Air Horn Questions

[rick3000]

Hi,
So yesterday I almost got run off the freeway by a big rig when a lane ended (he sped up). And I want to add an air horn when I take my bumper off to clean my radiators in a few weeks, so if it happens again they hear me. I am looking at Griots Garage compact air horns and have three questions.

First, I am not sure how much space there is behind the bumper so should I get the one that is 3" or 4" thick?
Second, is anyone familiar with these air horns? If I wire them in with the current horn will their be a delay, so I can beep-beep a slow driver with the stock horn and blast some one who cuts me off with both horns?
Third, these horns come with a relay. If I wire the horn into the existing horn wiring do I need to use the relay?
Thanks!

Here's a link to the horns:
http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/car+accessories/exterior+accessories/black%2C+ultra+compact+air+horns.do?search=basic&keyword=air+horn&sortby=newArrivals&page=1

[mptoledo]

Originally Posted by rick3000

Hi,
So yesterday I almost got run off the freeway by a big rig when a lane ended (he sped up). And I want to add an air horn when I take my bumper off to clean my radiators in a few weeks, so if it happens again they hear me. I am looking at Griots Garage compact air horns and have three questions.

Don't bother, they do it on purpose. I picked my Boxster up in sanfran and drove it back to ohio,2400 miles of 2 line highways and road construcion. Its like a game to the idiots(not all truckers are idiots). I don't know if its pure hatred, or just jealousy. Either way I made sure to keep an eye when passing in traffic. Don't bother giving them the 1 finger salute as it just validates their sorry existence of a life.

Disclaimer: I mean no disrespect to honest truck drivers, just the idiots who think its a game or some sadistic form of fun to screw with other cars. And if you did take offense to this, then screw you cause your probably an idiot any ways.

[Lil bastard]

That's the Stebel Nautilus, a really common air horn upgrade for motorcycles (which is what it was actually created for). Both are very compact and would easily mount to either the actual bumper (behind the bumper cover) or to the cooler bracket which mounts the radiator and condenser. It will require a separate relay, but you can use the existing wiring to draw power.

It's a well made unit and very loud - 139db !

Hear it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQqxhRQ1rPE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chU5LhgdEm4&NR=1

Check for it on Amazon and you may find it cheaper than Griot's (Griot wants to send his kid to Havard).

[rick3000]

Thanks for the head up, a quick search turned up the same horn on eBay with free shipping for $32 here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOUD-SOUND-Compact-AIR-HORN-Car-Boat-SUV-Truck-613R_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q 7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1171Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksid Zp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem563378a371QQitemZ37023 0731633QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso riesQQsalenotsupported#ht_4780wt_1004

I will definitely be doing this and hopefully I can figure out the wiring. It appears to be I wire the horn to the relay and the relay into the existing horn wiring.

Also, this is unrelated, but is anyone aware of a switched power source in the front trunk?

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

Check for it on Amazon and you may find it cheaper than Griot's (Griot wants to send his kid to Harvard).

Hoo boy, you ain't lyin' about that. Griot is proud of everything he puts in his catalog.

I think he wants to send his kid to Harvard grad school too.

I gotta get me an air horn too. It'll make someone jump straight out of their seat if you hit it at just the right time.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by rick3000

Thanks for the head up, a quick search turned up the same horn on eBay with free shipping for $32 here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOUD-SOUND-Compact-AIR-HORN-Car-Boat-SUV-Truck-613R_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q 7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1171Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksid Zp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem563378a371QQitemZ37023 0731633QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso riesQQsalenotsupported#ht_4780wt_1004

I will definitely be doing this and hopefully I can figure out the wiring. It appears to be I wire the horn to the relay and the relay into the existing horn wiring.

That horn appears to be a Stebel wannabe (probably WOLO) as every Stebel I've ever seen has it's logo stamped on the side. Still, a good price and not really a complex piece of machinery, I'm sure it'll work fine.

If not too late, check out the Stebel here:

Stebel Nautilus

There is also a wiring harness for it which is supposed to be Plug & Play, but that's most likely for a bike so you may have to make some splices.

I had an old BSA Lightning with the Stebel on it and whenever I blew it, the truckers all noticed it, it was actually too loud to use in traffic as you got all sort of dirty looks.

[rick3000]

I haven't bought it yet. None of the Wolo horns seem to go past 119db, the Stebel's seem to do 139bd. Since I normally do not have to honk too often I think I may go with the cheap eBay one. I think I will be able to wire it myself so we'll see.

[Kirk]

I've got an air horn on my Box and always ran them on my motorcycles. Yes, I definitely think it's a good thing to have. Mine are actually two horns attached by tubing to a small compressor. I definitely need to use a relay for the power that these draw. There are two electric/stock horns under the front bumper. I pulled the wiring from one of them and used it to trigger the relay. The power to the horns from the relay is fused and goes directly to the battery. I left the other stock horn in place and I recommend you do this too. Air horns take a few milliseconds to respond. It's nice to have the immediate response of an electric horn still in place for when you just want to tap the horn (beep beep) or when you need a real quick response (emergency situation).



Kirk

[rick3000]

I think I understand all the wiring, but where did you connect your air horns to a power source. Did you run a wire to the 12V phone connector, or tap directly into the battery leads?

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by rick3000

I think I understand all the wiring, but where did you connect your air horns to a power source. Did you run a wire to the 12V phone connector, or tap directly into the battery leads?

I ran a 16 gauge wire directly from the battery (with an in-line fuse) to the relay. The relay is triggered by the horn switch in the steering wheel by using the connections that normally go to one of the OEM electric horns. The relay then allows the air horn to get this power directly from the battery, but only when switched by the horn button.

Kirk

[rick3000]

Thanks, I completely under stand how to wire this in now.
I am going to be running a wire from the 12V phone connector to the front bumper for some custom running lights.
Do you think I could use this power source or would it draw to much power? If it does draw too much power how would I go about tapping directly into the battery?
Thanks!

[rick3000]

"I am going to be running a wire from the 12V phone connector to the front bumper for some custom running lights.
Do you think I could use this power source or would it draw to much power? If it does draw too much power how would I go about tapping directly into the battery?"

Does anyone know how I would tap into the battery or if I would need to?
Thanks again!

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by rick3000

"I am going to be running a wire from the 12V phone connector to the front bumper for some custom running lights.
Do you think I could use this power source or would it draw to much power? If it does draw too much power how would I go about tapping directly into the battery?"

Does anyone know how I would tap into the battery or if I would need to?
Thanks again!

I would suggest running the horn direct from the battery. It's fairly simple. You want to wire the battery to the input terminal of the relay (#30/51), the air horns to the output terminal of the relay (#87). Then use your OEM wiring to trigger the relay by wiring it to the trigger terminal (#86). Terminal #85 is a common ground.

Use a med. gauge wire (16 Ga would be good) with an 'O' ring crimped on one end, add an inline 15 Amp fuse to the wire and a female spade connector on the other. Slip 'O' ring through the bolt on the pos (+) battery cable terminal and attach the spade connector to terminal #30/51.

Here is a page that will help. It specifically wires in an aftermarket air horn (though for another vehicle) : Air Horn Relay

[rick3000]

Thank you, that is exactly what I needed to know. I'll post back when I get this done in the next few weeks.

[Lil bastard]

In fact, to make a proper job of it, I'd add a relay holder, connect all wires to it and then insert the relay. This way, when the relay needs changing it's a much simpler procedure and your installation will look more professional for very little money. See them here:Relay connectors