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Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:11 am

So, not sure if anyone has changed out their horn for something different...

When I was a kid and living in Turkey, I used to love the horns on the Dolmus buses whizzing around town. Kind of a "doo-da-lee, doo-da-lee, doo-da-lee" (say it really fast). Well, I want that sound for my van.

Anybody have any insight on what to look for?
If I get one, I will be sure to use it often. You will hear it and remember this post.

Thanks,
Mark

Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:16 am

Stebel Nautilus is your friend. See any of the suppliers (GW, BD, etc.) for a kit with the horn relay (don't want to put the air horn's draw across the horn ring directly). I got my horn from Bus Depot, put it on (the original horn remains, FWIW), and tooted an idiot cutting across me in a parking lot. Very satisfying to the see the guy jump in his seat. Stebel Nautilus is your friend. :twisted:

Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:30 am

I have a Stebel mounted, ziptied to the right side headlight backing plate.. relayed, started with a 5 amp fuse.. blew that.. tossed in a 10 amp.. and its running off a momentary switch on my dash..

HELLA LOUD. OMG.

Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:50 am

I've got a set of dual-tone horns off the shelf from O'Reilly... 114 decibels and both are wired into a relay.

Before: <toot>
After: <BEEP!!!>

My little Cabriolet came with a better horn set-up from the factory than my big blue Vanagon did... that makes zero sense to my brain!

Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:22 pm

http://www.stebel.it/stebel2009/products.asp?IDserie=6&;
You can hear the Stebel Nautilus on this page of the Stebel S.A. website :shock:
(click on HQ audio icon, bottom left)

Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:29 pm

i went with a slightly cheaper (if harder to mount up) option:
Wolo 417 "long horn"

$23 on sale on amazon right now, and the kit even includes a relay. i had one of the smaller wolo setups before and frankly it sounded like a silly little toot. this one uses the same compressor, but larger trumpets for a lower frequency sound. i'm quite pleased with it now.

i put the compressor under the jump seat and ran the air hose through the floor down to the trumpets. i'm not sure as to their suitability for this location, but i wanted to keep the hose short so i'm giving it a try.

the compressor, along with a bunch of other wiring...

Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:06 pm

I took a look at the Wolo website and...

the Wobbler Model 410 is REALLY close to what I am looking for!

I'm liking it! Maybe a last minute Christmas gift from me to myself.

Thanks for the replies.
Mark

Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:29 pm

No thanks...I genuinely prefer sounding like a Roadrunner cartoon...

:wink:

Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:30 pm

Installed the Wolo MFg. dual air horns. Looks like their model X-1005 is on sale now for $10, a screamin' deal. To me, their dual tone horns come closer to a euro-spec sound on the cheap.

http://www.wolo-mfg.com/clearance.htm

Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:06 pm

We have a cattle call horn, has a lever that lets you vary the tone a little bit. Great fun on the road to see if you can get the cows to look. Good for giving toots to children that are entranced by the van too.

Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:00 pm

Aloha
tp

Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:53 pm

Well, I finally got around to getting a horn for my Vanagon. It's an inexpensive one from Harbor Freight.

Here is how I wired it:

Well, when testing it, my original horn still works but nothing comes from the air horn. I'm wondering if the C15 connection is correct? I found that the connection has 12vdc on it when I switch on the ignition (and it energizes the relay of course) so I'm kind of confused.

Maybe I should make the connection at C15 to another portion of the horn wiring instead... any help?

Thanks in advance,
Mark

Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:59 pm

Son of a gun...

I just found a forum thread that I had read earlier but missed a posting from Chris at T3 Technique...

He stated that the C15 side of the wiring is indeed hot all the time (with the ignition on) and that the ground side is coming from the steering wheel horn switch. I looked at the wiring diagrams and see that is a brown wire from that switch.

I will try that instead.

