Grover Horns Rock -- special thanks to Straight6Jeff

[Wheaties]

Jeff,



Sorry to make you wait for this, but I move slower than my grandmother. I got the wiring on the horn install to the point where I could test the horns. They sound fantastic!! For the moment, the horn button is to touch the end of a very long wire to the positive lead on the battery, definitely not something that should be attempted while driving. A neighbor asked to hear how they sounded so I handed him the wire and had him give it a try. By the time his feet were back on the ground, he was laughing pretty hard.



Along the way, I managed to connect to the wrong side of the relay switch, "Neat the compressor runs..... oh I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER, it should wait for the key to be on. " I also got the solenoid mounted backwards on the air line to the horn. (the valve won't close if mounted backwards) It really doesn't take much air to make it sound like a dying whale, does it?



I should be able to finish my wiring of the horn button in the next day or so, then I'll re-loom to tidy things up.



I have to thank you for all your help and support. You did a great job getting the compressor, tank, and horns mounted. You

da' man!



Matt

 

[Sregorb]

Just curious, was this by any chance the Grover 1609 kit from Rickson?

Reason I ask is I'm smack in the middle of installing mine (at a stopping point pending next weekend break) and it'd be great to know this is the one that has the "levitating people" capability.....

Also, did you follow Fritz installation? where'd you mount the tank+compressor?



Brian

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Wheaties (MTE) said: "It really doesn't take much air to make it sound like a dying whale, does it?"



I shall now consider you the authority on what a whale sounds like as it expires.



"This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be!!"



MTY

 

[Wheaties]

Originally posted by Sregorb

Just curious, was this by any chance the Grover 1609 kit from Rickson?

Reason I ask is I'm smack in the middle of installing mine (at a stopping point pending next weekend break) and it'd be great to know this is the one that has the "levitating people" capability.....

Also, did you follow Fritz installation? where'd you mount the tank+compressor?



Brian

Yes, yes, known to make white men jump. Also known to stain people's underware. "How did that get there?"



Yes, this is the Rickson kit, with an upgrade to the larger tank. Do you have a cylinder tank or pancake? I recall reading the Fritz installation which probably gave me the idea in the first place. You have done your homework!



Jeff recently did an incredible install on his own truck with hard lines, a belt driven compressor mounted on the Cummins, quick connects in several places, air horn, hell I think he's hidden a spray booth and a circus ride somewhere in that truck. Really top notch! So when he offered to help, I listened to his ideas and more or less went with what he suggested.



We mounted the tank on the side of the frame in front of the rear passenger side wheel. The tank is cylindrical and we discovered we could mount the pump above the tank with a short section of unibracket. The horn is mounted horizontal, upside down and pointing at the driver's side on the frame rail behind the bumper. Got that? I'll try to post a picture if I get a chance. Jeff did an incredible job. I couldn't have done it without him.



Matt

 

[Sregorb]

GREAT!!! Yes I've been doing homework for the past several months and this is the way I decided to go after weighing desires, funds, and my (lack) of mechanical skills. I did get the upgrade kit with the cylinder tank.



After much vehicle surveying I think I'm going to locate the tank in the deep (high?) depression directly under the passenger seat rear right mounting bracket. That way it's tucked up high and protected as much as possible. It should mount with just the four bolts and washers under the carpet and straight down thru the floorboard.



I want to relocate the factory horns to the passenger side wheel well inside the engine compartment where there is a big unused space so that the compressor can be mounted under the battery just like in Fritz's application. The only question here is if I can figure out how to have the steering wheel button sound both the airhorn and stock together or just the stock using a toggle switch mounted in cab..... Look out! Everybody stand back!!! Brian's trying to engineer something! This ought to be ummm, interesting.



The horns will be easy as they fit perfectly within the right side corner of the DOR bumper. Can you say big, thick, aluminum resonating chamber! It should be loud and clear that way.



After no less than 3 trips to Home Depot I finally have everything necessary to run regulated air lines with quick connects to the front/rear bumpers for ease of access.



Now if I can just stay warm enough it should be a pretty fun project. I also need to put my strobes in too..... so many projects, so little time/money!



Brian

 

[Wheaties]

That sounds like it will work quite well. We used unibracket to mount the tank to the frame, so we were able to locate holes in the frame without drilling. I didn't really want to move the stock horns, but it's a popular place to put the compressor. Sounds like a perfectly good layout to me.



I'm going to locate the wire to the horn switch. My manual tells me it is black/red and splice in a double pole/ double throw switch. Horn switch to the center position, stock horn to the lower position, and air horn to the upper position. Why double pole? As a safety measure, I'm going to wire the compressor relay circuit through the other pole (center and upper positions) so that it is effectively turned off if stock horns are selected. I could just pull the fuse if I really want to disable the compressor, but I think it's convenient to put it on the switch.



The nice thing is the stock horn circuit goes through a relay, so the horn button really only activates the relay which activates the horn. You won't have to worry about load much because the relay and horn solenoid don't draw much.



Good luck,

Matt

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

2-Tone Factory sparrow farts?

I've had my 1609 series Grovers on for over 2 years with no regrets..... Did you leave them two-tone factory sparrow fart units in place or junk them?

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Sparrow farts?! :-laf



MTY

 

[Wheaties]

Re: 2-Tone Factory sparrow farts?

Originally posted by JohnMcIntyre

I've had my 1609 series Grovers on for over 2 years with no regrets..... Did you leave them two-tone factory sparrow fart units in place or junk them?

The factory sparrow farts are still in place for city driving. NYC has something like a $250 fine for unneccessary noise. I might want to scare some pidgeons

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

Yes officer......

Over here in Europe, I am lucky enough to be able to get away with my "stock factory horns"..... "Yes Officer, they sure know how to make horns in St. Louis. " :-laf:-laf



JMc

 

[jwinnie]

"Yes Officer, they sure know how to make horns in St. Louis. "

I love it!

:-laf :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[Wheaties]

Good point John!

Oo. Oo.

Finally got the horn switch wired in tonight. Got started while there was still daylight, but still ended up doing most of it in the dark. It's fun trying to find the black/red wire on the column, especially when they put two red/black wires in as bait.



Here's another surprise: the horn switch is wired to ground! Am I wrong in thinking that this is reverse to just about every circuit in all of automotive wiring? Or is the horn circuit always reversed and I just never knew it? Funny how quiet the horn is when you connect ground to ground. I didn't expect the test light to set off the stock horn either... .....



Off we go for a test drive, looking for someplace deserted where I can blast away to my hearts content. This is not particularly easy in these parts. Temptation strikes as I pass beneath each underpass, " I wonder how it sounds here?" I have to admit, it sounds awesome!!!



This has got to be some kind of personal record; I have never spent this much money on something I intend to use as little as possible. Insurance is different! Insurance doesn't come with a button! Even less than the horn, I intend to use the city/highway horn switch even less.