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After a really, really close call with a tractor-trailer on the Interstate
(I was forced off the road when he moved into my lane; luckily I had just passed a construction Jersey wall), I decided
I wanted a little better chance at people hearing me (tractor-trailers still probably can't) the next time I'm unlucky enough
to find myself in a similar situation. So, I decided to replace my single, factory, electric FIAMM horn with a FIAMM
Air Horn Kit (134db dual trumpet) that I purchased from JC Whitney.
I pondered the location of the horn for a good while. I had plenty of room currently in
the engine compartment, but only because I had to have my failed aftermarket cruise control unit removed, which included the
removal of the vacuum tank. Since I still want cruise control in my truck and I think every 4-cyl CC install recommends
a vacuum tank, I decided not to install the horns in the engine compartment.
I'm very pleased with the spot I "found" for the horns. Hopefully, it can be seen in the
pictures below, but:
1. I mounted the compressor on the bracket where the original horn was installed.
2. I used a "pigtail" to extend the original single wire factory connector to the bottom
power connection on the compressor.
3. I used another small section of wire to ground the compressor to the mounting bracket since
there was no ground wire on the original horn (it was a single wire setup with, I assume, a ground through the housing to
the mounting bracket).
4. I wrapped the old and new wiring in the black plastic shielding to keep everything neat and
away from the radiator.
5. I mounted the horns to two existing holes in the support bracket that runs from the bottom
of the hood latch assembly to the bottom of the grill area. I really liked this location for the fact that the horns
were as far forward as they can be (as far forward as the factory anyway) yet were still out of the way.
6. I painted the red plastic trumpets flat black just so they would be less noticeable (about
an inch or so of one horn is visible through the grille).
Now one thing about this install. Even though the new kit called for a 20A fuse, I used the existing factory
wiring which I believe is a 15A circuit. I did this because I wanted as clean an install a possible and didn't really
want to run another wire to the battery (I ran a wire directly to the battery for my fog light install). I figured that
if the compressor tried to pull 20A (probably during a spike for whatever reason), that I'd just start blowing 15A fuses and
would have to install a new 20A circuit after all. Well, it's been a while and (knock wood) I haven't blown the fuse
yet; and, while I haven't "laid on the horn" for a long time, I have tried many "tests". So, I've got my fingers crossed
that the circuit will hold. One of these days, when I'm far enough away from population, I'll probably hod down the
horn for a good 10-15 seconds. If I ever have to do that in a real world situation, the fuse will probably be the least
of my worries.
Finally, I'm pleased with how "factory" this install looks to me. The horns aren't quite
as loud as I expected. I had a set of air horns in another vehicle and I think they were louder, but they may have been
140db. And, people who have heard them think they're plenty loud, so maybe my old ears just aren't doing too well these
days. Anyway, hopefully this is helpful to some of you who have considered replacing your factory horn.
Hmmm... OK, I a bit confused and upset that I threw away the container my
horn kit came in. When I tried to find a link on the FIAMM Website I came up with this... LINK Now, this sounds very much like my horn, but it's a different description than
provided on the JC Whitney LINK I'll have to research this a bit more and try to tell exactly what I've got. FIAMM's Website
doesn't list a dB level that I can see and it shows it as a 15A circuit. Boy, I'm confused.
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