Air Horns

[Jemstone]

Driving through the San Francisco Bay Area last week on I-580 I was cut off three times by cars who clipped into the space in front of me, leaving me no room to brake.  Each time it happened I honked my “loud” Volvo horn - and each time the horn spoke with the voice of an alarmed goose, not a truck.  

I would appreciate any suggestions regarding good quality train horns, especially kits that include the compressor and mounting hardware.  I’d also be grateful for mounting suggestions from anyone who has put a horn on a Volvo VNL730 (2010 vintage).  Loud is good.

We are currently staying in the coastal redwoods north of Eureka, CA.  Cloudy and cool - the opposite of our home in Arizona.

Thanks

John McLaughlin

[chirakawa]

https://hornblasters.com/collections/complete-kits

[Lance A Lott]

If you put in a electric air valve,  a horn relay and a togle switch you can run all three horns sepratly with the existing buttons.

[NoDirectionHome]

Quoting the master... DollyTrolley

"EIGHT,     Put your road-rage-panties back in the drawer.........You might be a BIG DOG but little "animals" WILL DO DUMB really DUMB things in their rush-to-eternity.......stunningly DUMB things and it's important to NOT get MAD .........you can get "disappointed" but you simply need to do what ever it takes to NOT crush the little animals."

And an obnoxious horn isn't going to change anything.  Did you expect your horn to blow them back into their lane?

[Jemstone]

“And an obnoxious horn isn't going to change anything.  Did you expect your horn to blow them back into their lane?”

Blowing them back into their lane is an excellent idea.  However, I’ll settle for telling them that cutting off a semi is a dangerous and stupid thing to do.  These are not pansies that panic - these are seriously dangerously drivers and they know it.  Little old ladies are slow, not reckless.  I’m going after the loudest horn I can find.  And, thanks to you, I know what to ask for.  A horn that will blow them back into their lane!

 

[Chad Heiser]

11 hours ago, Jemstone said:

Driving through the San Francisco Bay Area last week on I-580 I was cut off three times by cars who clipped into the space in front of me, leaving me no room to brake.  Each time it happened I honked my “loud” Volvo horn - and each time the horn spoke with the voice of an alarmed goose, not a truck.  

I would appreciate any suggestions regarding good quality train horns, especially kits that include the compressor and mounting hardware.  I’d also be grateful for mounting suggestions from anyone who has put a horn on a Volvo VNL730 (2010 vintage).  Loud is good.

We are currently staying in the coastal redwoods north of Eureka, CA.  Cloudy and cool - the opposite of our home in Arizona.

Thanks

John McLaughlin

I don't have any help with the air horns, but you went pretty close by our place heading up into Eureka.  I'm assuming you went up the 101 corridor and right through the town I work in (Santa Rosa).  If I had known you were in the area, I would have shouted out sooner.

[noteven]

Train horns are a hoot

[alan0043]

Hi Jemstone,

I had a 1998 420 Volvo that had a train horn on it. The horn was mounted to the frame rail under the hood in the right front corner. One time I blew a guy back into his lane when he tried cutting me short in the pouring rain. I don't think he wore that pair of under ware again.

Al

[rickeieio]

Some things need louder horns.  I nearly witnessed a bad wreck this morning when a loaded dump truck blew a red light.  He was on the city horn, feeble though it was.  The girl in front of me heard it and barely got stopped.

Loud has it's place, just not every place.

[Big5er]

Jemstone, you do not need a compressor. The Volvo air horn is located directly under the drivers seat. Stop at any truck stop and look at their selection of horns....then go shop on the internet. Disconnect that sissy little tweeting thing Volvo calls a horn and mount your new horns back a little,  between the battery box and the fuel tank. That factory airline should reach...or extend it a little. Trust me, that works just fine. 

Quote

Loud has it's place, just not every place.

 That's what the city horn is for....the quiet places.

[Darryl&Rita]

But, if he wants to really lay on the horn, it could be embarrassing to run out of air in the tanks. Compressor will run the horns until the cows come home. Lol.

[porky69]

If your engine driven compressor cannot keep up to a truck stop train horn there is something wrong. Why add more complication to your unit?

 

Only possible arguement in favor of an electric compressor is if your truck does not hold air very well or you used it all blowing stuff up, and want to air it up without starting the engine to minimize idle time or annoying the neighbors.....I had this happen to me ONCE.  

 

I was in the final stages of packing up our campsite (at about 10:30-11:00 in the morning) and had run the motorhome(class 8 truck conversion) out of air blowing up kids bike tires, air mattresses, etc throughout our stay....when I figured I had about 5minutes worth of unhooking/packingleft to do so I started the engine and left it at idle and went to retract the jacks and roll up the power cord. About .9 minutes later this miserable looking OLD man came stomping around the site divider and proceeds to rip me a new one about how you don't need to warm up these "modern diesels" like they did "back when he drove" and that I was going to WAKE UP HIS WIFE!!!!!  When I responded that I was not warming it up, but was building air pressure so the brakes could release he told me to "hurry up you young punk" and stormed off. I can be miserable too, when I want to, so I went and put it on high idle and took my sweet ass time finishing packing up (about when the coolant temperature reached 140*....20minutes later)and had a cold beverage before hitting the road.

 

Now that I think about it a train horn would have come in down right handy right about then!

 

I am currently saving for a train whistle (like this Train Whistle) to replace the little whisper quiet squeakers Freightliner put on mine..... not as loud as a train horn but still very much an attention getter .

[jenandjon]

I'm with you Porky. I have train horns on my Pete but the Freightliner is for fun. So I was also thinking train whistle. Just to be different.

[Lance A Lott]

I have an electric compressor and train horn kit on my ton truck, I needed a compressor to run the exhaust brake and it came with the horn and a tank. It takes as long to air up the little tank it came with as the Volvo,takes to air up from empty. 

[Dbl0svn]

If you really want to be heard with a train horn, then you should look at the real train horn.  The NATHAN AIRCHIME K5LA TRAIN HORN.  This horn is illegal for road use and has a 5 mile range.  

You feel this horn when it blows.

 

 

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Or this https://www.kahlenberg.com/  That way you can honestly say "No Sir" I do not have train horns on my truck....

[Dennis M]

After a four wheeler pulled out in front of me as I was coming downhill into an interchange I wanted a horn they could hear BEFORE they pulled out in front of me. I bought a pair of Hadley's and mounted them through the front bumper - so they would be at the dummy's level - controlled by the stock Volvo horn button and air system. They've worked great for years. I can 'toot' them politely or really blast them the rare times that it is needed.

People hear an air horn they know it's a 'big truck". They hear a train horn and they think "What the heck was that?"