Mark

Fri Apr 25, 2014 4:05 pm

Mark, be leery of the Harbor Freight wire....Its junk!! It doesn't hold up to any sort of vibration/abuse. That said, I installed the Hella Supertones. Badass! I originally wired them up with that shit wire only to re-do it again with "real" wire. Here's the linky for the Hella's.
http://www.amazon.com/Hella-SuperTone-Horn-Kit-118/dp/B000CRZXPI

Fri Apr 25, 2014 4:47 pm

I installed the GoWesty air horn last year and was pretty much disappointed:
http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=23471

Big improvement over the rattling oscillator horn but not as loud as I expected. And I installed it with the relay for full power. Overrated I’d say.

Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:25 pm

So I tried wiring up the previous C15 connection to the ground point for the brown wire on the bottom of the steering column...

still no go.

I can't believe that I'm being beat by a friggin' horn... :evil:

Tell you the truth... I'm thinking that what I really want is the regular VW horn all the time and a push button switch for the air horn. I want the air horn as a novelty and not as my full time horn; maybe I need to take a time out and rethink my install.

How would I modify the wiring diagram I have in the above post to use a separate momentary switch? Just wire it in place of the built in horn maybe... with a 12 volt hot side that goes through the switch to number 86 on the relay?

And oh yeah... the HF horn didn't come with any wiring. I bought some automotive wire on sale a year or so ago and I'm using that.

Mark

Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:09 pm

I would like some sort of delay built into my horns. Say a couple seconds. Press horn and get stock beep, lay on horn and after delay interval get obnoxious 'you deserve all the noise I can throw at you' horns. I recently bought the Hella horns after being nearly run off the road by a 'phone to the ear' chippie in her dads audi. My horn was not nearly loud enough.

Feel a second button would be cause for stress and issue when you really need it.

Fri Apr 25, 2014 9:07 pm

Mark Lewalski wrote: So I tried wiring up the previous C15 connection to the ground point for the brown wire on the bottom of the steering column...
My sympathies, I had a go-round with this and replaced all sorts of parts. Turns out the solution was simple.

There’s a sliding contact and a brass ring accessible from underneath the steering wheel. Listen closely and you can hear it rub and squeak as you turn the wheel slightly. Problem is, these surfaces get corroded and don’t work as long as you are driving straight. It seems like your horn works intermittently because if you happen to honk while turning a corner, which is unlikely, it always works because the brass ring is not corroded in less rubbed areas. Counterintuitive, yes.

The solution is to insert fine sandpaper upward under the steering wheel between the brass ring and the sliding contact with the abrasive side against the ring. You can look up there with a flashlight to see what I mean. Move the wheel so as to clean the ring while moving the sandpaper along with the wheel. No steering wheel disassembly required!

Hope that helps.

Sat Apr 26, 2014 2:18 am

Take a look at the Hella Instructions.
http://www.4wheelparts.com/aux_incl/pdf.ashx?pdf=003001791.pdf&line=HLA
1 and 3 are neg. ground switch through the sterring wheel.

Sun Apr 27, 2014 7:40 am

So it seems that the air compressor was just stuck... I applied power and removed it in a quick succession and it freed up and worked.

Here is how I installed it:

I changed the wiring a little so I could use my VW horn for normal driving and then the air horn is operated separately via a momentary push button.

I located the trumpets and the compressor behind the passenger light bucket with the trumpets facing down. You can just make out the nut for the compressor in the area where it will be hidden by the lower grill.

This is a view from under the van looking up past the VW horn... everything is tucked nicely away from most splashing water.

I located the new horn button just behind the steering wheel... I won't need access to it in emergency situations, just for fun.

It is not as loud as I thought it would be... I actually like that. It sound pretty awesome and I will play around with the output of the compressor and the trumpets to see what other tunes I can come up with.

$18 and change for the air horn from Harbor Freight, $3.95 for the push button. I had the connectors and the wire already. A nice, fun mod for under $25 is a steal for the Vanagon crowd.

Now off to VWs over the Skyway today.

Mark