Finally!!! Air Horn Install Done!

[Jeff Gurr]

Finally finished. Got a small leak somewhere but otherwise very pleased with the results. Sounds awesome!

 

[frost]

I LOVE IT! Installed air horn on my "01" (still miss her) viair compressor mounted in bed behind driver & 2' emergency air horn (32+ yrs professional firefighter & get teary eyed when I hear that horn, sentimental I guess) it from Texas air horns mounted left side under hood. It sure made a BIG difference from the wimpy stock horn that nobody heard. Scared the heck out of this jerk that was leap frogging in traffic cutting me & everybody off, he cut me off & I laid on the horn he & wife looking all around like what the? A very memorable moment.
Now I have a new "16" 2500 bighorn club cab & want to mount it on this one, on my "01" I tied into existing horn relay & it worked great. On new rig I'm almost scared to cause of all the other bells & whistles on it. I have checked with shops around area & nobody will touch it, I'm thinking they know something I don't? Is stock horn mounted in left fender well? Horn relay? Really not sure where to tie compressor in so it turns on/off with key. All this high tech bells & whistles I'm afraid to tie into anything for fear of jacking some other gadget up. Any help, suggestions are greatly appreciated. Gotta get my horn fix

 

[GSchlegel]

I have a 2013 that I hooked up a set of on demand marine air horns I've had for 40 years. I just spliced into the wire at the horn front driver side and used that to trigger a relay that powers the small air compressor. No faults or codes.

 

[BarryG]

On my 17 I also am reinstalling my compressor and horns from my 01. Again I also am somewhat skiddish to tie into the existing computerized stuff. So my plan is to just to wire it up separately from the stock horn circuit and use a foot switch like an old model bright lights switch or starter switch. I have already installed a painless wiring fuse block. Again since I didn't want to tie into the stock electrical to get ignition on power source I bought a thing from Genos garage that hooks up directly to the battery and it senses when the truck is started and supplies the ignition on power to the painless relay. So far it has worked just like it is supposed to (truck does need to be running accessory will not trip it). I have not got the compressor or horns mounted yet but the other stuff that is hooked up to the painless block works fine some of which is ignition on only and some of it is hot all the time .

https://www.genosgarage.com/product...n-power-module-2502950/Electrical-accessories

this is the Painless wiring block I used but they have others that are smaller or not weather resistant that are cheaper. I already had the painless block from a previous vehicle and just reused it.
https://www.genosgarage.com/product/ppp-70207-painless/Electrical-accessories

 

[Jeff Gurr]

Frost, I thought about using the existing horn circuit but I've always been disappointed with the lag time between pressing the steering wheel and waiting for the horn to honk. Maybe that's better in the newer models but my 14 is bad.
The stock horn can be accessed on my truck by opening a trap door in the top of the driver's side front wheel well. I found that after spending an hour trying to get to the horn from the top, under the battery. LOL! ~Jeff

 

[BarryG]

Jeff brings up a good point that I had forgotten about and is the other main reason for me wiring up mine standalone. The lag time on the horn in my 17 makes it almost useless at least for panic/emergency situations. By the time the dang thing honks the issue has already happened. When you figure at 70 mph you are traveling just over 102 feet per second a lot can happen in that delay period.

 

[frost]

Hey thanks for the info! Well after your reply I was ordering parts from Geno's kinda fell over seeing price of wiring block but gotta "Git-er done" now to figure out mounting a 26" horn & compressor. Thanks again Can't wait to start blasting & breaking those ID10T's ear drums who cut me off.:-laf
Yea - what's the deal with the horn lag time? 2nd reason for me putting in air horn

 

[Deleted member 995608]

what's the deal with the horn lag time?

Didn't you know the go pedal and the horn button are brothers?

 

[BarryG]

Good one JHawes

I am mounting my compressor and tank under the bed in front of the rear tire. I am using some metal stock This may not come across clear but if you take a look I suspect you'll figure out what I am saying. On the bed frame mounts there are holes in them. I got a piece of stock and bolted it through those holes. Then on the other side of the frame you will see some predrilled and tapped holes going into the bottom of the bed right next to the existing bed mounts. I put another piece of stock there. Then I took three pieces of stock connecting the previous two at right angle and took them all the way to the bed side (about an 1.5 inches short of the bed side actually). Now you have something that you can mount the compressor too and it is fairly protected and very protected if you add some sheet metal to the framing you just constructed. I have a long bed so both my comp and tank will fit in that space. Haven't got my horns mounted yet (just not enough hours in the day) hoping by the time I do I have found a new front bumper(aftermarket) which will make it easier. Got to keep the deer around here out of the front grill.