar with electrical work, you won't need to read further, as it'll be very elementary for you. For the rest like me, read on.

Getting to the stock horns is easy. Open the hood, and there they are. Take a 12mm socket and unbolt. Then unclip the harness to the horn:



I took a knife and peeled back the rubber housing so that I could have a little slack to work with:



Then, I attached another wire for even more slack.



That picture is for the passenger side of the horn. The passenger side has one wire going to it (power wire). The driver's side has two. One is a power wire coming in and the other is the one that powers the passnger side. First, I thought one was power and the other ground, and took me about 10 minutes to figure out what was going on. So for the right side, I just wire-nutted both of the wires together, along with another piece of wire for slack:



Then test fit to make sure the horns will fit:





On the passenger side, there is an A/C line that you will want to avoid touching with the horn. You don't want it to rub and leak over time. I had to bend the mounting bracket to clear it:



Usually, on aftermarket horns, there are two prongs. One for power and one for ground. Mine wasn't polar sensitive, so it didn't matter which wire went to which prong. The factory apparently didn't need grounding, but these aftermarket horns do. The best and easiest way is to ground them using the mounting bolt of the horn:



And here they are all done:



Sounds 1000X better. Highly recommended.

Last edited by cackalak han; Aug 12, 2006 at 11:41 AM.
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 11:47 AM
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can you give us a sound clip of how they sound? are they deep? high?
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 11:57 AM
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From: Tennessee
I didn't know how to do just a sound clip. I uploaded this video, so hope it works.
It sounds just like a Ford or 4th Gen 4Runners (I think 00+ also came with these?)

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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:03 PM
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i too have been looking at those horns as well as the other ones they sell. there website gives a crapy sound bite and this just made me want to go and get them!!
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:04 PM
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can you post a pic of the horns from a straight shot of the grill? i have the satoshi mod and dont want to be able to see them
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:05 PM
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lol my stock horns are long gone my sister got into a accident in her 97 vw jetta so i took the horns off that and about 10 mins later i had new horns and my god there loud as there made by hella it cost me a total of 6bucks for some wireing parts
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:14 PM
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i'm sure someone will mention the freeway blasters, so i'll give my opinion on them. although a definite improvement, they are over-rated. you can get better sounding horns from various vehicles in the scrap yard. i got horns from a 94 plymouth voyageur. they are louder and slightly deeper than the freeway blasters.

ps: anyone wanna buy my freeway blasters?
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:14 PM
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From: Tennessee
Here is the straight shot. Left and right side. You can't tell too much. If you want, you could just take the stickers off and perhaps spray paint them flat black.



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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:16 PM
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From: Siletz,Oregon
you cant really see my horns as there all black also i didint even cut into the stock wireing
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:17 PM
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From: Siletz,Oregon
Originally Posted by p nut
Here is the straight shot. Left and right side. You can't tell too much. If you want, you could just take the stickers off and perhaps spray paint them flat black.



i see you like to work with your shirt off
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:20 PM
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dang, they'll stick out like a sore thumb!
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:21 PM
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From: Siletz,Oregon
you could move them down to the bumper and know one will ever see them
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:24 PM
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this is true.....how much were they?

or ill just spray em black!
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:28 PM
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From: Siletz,Oregon
i would get These
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:42 PM
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pepboys sells those also, there website, fiamm, has terrible sound bites that make me not want to buy them!!!


maybe i should....30 day return policy!!
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:48 PM
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From: Siletz,Oregon
wire them up real quick and if you dont like them take them back
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:58 PM
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From: Tennessee
Yeah, you could mount these anywhere you'd like--you just have to extend the wires to where you're mounting, which is no big deal. It's easiest to wire them up to where the factory ones were, since you won't have to remove the bumper. And if you spray paint them, you won't notice them.

The ones I got were Wolo, and they were $24. I don't think the Fiamm ones are any better. I've had these Wolo's from Pepboys in my Integra, and I had no problems. I promise you will like the sound. Don't worry about it.

And, yes, it was 90+ degrees outside. Too hot for a shirt.
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 12:59 PM
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From: Siletz,Oregon
my horns are louder than the ones in my moms tundra
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 01:53 PM
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what did you use elton, the ones you posted?
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Old Aug 12, 2006 | 01:55 PM
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From: Siletz,Oregon
ya i used the ones from the jetta
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