I have a screwy driving principal.....

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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Many of you will not like this....:xyxgun:



I am a guy who hardly ever uses my horn when driving. Therefore, when I AM forced to use it, I'd like whoever I'm honking at to think the end of the world is here.:huh2:

In my '03 Ram the standard horns weren't TOO shabby. But in the Beast I had medium quality instant on Air Horns facing down behind the grill. I never got anywhere what I wanted with that setup.:awman:

I had the opportunity to pull the Air Horns from the Beast and have them facing forward behind the bumper. In addition the hose from the little instant on compressor is MUCH shorter in this case.:wtf:

It's MUCH better in the Ram as I use the standard AND Air Horns....:devil:

But! Think "Tim Taylor" here... I want more power! I tested the horns with a short blast of 125psi from our big shop compressor, and WOW!!!:aaa:

I'm of two minds on how to upgrade. One is to get a second compressor from a cheap set of dinky horns. This can be done for about $25.:broke:

Plan two is better but pretty much un-reachable. This would be to get a small compressor/tank combo that stays charged up to 90psi or so and a solenoid valve to blast.:poof:

My thinking is though, if pretty impressive with one instant on, two should be significantly better.:huh2:

Thoughts?:xyxgun::xyxgun::xyxgun:
 

JimH

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Have you considered train horns? Those will even get a big rig to move out of your way. :laughing:
 

Diesel_Bomber

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Why would the second option be un-doable? Small compressor for ~$50, tank for $20, pressure switch for $35 or so(I think!), wiring and relays and fuse and all that for another $30 or so. The solenoid would be the interesting part, dunno how much that'd go for. Do it right and you could run air outlets to various places on the truck and run air tools as well.


Cheers. :buddies:
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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All well and good DB.

But the truck is hardly EVER that close to my work!

And a single buy of $25ish against a scavenger hunt of stuff to over $100

Sure it'd be fun (and might cause Heart Attacks!) but I gotta stay practical!!!
 

JimH

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Tryin' to help ya out here. This is an excerpt from an article I just found.

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So when Bracey got out of the hospital, he made himself an art truck. He found old steamboat whistles, train klaxons, compressed air horns. Atop the bristle of noisemakers he installed the pièce de résistance: a Kahlenberg ship's horn with a yard-wide mouth audible 12 miles away. He says, "I especially like driving up behind someone with a 'Honk if you love Willie Nelson' bumper sticker."
 

Diesel_Bomber

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PlayboyJoeShmoe said:
All well and good DB.

But the truck is hardly EVER that close to my work!

And a single buy of $25ish against a scavenger hunt of stuff to over $100

Sure it'd be fun (and might cause Heart Attacks!) but I gotta stay practical!!!

I hear ya there, but definitions of "practical" vary. :nana:


Cheers. :buddies:
 

atm

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Not sure about the cost, but some 4x4 aftermarket places sell compressor/tank setups for operating air-operated diff locks and re-inflating tyres after sand driving.

The extra compressor really does sound like the easiest and most cost effective solution though.

Andrew
 

PhotonWrangler

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I've always wanted a set of really loud air horns that would be tied to the speedometer somehow, so that whenever I was driving at freeway speeds a relay would switch off the regular horn and switch to the "I really mean it!" horn.
 

DieselTech

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I'm currently running a set of Volvo semi truck horns on my F-250. If you're looking for an electric solenoid valve, call some dump truck repair shops. For some reason, most dump trucks (especially Mack) use electric valves. I got mine for just under 15 bucks. I took a 3 position switch and wired it in to be the factory horn, the air horn, or both, all of which are activated through the horn button in my steering wheel.

For air, I'm a big fan of running a 12 volt compressor on the truck. If all you want to do is run the horns, check out www.harborfreight.com. They have a 12 volt compressor for around 70.00, I believe. Then you can find an air tank which will change your world. Depending on the size of your tank, you can do a lot more with a much lower duty cycle compressor. Try the HornBlasters website or www.suicidedoors.com for a tank, or if you know of a semi truck scrapyard you could try there first. I'm currently using a 10 gallon secondary tank off of a Freightliner. Mounting it was a bit of a challenge (I didnt want to lose any bedspace, so I put it on the framerail), but I can put 175 PSI in it from my shop compressor and run my impact wrench long enough to remove and replace three out of four tires.

But again, that may be overkill for your situation. Depending on how often you use your horns and the size of your tank, WalMart has a little blue Campbell Hausfield compressor that plugs into your cigarette lighter. It pumps up to 150 PSI, and has a cut on/ off switch built into it that you can set for whatever pressures you want. However, the compressor gets into the red zone at about 100 PSI, so if you use the horns a lot or have a tiny tank it may not live too long. Mine has been alive for almost two months now, keeping 135 psi in my tank. Of course, with a 10 gallon tank, and having my 'cut in' pressure set at 130 psi, the compressor only kicks on for a couple of minutes at a time. The key here is the tank. I put a female quick connect on mine and if the pressure drops too much, I dont let the compressor turn on and just fill it up with my shop air.

Good luck with the horns, but be warned you can get a ticket for them. I just try to ensure that there are some semi trucks around when I hit mine, that way I'm not the most likely suspect. :)
 

Mike Painter

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I pulled into an intersection one night from a hospital on a code three run and saw this car traveling in the other lane. I stopped with all the lights on and he did not see me.
I waited until he was right in front of me and hit him with the electronic siren (no wind up). His window was down and he couldn't have been more than 10 feet away. Woke him and the others in the car right up.

**********
I want to die peaceably in my sleep, just like grand dad did. Not screaming and yelling like the others in the car he drove off the cliff.
 

James S

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do you really need a compressor on board? Just a small tank that you can refill from the shop compressor once in a while should be good for many long blasts on the horn :) And you can probably leave the smaller compressor connected to use when the tank runs empty on you. They sell those little tanks for carrying home some compressed air, I've seen even smaller ones that would still be good for quite a bit of honking. You just have to remember to peak at the gage once in a while and top it off after you use it.

I'm not sure what the safety implications are of having a small highly pressurized tank of air under the hood. Would it rocket up through the firewall if you got into an accident? I'm sure it could be mounted safely so do some research there if you go that route.

Just a whole lot cheaper than mounting a bigger compressor...
 

PlayboyJoeShmoe

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I just thought I was on the edge!!!

Volvo Semi Horns? FOUR 21" Chromies? SICK!

My setup is all out of sight. I hope to get the second compressor today.

As time goes on, we DO have a lot of trucking company customers... maybe a badder-A$$ setup is down the road a bit.

Keep 'em coming!
 
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