Louder horn for CJ?

[mitsfan]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone replaced their standard horn with a louder more imposing horn that they can recommend?

Is it illegal to fit a louder horn?

In terms of mounting the new horn and making the electrical connections, and is it necessary to increase the standard fuse value for the horn?

Is it easy to get to the horn behind the front grill to do the change over - what is the easiest method to access the horn?

I know, so many questions for such a simple thing. I just find the standard horn a little less serious than I would like.

[spunkybob]

Using the horn is a sign of anger... seriously why do you need it louder?

[mitsfan]

Yes SpunkyBob, sometimes it is an expression of anger I must admit, in which case our cheeful little CJ horn does not really fit the bill.

More importantly, when used in its main role as a warning, our cheerful CH horn could also be improved upon. I had in mind something a bit louder and a bit more serious in tone - something which also better matches the more agressive styling of the car itself.

[aussie027]

Interesting Q ,

I cannot even remember what it sounds like as I never use it.
Seem to remember it was pretty weak sounding but I think they are on most cars now.


You can always get a bumper sticker made up--

HORN BROKEN WATCH FOR FINGER.

[spunkybob]

HEHE nice 1 man

To replace the horn would be easy, get the 1 you want and solder/duck tape the wires on it.

Dont rkn it would affect your warranty

When people beep me im like fck off.

[Graham]

I haven't had to use the horn much but it seems to be loud enough.
I wouldn't mind a louder alarm though

[Speedie]

As I recall only air horns are illegal for street use

[auldy]

Hi Guys

I'm currently doing up a Yamaha FJR1300 and have been looking at an after market horn to upgrade. From the bike forum that I use, there are a lot of positive comments for the Stebel range of horns. The two preferable ones are the "Nautilus" and the "Magnum". Both pump out about 136db the Nautilus being an air style horn and the Magnum being an electric style.
Both require an inline fuse and relay to be fitted with installation, the relay is supplied. Available via eBay for about $50 to $60 and certainly suitable for cars.

Cheers
Auldy

[The X]

You can always get a bumper sticker made up--

HORN BROKEN WATCH FOR FINGER.

Ouch, that made me hurt from all the laughing... only because that would be me.
Srly I do use my horn at idiots doing stupid shit like cutting me off, etc. I _do_ like letting people know how stupid they are, but I doubt they get it.
Regardless, no matter how fat the horn, people are so self absorbed the road is not there to share, it's there for their taking and everyone else can go and get stuffed (as far as they are concerned). I wish i had a monster truck and insurance that would always pay out.

[mitsfan]

Thanks auldy.

I will look into this, they look very promising.

Please let us know how you go if you get one yourself.

[tadz0rz]

^^ Im exactly the same. Anytime someone makes a mistake, cutting me off, not indicating etc, they cop an ear load of my horn. I wouldnt want my horn to be any louder, just moar....Menacing xD

[JaCe]

Horns are easy to replace. I've done it on my Civic which even had a proprietary connector. Aftermarket Siebel ones which apparently sound very German (or you can go with one of the many other brands which make them) cost between $20 and $40 depending on brand and loudness. I didn't want to get defected so I just went for the louder dual-horn from Siebel and it has a nice oomphy sound in the Civic. When I go end of year to Singapore I plan to buy another one back (it's around SGD$26 from a shop called McWell's Ventures).

ps. The Evo at least is alot easier to reach than the Civic which was hidden within/inside the front bumper and required removing everything to get to!

[scraverX]

Horn that 'bellows' like a T-Rex LOL.

I've only used mine once, when I was near to nudged by a Lexus SUV that merged in front of me while I was accelerating.

I have a Monster truck... but it's not quite up to the task of driving over a full size car.

[Graham]

I rarely use my horn but will use it to let people know they d!ckheads when they almost crash into me, I'm not into the whole flipping people off thing, chances are they won't even see me and I prefer to keep both hands on the wheel when I'm near these tools

T-rex horn, group buy? LOL

[mitsfan]

OK, I have had time to do some research, and here are the results:

Our Lancer CJ actually uses two different frequency OEM horns (probably 410Hz and 500Hz), one up high in front of radiator just right of centre, and another down low behind the bumper on the left, right of the fog light.

One option is to replace both of these with a louder electric or electric/air (with inbuilt compressor) combined 410/500Hz Stebel horn.

However, after doing lots of reading, a better option seems to be to add a Stebel 300Hz truck/car electric/air horn and keep the two existing OEM horns at 410 & 500 Hz. The effect reportedly sounds something like a train horn. I found a long interesting thread discussing this at
http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/tundra/129425-new-stebel-300-hz-truck-horn/

The 300Hz Stebel horn comes with a relay which you wire to the existing OEM horns, and connect through a 20A fuse directly to the +ve 12V battery terminal to power the new horn. The OEM horns react faster than the 300Hz Stebel (90ms latency), so a short press of the horn still gives a relatively friendly beep, while a sustained horn press expresses something akin to menacing disapproval or dire warning.

The 300Hz Stebel horn is not the loudest horn available, and I expect that the total volume from all the horns would still be close to regulation maximum intensities. What is appealling is more the deeper tone that this horn contributes, which people normally associate with larger vehicles.

I have not had a chance to install one myself yet, but if anyone beats me to it, please let us know how you go.

An Australian supplier for Stebel horns is:
http://www.onlineautoparts.com.au

I don't have any affiliation with Stebel or onlineautoparts.