Big Rig Diesel Air Horn

[daveshoe]

Rbatellle == Deep tone

For those of you who want to experiment, Here is how to get a deep tone. Go to a truck boneyard and get the longest air horn you can find. Buy any of the big ones that you can get your hands on,and pick up a smaller set of twin trumpets just for fun. a battery screwgun is nice to take,and do not forget the vice grips. Take a # 3 phillips bit to get at the screws on the top of the cab,and your vice grips will hold on to the nut that is inside the cab. The vice grips may also be used to twist or break off the screws from the inside. You also need the screwgun to remove screws from the headliner to recover the air hose and fittings-- the horns are linked together with a tee fitting and controlled with an air valve. Sorry for the long post,but it might save you guys a return trip. Wear old clothes,and be ready for a face full of insulation with mice droppings when you take out that headliner.

The point of this whole thing is how to get a deep tone and do it cheaply. Take a second trumpet out of one of your horns and jam it into the trumpet of the first horn. It will sound like the Queen Mary. if that is not deep enough, add a third trumpet or go to a high school football game and wait for some kid to leave his trombone laying around Hook it up to an improvised fitting on your air compressor to experiment with the horn combo that you want. I'm gonna go with five horns :-laf To make these horns louder,take them apart and clean the muddy gunk off the reed and put a little oil on it. The boneyard I went to gave me more stuff for cash than they did for a check,so it does not hurt to ask for a cash price. FWIW, Hadleys seem to run on less air. Have fun

Great post,RJOL. Now I know what it takes to complete the project.

 

[rbattelle]

When I blow my air horns I want sailors on lake Superior to think there's a fog warning.



Dave, when you say "take a second trumpet out of one of your horns and jam it into the trumpet of the first horn", you mean physically shove the trumpet down in there?



-Ryan

 

[daveshoe]

Yes,thats what I'm saying. I went to a scrap yard and took every Grover and Hadley that was not completely trashed. That's how you wind up with extra parts. The trumpet of the horn clamps to the driver,which contains the reed. The reed is just a thin metal plate which vibrates [under vacuum as the stream of air passes by,I think]. Interesting thing is that without the trumpet,it sounds like a high pitched whistle. It takes a long column of air going through a trumpet to lower the tone. Jamming one trumpet inside the other extends the column,and lowers the tone. When your horn approaches 32'' ,It sounds pretty much like a tugboat. Oo.

 

[jwduke]

A tugboat horn would be cool too... .

 

[rbattelle]

When your horn approaches 32'' ,It sounds pretty much like a tugboat.

That's what I want!

 

[jwduke]

Where are you going to put that? :-laf :-laf :-laf Maybe I don't want to know, either

 

[TFerrari]

I purchased a horn from JC Whitney and I do not like the sound at all. Better then stock but still very whimpy. I quit working after about a week now too.

May just be a fuse. I best sounding electric horn I have heard was on my Dad's 72 Buick Electra 225. He got an option for what was called a "4 note Horn". It sounded just like a diesel train!!! When you hit that horn people would freak out!! They thought the ILLINOIS CENTRAL was about to roll over them. I tried to do a search for one but no luck. I even tried for Buick Parts.

If any body can find a source for that "4 note horn" I would be in. It sounds sweet. Has that low tone we are all looking for.

 

[Elite1]

TFerrari, here are some horns advertised to sound like the 72 Buick electra, plus there is a sound bite:

http://www.seriousauto.com/electrical/horns/horns.html

 

[DBrickel]

A year or so ago a TDR member had pic of a train horn mounted on his truck. It was a bit of a trick to get the horns to fit and the handle to activate the horn looked a bit cumbersome but it worked well I guess. someone with more interest than me might try to search the archives

 

[nickleinonen]

i've still got a single airchime trumpit i want to mount to my truck, but i need to get a good reliable air solenoid first, then the rest of the system will fall together [can get synflex for next to nothing, large air tank is easially had, and compressor is waiting... ]

 

[Elite1]

I would like to get jake brakes at some point, which require a compressor on the 3rd gen's. I wonder if I could "T" into the tubing and run an air horn off of that compressor.

 

[puebla]

Elite1: If you were refering to the dealer installed Exhaust Brake for Dodge CTD 3rd Gens... . the brake runs off a vacuum pump. The vacuum pump is included in the dealer installation kit. I'd like to see if someone can fab up a horn that runs off of vacuum. Sounds odd at first, but a horn is like a whistle... you can whistle with your mouth with vacuum or pressure. That is... blow in or out... .

 

[RankRam]

Elite1: If you were refering to the Pacbrake Exhaust Brake for Dodge CTD 3rd Gens... . the Pacbrake runs off a vacuum pump. The vacuum pump is included in the Pacbrake installation kit. I'd like to see if someone can fab up a horn that runs off of vacuum. Sounds odd at first, but a horn is like a whistle... you can whistle with your mouth with vacuum or pressure. That is... blow in or out... .

The Pac uses pressure, the Jacobs uses vacuum.



Here is a pic of my PacBrake compressor.



#ad

 

[puebla]

Cool... . are there any other uses for vacuum besides running the exhaust brake?

 

[Elite1]

Cool... . are there any other uses for vacuum besides running the exhaust brake?

I have read on other exhaust brake threads that some of the guys with Pac Brake use the compressor to fill tires etc...



https://www.turbodieselregister.com...ge=2&pp=15&highlight=compressor+exhaust+brake

 

[TFerrari]

Elite thanks for the link. Thats not to bad but still is not deep enough. I found out that the Buick 4 note horn actually used 4 seperate horns to get that sound. I think it was A,B,C and D notes. Of course only 3 of the 4 horns are produced today. A delco parts ealer can get them. I called my chevy dealer and they wanted $55 eaach for the 3 they could still get. I heard a parts store charges $30 each. But not sure if the sound would be right with just 3. I might start hitting some junk yards if I get some time. The were used in caddy's too thru the early 80's and Buicks. Pop the hood and look for 4 horns linked together. It sure sounded sweet. Much better then that sound clip. I think you need the four horns to get the right sound. People would freak out when you laid on that horn. Just like a diesel train about to drive over you.

 

[WDixon27]

Yes,thats what I'm saying. I went to a scrap yard and took every Grover and Hadley that was not completely trashed. That's how you wind up with extra parts. The trumpet of the horn clamps to the driver,which contains the reed. The reed is just a thin metal plate which vibrates [under vacuum as the stream of air passes by,I think]. Interesting thing is that without the trumpet,it sounds like a high pitched whistle. It takes a long column of air going through a trumpet to lower the tone. Jamming one trumpet inside the other extends the column,and lowers the tone. When your horn approaches 32'' ,It sounds pretty much like a tugboat. Oo.

hmmm how about a coil between the driver and trumpet to increase length but keep it somewhat compact?