semi air horns (Tom?)

[Brian_B]

Not exactly general automotive, but sort of-kind of.....

Dad was driving the other day. He drove past this tiny one man salvage yard. The place is only open on Saturdays during the summer months.

Anyway, the yard has what is left of an older flat nose semi (don't know what brand) sitting out near the front. It was wrecked at one point and has been stripped of a lot of parts. The two air horns are still on top of the cab though.

I assume Tom would know more about this sort of thing than the rest of us.

For warm weather....is there a way to test them in place to see if they still work? I assume they are expensive new and I was thinking I might be able to get them cheap. Any clue what they might be worth?

Does a semi have any sort of small air compressor or air tank that would be salvagable?

What all would be needed to hook them up?

No...not for the 56. I was thinking of hiding them somewhere on the explorer.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[bobf100]

Brian - the thought of what "opportunities" could be had with 18 wheeler air horns mounted in an explorer are endless. The times I wish I had something like that in St. Louis rush hour traffic. Of course I would probably be dead by now from road rage from said air horn recepitents.

 

[Brian_B]

I had the cheap plastic ones on my ranger from when it was new. They are still on it.

Animals (mostly deer) would move out of the road with it. It is very rare for me to come home from work (late at night) and not have deer in the road.

With the factory explorer horn..they just look at me.

I would love an auxillary button (or whatever) for really loud horns sometimes. Also...I was thinking that the air pump/tank (mounted in the back) could be used for airing up tires.

I just need to find out if salvage yard ones are worth the effort.

 

[F150]

http://www.florapse.com/Merchant2/m...837K&Category_Code=HORNSTRAIN&Product_Count=7
You hit the horn button on these bad boys and deer get out of the road in three counties!!!!!!! (they do have cheaper variations on that site though).

and the compressor on the semi is kinda big just to run the horns, but would be cool if you can get the set up cheap enough.

 

[mrfixit]

Brian,
At Harbor freight you could get a decent set like the ones on your ranger for around 20 bucks.
The ones from the semi COULD still be good, and are repairable even if they don't work. But it can be a bit complicated.
To test them, you could just get to the supply tube and apply air. Maybe a portable air tank (like for filling a tire) and a blow gun?
Then there's the valve. unless they are REALLY old, where the valve is on the horn itself, the valve is kinda buried under the headliner and door trim; not impossible to get at, but inconvenient. Again, a blow-gun would serve as a decent alternative
Once you had them, probably the easiest way to supply air to them would be simply hard-wire in one of those budget-priced 12 volt tire compressors into a suitable tank. there are small red portables that could mount up by the spare, or make your own by putting an inner-tube in a section of 6"pvc.

For christmas, I got TWO sets of the plastic ones, lol... I have decided one set goes in front and one in the rear, since often I wish I had some there when I get tailgated down Rangeline Road...

 

[Brian_B]

I don't need the train horns LOL.

A guy I know has a set of them under the hood of his 56. At the supernats when he left for lunch he hit them as he went out the gate. Now remember...there are around 1,600 trucks and several thousand people there. The whole place stopped (dead silence) and turned toward the sound.

It was actually funny to see.

I have (well dad does) a portable air tank. My portable compressor is a bit bulky for that (5 HP briggs).

If they check out (next summer), hard wiring one of those little compressors would not be hard. How many PSI do the horns need?

I doubt they still work after sitting that long, but it would be a fun project.

Thanks all.

 

[mrfixit]

Most big trucks deliver a full blast at 100 psi... most of those 12v compressors do twice that. The portable air tank ought to hold plenty for several blasts, anyway.

 

[Fellro]

Most semis have at least two tanks, one for moisture catch, the other for air storage, but both are supplied. They aren't terrible big, typically mounted on the driver's side of the frame behind the cab. In order to blast the horns, you need storage, the compressor alone likely couldn't do it. Even the monstrous mechanical ones on the trucks couldn't do that good enough, but with one of those tanks hiding underneath, you would have plenty. The diameter of the semi storage tanks isn't all that big, maybe 8", and they aren't but at most 2' long.

 

[mrfixit]

I thought about suggesting those, but on an older truck like the one he spoke of I was concerned A: that they might be rusted, sitting all that time, and B: The extra expense and removal troubles. This is why I thought a newer portable tank would be the better choice.

 

[Fellro]

If a suitable portable can be found...
The front tank is usually the dry one, getting them off isn't too bad, just band clamps.

 

[Brian_B]

.......A guy I know has a set of them under the hood of his 56. At the supernats when he left for lunch he hit them as he went out the gate. Now remember...there are around 1,600 trucks and several thousand people there. The whole place stopped (dead silence) and turned toward the sound.

It was actually funny to see.....

These are the train horns:

I just found my picture of them.