Need some help with figuring out what part(s) I have are incorrect and or missing

Horn works when grounding the horn wire at wheel (have new spring/insulator installed).

A 2nd spring / contact needed?

The horn button I have has no place to receive 2nd spring?

My horn button has hole / insulator for end of steering shaft. (Also have one without hole for steering shaft, but that one won't work due to steering shaft being too long)

thanks for all help!

 

A picture’s worth a thousand words. Several pictures are worth several thousand words.

 

See this for some pictures. There is a horn brush that goes in the turn signal and one that goes in the steering wheel under the horn button.

Horn grounding - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums (ford-trucks.com)

Once you get the upper part of the horn with both brushes in place then also check the rag joint if your truck still uses one. The metal strip is supposed to touch the end lower end of the column and provides the ground path across the rag joint. Some aftermarket rag joints don't have that metal strap and sometimes they come loose and fall off.

 

Also some things that can prevent good contact of the brushes:
1. Sticking in the insulator. Use a little dielectric grease (or WD40/PB blaster) to make sure the brush moves freely. Also install the big ends so that they face each other, i.e. the one in the TSS has the big end facing up while the one in the wheel has the big end facing down.
2. Too large of a gap between the steering wheel and column. Remove the stiff spring under the steering wheel to set the gap between column and wheel, then re-install spring and steering wheel.
3. Reproduction brushes aren't as robust as the originals, try to find NOS brushes if you've lost the originals.

 

I believe the short end is supposed to go into the insulator as the insulator is what keeps the spring from bowing. Also the long end is rounded so it doesn't catch on the contact surface. That's how it shows the upper brush in the MPC as well. To each their own, of course.

 

Well that orientation worked best for that particular TSS, and I tried every conceivable combination. Other configurations would either require excessive pressure or would have dead spots. When I replaced it with the new reproduction '69 style, the only way I could get it to work at all was as it is depicted in the MPC. So my take away is, there is no one best way. You may need to experiment to find what works best for you.

 

Or as we said in the Army "Terrain dictates".

Another thing to watch for - if the horn switch brush plate is painted instead of plated the paint can mess with the current passing through. Originally it was plated with cadmium.