Plus 1 for Jason. I bought a set of Grover Air horns and loved them. Might buy a bigger tank. They can get addicting.

 

Just spoke with Jason at Air horns of Texas. I'm probably going with his economy kit with a 3 gallon tank for $350. he said that would be enough to air up tires and such.

Does any one have any pics of where they mounted their onboard air connection setup so i can get some ideas?

 

I haven't yet started my project but i work with pneumatic products and have all the items except for the main components (horns, tank, compressor). I plan on using a Asco 12v solenoid (there not cheap) that i have in-house that will be mounted in a Stainless junction box mounted on the back wall of my bed (cab end). The tank and horns are typically mounted on the passenger frame rails. You can do a dash mounted air gauge along with the solenoid switch in the cab. I plan on doing all SS airlines where fixed and teflon flex where needed.
The compressor wants to be mounted on a vibration free pad or standoffs. I don't know if the Viair has these to start with. The pump will draw quite a bit of current so make sure the wiring is sized and fused properly. You should wire it so it can only run with the engine running so installing a starter or high current relay is a good idea. The kits usually come with everything you need so you should be ok.

Remember they can get you in trouble even when using in traffic at some nimrod. Adjacent drivers that aren't your initial concern could be affected so use carefully.

 

Mine were so loud (they were way worse than the youtube videos) it would scare people behind me if I lit them off at the right time. Seriously, the videos are funny as all hell, but the horns will get you a really big ticket even with the most conservative usage. Trust me. I loved them, but only blasted them 4-5 times in a month before getting popped.

 

I had train-type horns on my jeep, they were so loud i couldn't use them. I ended up replacing them with a pair of air horns off a wrecked dump truck (grover horns). Still loud but had a much lower tone so it wasn't as shrill and obnoxious. Definately still get the point accross though.

 

Back when I bought my Grover system. I mounted the compressor off the side of the passenger side battery. The compressor was pretty small. Horns and tank were mount to the frame under the passenger side. I tilted the horns down so water would drain. Should have put a little more tilt though. They will fill up with water and the first blast will sound funny.

 

My opinion if you plan on running some small air tools. Use a Viair 450C IG pump. As far as other products you can get cheaper.

Thats a 100% duty high cfm (for a standalone) unit. They arent much more expensive than a basic vlair.. maybe $150 extra.

 

Compressor....

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=ofc09025.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/th_ofc09025.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

Xmember for comp mount......
<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=ofc09028.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/th_ofc09028.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

5 gal. tank / filter/reg........

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=ofc09029.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/th_ofc09029.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

Quick connect on front for filling up or air tools, etc......also have one at the rear bumper.............

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=800062E.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/th_800062E.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

3rd battery, deep cell utility.........

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=trk002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/th_trk002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

Battery isolator....only connects when voltage is above 12.?volts so the oem system doesn't get drained........

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=trk005.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/th_trk005.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

My nutzz!..............

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=DSCF0291.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/th_DSCF0291.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

Nathan K5LA Train Horns................

<a href="http://s491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/?action=view&current=DSCF0290.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/RotunTuna/DSCF0290.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

I have dual Viair 400C compressors feeding into a 12-gallon tank. Currently I only have my single Buell horn mounted, but am working on the install of a Leslie RS3L where my spare used to be.

Check out this thread - it's got some nice ideas and pics of my current setup.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...light=air+horn

The Buell is my daily honker, but I will only use the RS3L in deserted areas or at home to annoy the wife and kids. You can actually see the air moving out of the three bells. Not sure, but I seem to remember reading my Leslies need approximately 48 cfm @ 150 psi.

CFM is cubic feet per minute and applies equally to compressors and air devices (impact wrenches, sanders, HORNs, etc.).

Two important things to look for in a compressor are CFM and duty cycle. CFM obviously determines the speed that you can fill your tank, but more importantly, duty cycle determines how long the compressor can run and how long it must be off to cooldown. For air tools you would want a 100% duty cycle compressor with the highest flow rate you can afford.

Viair is popular and has a good rep, but Oasis has the best electrically driven compressors though pricey ($1500 and up). The king of the pile would be an engine driven compressor (EDC).

Just my opinions.

One last one - as with anything, buy the best compressor you can afford / justify. There are lots of cheap compressors that pump large volumes and rattle themself to death within 6-months of limited use.

 

All i can say is Boo-T-Full!! Very nice setup. Thats what i was looking for. I really like those fender flares.

 

Thanks, +1 on the EDC too. I have dual alt's and love my a/c too much too put one in so I went with the next best thing.

 

Anyone ever mounted a compressor behind the back seat?
I have an '02 F-250 ext-cab. Anything underneath gets exposed to a lot of salt etc when I'm pushing snow and don't want it all eaten up. I think I'd like to mount my compressor behind the seat but I'm a little concerned about the heat its going to generate. Any thoughts? Thanks for the great pics guys, got lots of good ideas from them.

 

I havent seen one i could deal with being in cab. The one i had on my denali in bed of the truck you could hear it when it was on and without the radio on it was kinda annoying.

Its posable some cheaper brands might be quieter as i have a vlair. Ill take quality over quiet anyday.


You can get some nice stainless compressors that would handle the salt fine.

 

On a side note, does anybody know if there is a compressor built for our engines out there? Maybe for the F550's?

 

One recommendation from someone who works for the railroad (me).

You folks who mount them under the truck might want to ether get some caps for the bells or make your own using some fabric. Train horns are suprisingly picky about geting dirt in them. This is particularlly true Leslie horns, like the S3L and the S5T.

It'd kinda suck to blow the horn at some dip(@$@ who just cut you off only for it to sound like a dieing animal.