Hella Horn Upgrade...

I know my '11 AC is white, but it isn't invisible, or is it? After growing frustrated at drivers who seem to fall asleep at the wheel, cut me off, ignore my right of way, or get introspective in cell phone calls and texting, I decided to upgrade to the 118 Db two tone horns from Hella.

These are made in India, but to the original design and the kit included at relay. They were bought along with two items from the banner ads from Amazon, a 10 amp fuze holder and a relay plug, all for about sixty bucks. First I threw the horns on just to replace the originals in position and wiring. They touched each other and sounded like a sick cow. Sunday, I had a few extra hours in the shop, so I did it right. There was a nice spot where the fuze box mounted to the inner fender and with a longer bolt, the relay and ground wire from the harness fit nice. Power comes direclty from the battery hot to a fuze to the relay block and I made a new harness from the relay to the original horn hot and back with relay power, and each horn got grounded to a one of the original horn mounting locations.

Now I am getting the full 118 Db and it sounds great. Each horn is mounted to an exisitng 6mm bolt with a rubber dampener (radiator support, I suppose). All wiring behind the grill is black and wrapped in black tape, so all you can see is the red horns.

Next step is a visit to Harbor Freight to restock my bins of electrical connectors, it has been at least ten years since they got refreshed and I am short supply of ring connectors for 8mm bolts to 12-14 gage wire.

Oh, all wiring was done with 12 gauge wiring, in black where needed. The fuze holder had sufficient lenght to connect the battery to the relay block and where I needed to connect three wires (supply to each horn) I used a NEMA style twist cap covered with tape.

Now woe to those who check text messages at a green light...

 

This would get people's attention:
https://www.hornblasters.com/products/details.php?i=bullet-127h-air-horn-kit

 

Very nice. I am doing this as well except I am adding my Hellas in parallel to the originals and making it so I can enable / disable them with a switch. Can't wait.

 

I thought about the switch, but didn't want to install a switch or run a wire through the firewall...

Howard

 

I too need to do something about the anemic stock horns, something like the wife's Corolla now has - triple tone Hella's sourced from older Volkswagens, one donor car had a factory single horn, med tone, another had factory dual horns, so hi and low tone. It's attention grabbing to say the least, and was cheap.

 

I can appreciate the reason for this upgrade however if you want something louder this is the ticket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icnRMW6P9nc

I was in traffic once when someone lit these off, I about wet myself.

 

My 94 toyota pickup came with a single horn, and when a pepboys opened up locally, I got a deal on a second, higher toned horn, and that was successful for the next 200k miles or so. I picked the hella also because they look good up behind the grill and that folks get too involved in cell phone conversations and just drive terribly.

This is just a high class way of giving them a significant audio cue, and that since most states now have "slower cars keep right rules" helps remind left lane lizards to get the blank over...

 

Now You Have a BIG Johnson In Johnson City. Hope it's not a 75 YO lady in the way, you could kill her.

 

If the lady is frail enough that a legal tap of a horn sends her to the great beyond, her time was up anyhow...

Actually, I give the very elderly a great deal of leeway, as long as they are not causing a major traffic tie up at rush hour...

It is almost time that we took my father's keys away, but I think the big "C" will beat us to it -

 

I've been wanting to do this as well but all of the sounds clips I've heard on youtube make Hellas sound too Euro for me.

 

The twin hella tones are 300hz and 500hz, not sure how that is "too euro?"

 

I have the red dual tones. Love them.

 

Well maybe someone who has installed these on a Tacoma can post a video so I can hear them. Last youtube vid I saw was awhile back so I have no idea what Hella kit they were running.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKOdNCv9UwE

 

I will try to shoot some pics with weekend...how do I upload 35mm black and white film again?

 

Outstanding! I've been wanting some better horns and I've seen these on some TW member's trucks. Time to look for a mounting location. I have extra stuff behind my grill.

 

spend the extra ten bucks and get the fuzed lead and the relay block, it makes the wiring much more fun.

 

No worries.
http://wolo-mfg.com/horns.html

 

Well, it's not a train air horn but it is only 60 clams on Amazon. My Taco will now have a voice!

http://wolo-mfg.com/horns/air-horns/model-418-powerhouse-12-volt.html

http://wolo-mfg.com/media/wysiwyg/sound/replacement_horns/418.mp3