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My situation is i have a 77 f150 with a steering column that came from a 78’ f150. Ive never had a horn since i bought the truck. I installed a jumper over the rag just to see if that would do it. But im confused on what i need to do to get it functional. I believe my relay is in this pic(could be wrong). It seems to be powered up fine. But i have no power to my steering wheel or to the horn plug itself. Can i get some insight on ehat i should do from here. Im sure having a 78’ steering column in a 77’ is part of my issue
You're correct. Having a '78 column in a '77 truck is probably the problem.
In 1977 Ford used a horn relay. Pressing the horn pad on the steering wheel grounds the circuit and activates the relay. In 1978 Ford changed things. Unless the column came from a truck that had factory installed cruise control, it didn't use a relay. Instead, when you press the horn pad, you're completing the circuit and sending 12 volts to the horn.
My "guess" if you can ground one side of the horn pad and have the other side go to the relay, it should work.
looks right, even if it's not as long as it's 12v it should work. . there is no power to your horn switch, your horn switch is the ground that completes the circuit pulling your horn relay in and activating the horn.
Im a fool. I tested the plug that goes to the relay and it was good but everything after the relay wasnt giving me anything. So im ordering a new relay and ill update. I had a long Saturday night and I decided to try and tackle the horn Sunday morning. I bet my rag joint jumper was still necessary though.
My rag joint is caked with fluid from my power steering pump. It has so much play in the pump i can twist the steering shaft almost a half a turn in both directions. So my next order of business will be a blue top steering gear and a new rag joint. Anyone replaced the rag with a U joint and liked it better?.. Itll be a week or so till i get the relay in, so im throwing around different ideas
I replaced the torn up rag joint and had the steering box rebuilt about 20 years ago on mine, and that really tightened up the steering. I replaced the lower shaft with a Borgeson shaft that has U joints on both ends. Great upgrade in my book. Clean the mating surfaces good, and there should be no need for a jumper wire.
Mark
I replaced the torn up rag joint and had the steering box rebuilt about 20 years ago on mine, and that really tightened up the steering. I replaced the lower shaft with a Borgeson shaft that has U joints on both ends. Great upgrade in my book. Clean the mating surfaces good, and there should be no need for a jumper wire.
Mark
Im just about certain im going to upgrade. Makes everything easier and less maintenance in the long run. Thanks for the feed back.
I replaced the relay. When i check for power at the steering wheel with a simple volt tester, the horn beeps.. But when I connect the horn pad i cant get anything. Is this a bad horn pad? I just want to make sure its not a ground issue before i buy a horn pad.
Unfortunately im struggling to upload a video from my phone. But i can take either of the bands in the horn pad, touch the metal on the steering wheel and it beeps.
Ive got to realize my ground plug at the steering wheel wasnt grounded. Instead of popping my steering wheel off. This fixed it.
feels good to be another step closer to passing inspection.
