Replacement horn recommendation?

[greg64]

So, this past weekend, I changed out the turn signal switch in the column of my 77 C10. It was well past its best-before date. While doing this, it gave me an opportunity to figure out why my horn doesn't work. Come to find out that there's actually two problems. The first is the spring loaded contact that the horn button pushes against has lost its tension. The second is that the horn itself is dead. The relay and all wiring checked out.

Therefore, I'm looking for a new horn. I had a spin through Rock Auto's options, and there was quite a number of them. I'm not looking for anything fancy, but some horns sound like crap or totally wrong for a truck (beep-beep).

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good replacement horn that sounds reasonable and isn't a piece of junk?

By the way, getting the mounting bolt out from behind the grill was a load of laughs...

Thanks,
Greg

[Titomars]

The wrecking yard has many OEM Delco horns. Nothing sounds worse to me than the modern single Japanese sounding horns. I personally got a set of Cadillac horns off a 76 DeVille. nothing beats the 3 note horns of a Caddy.

[greg64]

Good advice. I agree, many of the Japanese horns sound lousy, especially on a truck. Thanks.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by Titomars

The wrecking yard has many OEM Delco horns. Nothing sounds worse to me than the modern single Japanese sounding horns. I personally got a set of Cadillac horns off a 76 DeVille. nothing beats the 3 note horns of a Caddy.

Ditto that. But aren't there four of them? I put four horns out of a late 70's or early 80's Caddy on my CUCV while refurbing the grill, headlights, etc. Ran them off a relay, turned out nice.

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

Ditto that. But aren't there four of them? I put four horns out of a late 70's or early 80's Caddy on my CUCV while refurbing the grill, headlights, etc. Ran them off a relay, turned out nice.

Nope 3 horns. I used to work for a caddy dealer. From the 50's to the early 80's they used 3 of them. If I remember correctly an "A" note, "D" note and an "F" note.

[68Timber]

Plus a C-note. They are A, C, D, and F. Here's a LINK that shows how they are marked and can be identified.

[cpnbnanamn]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Ditto that. But aren't there four of them? I put four horns out of a late 70's or early 80's Caddy on my CUCV while refurbing the grill, headlights, etc. Ran them off a relay, turned out nice.

Resurrecting an old thread - What relay did you do to accomplish this? I just bought a set, and want to do this to my K5.

[Liberty]

Let me know what you find, mine are losing their tone slowly.

Love the "Bwonk Bwonk" of my horns though.

[homemade87]

My horns started to sound week and I thought the horns were on there way out . As time went on they got worse . I had a set of horns laying around and decided to change them . The new horns did some better but not what I thought they should be . Come to find out all the grounds were gradually getting worse also . I took all the grounds loose from the core support and cleaned them . Added a couple of grounds from core support to frame and frame to engine . Man what a difference .

So if replacing horns clean the grounds also, and add a couple . My horns will knock your socks off now .

[andrewmp6]

If you want something loud look up hella supertone horn kit.

[greg64]

Good suggestion, homemade. I was thinking the ground might have been at fault too, that's why I removed the horn completely. I cleaned the contacts and connected it directly to the battery; nothin.

[GSP7]

One of my horns doesnt work , for 25 years

I cant remember the last time I even used a horn

[Chaplain]

Train horn...

[homemade87]

I used my horn the other day . I was passing a motor home and he decided to swap lanes when I was going past him in the other lane . I laid on the horn and he quick jerked it back and barely missed me . If I had not had a working horn my ride would have been crashed or maybe hurt bad . My horn saved me that day . He was one of those people that turn before they look and then turn on the blinker when already half way in the other lane .

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Originally Posted by chaplain

train horn...

ditto

www.hornblasters.com

'nuff said

[JustTom]

My 84 C 30, known as "Mighty White" has the horn from my Grandfather's first new car, a 1930 Oakland.

If I can find my camera, I'll grab a pic.
It's a trumpet about a foot long, weighs about 5 pounds. :-)
It is 6 volt, so 12 really gives it a different sound.

It's been on 8 or 10 different family members cars over the last 85 years.

The story is he panicked and sold the almost new car when Grandma announced she was pregnant. ( With her first child, my Dad).
He saved horn and put it on his "new" used car.

I'll save the horn when Whitey goes to the big scrap yard in the sky.

Tom

[greg64]

Originally Posted by JustTom

My 84 C 30, known as "Mighty White" has the horn from my Grandfather's first new car, a 1930 Oakland.

If I can find my camera, I'll grab a pic.
It's a trumpet about a foot long, weighs about 5 pounds. :-)
It is 6 volt, so 12 really gives it a different sound.

It's been on 8 or 10 different family members cars over the last 85 years.

The story is he panicked and sold the almost new car when Grandma announced she was pregnant. ( With her first child, my Dad).
He saved horn and put it on his "new" used car.

I'll save the horn when Whitey goes to the big scrap yard in the sky.

Tom

That's a neat story, Tom, thanks. I did some looking for an ooga horn, but it looks like the new knock off ones don't really have the correct sound.

[greg64]

Originally Posted by BLE 'BURBAN

ditto

www.hornblasters.com

'nuff said

Man, you guys are over the top. . I watched the train horn comparison video. I think everyone in town would hear my horn when it blows.

[Axle]

When the horns in my truck ingested too much weather and salt spray over the years, I put in a pair of horns out of a late 80's Crown Vic/Grand Marquis in my truck (I had an '89 Grand Marquis, people rarely ignored its horn). I did not mount them in the stock location though, I mounted them similar to the cvgm to keep them out of the weather. Works really well. (if looking for some, the cvgm horns are mounted to the top of the front inner fender, one per side). If you want late model cv/gm, the pair of horns is mounted ahead of the rad cradle on a single bracket... Two sets of those might do the trick for some added 'wake up' kick.

And as mentioned, the Cadillac horns get the thumbs up as well. Got a set sitting here for my next replacement.

Alex.

[greg64]

Thanks for the info guys! Those Caddy horns sound great (from the link), and far from pathetic. I think that's the direction I'll go.

[sick472]

I did some research to decide what amp relay to use with my 4 Caddy horns and determined that a 30 amp relay would work without a problem, but Napa only had a 25 amp and that's what it got and it has been working fine all this year. Trust me, I put some testing to it just because those horns sound awesome.