Air horns

[gatorman21218]

People in their dern little hondas and toyotas are ******* me off. Cutting in front, passing me then turning a mile later, this sort of thing. Ive decided that my horn leaves much to be desired. I want to upgrade to an air horn, not something that a deaf man could hear but just a little ERRR ERRR to let em know whos boss. While im drooling over that air compressor towcat has, I dont have one, and an electric pump would work fine. Can anybody steer me in the right direction? I preferably want a chrome roof mounted unit with a lanyard to pull.

 

[Black Horse]

I been thinking a nice locomotive horn would sound nice. I think Summit may carry something you are looking for with out adding a compressor.

 

[gatorman21218]

yeah i dont want to sound like train though i want that deep sound of a big rig.

 

[The Warden]

yeah i dont want to sound like train though i want that deep sound of a big rig.

You and me both! Seems like all of the "aftermarket" ones you can find have a high-pitched trumpet sound that I for one fine quite annoying. I've been told before that the best thing to do is scour truck wrecking yards and grab a few horns, put air to them, and find one you like. If you find a better answer, I'd love to follow suit so PLEASE keep this thread updated

I'd love to have one from a oceangoing freighter or a foghorn....they have a real bass pitch and you can hear them for 10 miles but I don't see any way you could mount one on a truck, let alone supply the air volume and pressure that would be needed for such a monstrosity.

 

[JesterPgh]

You could...but you'd never carry anything else in the truck...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiWNw0A1Ijg

 

[Goofyexponent]

You think it's bad in an IDI....Try shifting 9 gears out of a red light with 15 cars behind you, go one city block and then have all them 15 cars pile in front of you and slam the brakes on....while you have 60 000 pounds on board. It REALLY ****** you off then!!!

Air horns, un-muffled jake brakes, and a PISSED OFF redneck hollering at them, sometimes getting out of the truck to confront them don't make a difference.

Honnestly, it feels good to half deafen them, but you know what....they won't learn. ******** are going to be ******** (pardon my French) and no matter what you put on the truck to try and change that, nothing is going to work lol.

 

[sle2115]

and no matter what you put on the truck to try and change that, nothing is going to work lol.

How bout a big front bumper!

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I pick them up at swap-meets all the time; Hadleys, B-Ws, etc.

Sometimes the lanyard-valve is still attached, sometimes not.

It is amazing how different two identical sets of horns will sound when tested with shop-air.

I have a really nice set visible up top; I am gonna mount a couple sets of the less shiny ones underneath somewhere, all wired to sound together.

I agree that these problem people are not gonna change, but they will sure look to see what is about to run over them.


I need a better built 12-volt compressor.

The one I have has a plastic piston, no rings, and a soft aluminum bore; it worked fine for maybe a year, getting slower and slower as the piston wore out the bore; you can't expect much for fifty-bucks.


How reliable/long-lasting are the VIAIR units ??

Do they have quality pistons and cylinders ??


I would really like to install a belt-driven YORK, but I am running out of room for belt-driven goodies.

 

[The Warden]

You could...but you'd never carry anything else in the truck...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiWNw0A1Ijg

The first horn in that video sounds too much like a cruise ship, but I want that second horn

 

[Goofyexponent]

I need a better built 12-volt compressor.

Have you considered a converted AC compressor? I read that a lot of the off road guys convert them to run shop air in their trucks. Sometimes even using the roll cage and tubular front/rear bumpers as tanks to hold the air.

 

[jwalterus]

You could...but you'd never carry anything else in the truck...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiWNw0A1Ijg

I want 3 of the second one, mounted on each side of the bed and on the front bumper at Civic window height.....

 

[sootman73]

i wonder where you could even get one of those big horns? i tried to google them and got nothing!

and i got a horn for my chevy a while ago and it had a pretty deep sound to it. but me and my buddy never had the money to buy air ccompressors so we just put air tanks in teh bed and filled them up every other day. The horns were long like 14-16 inches with probably 6-7" diameter end bell.

 

[1991idi]

I pick them up at swap-meets all the time; Hadleys, B-Ws, etc.

Sometimes the lanyard-valve is still attached, sometimes not.

It is amazing how different two identical sets of horns will sound when tested with shop-air.

I have a really nice set visible up top; I am gonna mount a couple sets of the less shiny ones underneath somewhere, all wired to sound together.

I agree that these problem people are not gonna change, but they will sure look to see what is about to run over them.


I need a better built 12-volt compressor.

The one I have has a plastic piston, no rings, and a soft aluminum bore; it worked fine for maybe a year, getting slower and slower as the piston wore out the bore; you can't expect much for fifty-bucks.


How reliable/long-lasting are the VIAIR units ??

Do they have quality pistons and cylinders ??


I would really like to install a belt-driven YORK, but I am running out of room for belt-driven goodies.

Viairs are great pumps. I have used them and many people i know have used them. When taken care of properly they work for a long time- you cant run undersized wiring to them though, or they will burn out.

 

[timothyr1014]

Goofy is right...they never learn, and a york ac compressor feeding an 8 gal tank works great for air on the go....I am not a fan of using a bumper or roll cage...lots of guys do, but the idea of gaving explosive pressure in something that is designed to protect me just dosent appeal. Airbag with shrapnel is what it makes me think of.

I am about to take a page from my OTR playbook of year past...on one of the bobtails we had the owner mounted a set of horns in the rear facing backwards....earlier this week I found cause to really miss them. Backing a 26ft 18k lb trailer down a slight incline (properly equipped to do this safely) and I have people cutting around me (and mind you I have no issues backing a trailer quick and accurate, I was moving at a brisk walking pace to keep the load for developing a mind of its own)....sometimes I think its more "stupid" then *******. People dont seem to get that in as much as it takes a lot of work to get a load rolling, it takes just as much to stop it.....and the weight/impact of their honda impaled on the front bumper wont matter one bit.

Sorry for the rant, this week has been filled with hauling things bigger than the door sticker says is possible and dealing with my fair share of morons....I will say, I do love my IDI tho...shes a work horse

 

[hesutton]

A York makes great air. I run the clutch with a standard garage type aircompressor switch. It starts building air at 75 psi and stopps at 120 psi. Gotta a 4 gallon tank under the bed on the frame rail. At 120 psi, the air horns let the idiot in front of you know to stop screwing around.

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