Air Horn?

[airborne spoon]

i have a 2014 P85D with air suspension and i was wondering if there was a way to tap into that system to install an air horn? Like the wiring is easy its just a 12v line/switch and adding an air solenoid but i wanna know how to tap into the air tank or if that is even a possible idea.

To keep it stock'ish i was thinking i could just pull the valve stem out of the Schrader valve the air tank has on the top and use that as my main line and run that to an air solenoid/relay assembly to the horn.
Would that work or be possible? or am i going to cause more problems than its worth and just buy an air horn kit that comes with its own compressor and crap? i figure since i already have an air tank it would save money by only buying the horn and not the compressor too.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

more problems than it's worth. I'm told the 2015 F250 has a nice 12v horn. buy one of those? I had a car, I don't even remember what one it was at this point, and that's what someone told me to use, since the OEM one was like meep meep please move? vs. HOOONNNNHHHHKKKKK lol

 

[airborne spoon]

more problems than it's worth. I'm told the 2015 F250 has a nice 12v horn. buy one of those? I had a car, I don't even remember what one it was at this point, and that's what someone told me to use, since the OEM one was like meep meep please move? vs. HOOONNNNHHHHKKKKK lol

I installed a dixie horn in my truck while i lived in Alaska and that thing was awesome. i dont wanna play any tunes anymore just wanna get those people that stay at the red forever to freaking move and what is more jarring than a loud ass air horn to get people to freaking move.
people ignore normal car horns these days and it drives me nuts, i need a different sound. like on the Harley i just snap the throttle and that works rather well.

 

[artsci]

Take a look at this video. It features train air horns on a very small electric car.

 

[aerodyne]

Be careful out there....

 

[beatle]

I'd think you're playing with fire by tapping into the air tank or lines. Just get an air horn with its own compressor.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

I don’t think there’s any issue tying into the Schreader valve on the tank. You wouldn’t be affecting the lines to the air struts, and the valves to each corner are normally closed (they dont depend on tank pressure to stay up). And it’s easy Enough to just take the connector off if you decide you don’t want the horn anymore.

I’m not sure what PSI the the compressor shuts off at, but i‘d guess 90-120. Don’t lay on the horn for 30 seconds at a time right before you need to lift the suspension and you’ll be fine.

 

[Sanderpman12]

If you do this, record it cuz i would lovr to get one too

 

[rooter]

Air horns can give you pink-eye:

(March 19, 1798)

 

[rooter]

Ok if I've made no one laugh I suppose I should quit trying.

 

[Sanderpman12]

Ok if I've made no one laugh I suppose I should quit trying.

Made me laugh

 

[Aggmeister2010]

If you do this, record it cuz i would lovr to get one too

I did this today. The concept works, but using the Schrader valve isn’t the best.

The problem is, the airflow through a schrader valve is low. So even though the tank sits at 150 PSI, you’re only getting a small amount of actual air flow.

There are two ways around this. The first is to add a ”T” push-to-connect fitting on the black line coming out of the tank to the compressor, since that has constant pressure. The other is to replace the schrader valve fitting with a standard 1/4” npt fitting, but then you can’t manually pressurize your air ride system if needed.
since there’s extra slack in the black line, I am going to splice that one and add the tee, and see what that does.

 

[Sanderpman12]

I did this today. The concept works, but using the Schrader valve isn’t the best.

The problem is, the airflow through a schrader valve is low. So even though the tank sits at 150 PSI, you’re only getting a small amount of actual air flow.

There are two ways around this. The first is to add a ”T” push-to-connect fitting on the black line coming out of the tank to the compressor, since that has constant pressure. The other is to replace the schrader valve fitting with a standard 1/4” npt fitting, but then you can’t manually pressurize your air ride system if needed.
since there’s extra slack in the black line, I am going to splice that one and add the tee, and see what that does.

Record it and post here i want to see

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Record it and post here i want to see

I’ll record the tee‘d version - using the schrader connection, it’s basically the same noise level as the factory horn.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Hey man, I thought I had my phone recording when I tested it, but no dice - at any rate, I didn't hear a difference between the Tee'd version and the Schrader version. Leads me to believe that the limitation is really the 1/4" OD tubing.

So, here are the REVISED options:

1) Remove the Schrader valve on the factory air tank, install a push-to-connect fitting (ideally a 90 degree) that takes 1/2" OD tubing. Use that as your feed.

2) Buy a separate tank that will fit in the frunk. I have a dual motor, so a 0.5 Gallon is probably all I can fit with the horns in there too. That's fine though, all I'm trying to to is gently suggest that someone not enter my lane at that specific instance, not awaken the dead for 20 straight minutes.

3) If you're more dedicated, you could easily buy an enormous tank and put it in the trunk, and run a line up to the front....but those compressors can pull about 20 amps, so that's a lot of wiring to do unless you fill it up from an external compressor every few days. I'd feel kinda sketchy rolling around with a 150 lb canon in the back of my car, though....

I'll buy one on Amazon, where everything is returnable, and see if it all fits.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

FYI, test fit was a success. Once the tank/compressor get here on Saturday, I'll put it all together.

The smaller horn I had before was definitely just out of its element.....this quad horn shakes the ground at just 80 psi, and my tank will be at 150 psi.

Sample with Sound:

https://imgur.com/k3XQcRG

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Hey @Sanderpman12 -

This is what I ended up doing. I went back and forth on tapping into the factory air supply, but since i'm still under warranty I ended up deciding to have a separate air supply for the horns. It also gives me a 'backup' in case the car's compressor fails, that I can use to fill the air suspension reserve tank.

If you want to tap into the factory air supply, you obvously don't need another air tank and have more room in the trunk for bigger horns. In that case, you'd just want to remove the fitting with the schraeder valve and replace it with a 1/2" tube OD push-to-connect fitting (ideally a 90 degree one) and then run that down to the tub.

At any rate, this is the Hornblasters Bullet horn, with a 2 gallon tank, and a 1/2" OD air line going between the two. I'm waiting on a 30A in-line fuse to be dlievered tomorrow, but I will ground the compressor on the right mounting bolt for the frunk tub, and then run the positive wire out the side of the tub over to the positive terminal on the 12V battery.

I tapped into the factory horn wires (just a + and -) that are right in front of the tub, and that provides the low voltage signal to the solenoid that sounds the horns. That way, I didn't have to modify any factory wiring, and if for some reason the air horn fails, the factory horn still works.

My main goal here was volume, not true train horn noise. I definitely achieved that. If you want something that has a rumbling deep train-like sound, you need bigger horns than the Bullet I used. To do that, you'll need to put the dedicated air supply in a different place, or tap into the air suspension tank. Of course if you have a RWD vehicle, you have a much bigger frunk, so that makes things a ton easier.

Also, REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE GASKET AROUND THE TUB! You don't want to trap 150 psi in there when you sound the horn!

I don't have a video of mine yet, but this is the difference between a factory horn and the Bullet air horns. It's at least 10x louder.

 

[rooter]

Not that I condone any of this, but

When I grow up I'd rather have the sound of a big Gradall diesel engine which revs with the throttle.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

You could probably fit the Nathan in the trunk area. And you’d hear it…once. Lol