sanomechanic
Well-known member
What an improvement.. only a 20 minute install time.
HONK n hell yeah
- Thread starter sanomechanic
- Start date
Rocksnsalt
There Can Be Only ONE
As Borat would say.... vaaaary naaaice
Did you make an install video? ?
Have that on my Amazon save for later list.
Did you make an install video? ?
Have that on my Amazon save for later list.
sanomechanic
Well-known member
No install video...but it was easy peazy. 3 screws top of grille. Pop grille out. Remove horn. drill hole out a little the mount compressor. Cut horn wiring and connect to compressor. Lay horn behind bumper lip. zip tie in. connect air hose. Install grill. Get loud. Can not even see horn.
sanomechanic
Well-known member
Rocksnsalt
There Can Be Only ONE
Hard to imagine the stock MB clown car horn pulls much amperage!
Are you referring to 40% from the new horn or the OEM?
I will check the current draw and if necessary, would bring in power through a separate relay, but activate both from the same button on the steering wheel.
Thanks,
Jack
sanomechanic
Well-known member
40% from the new horn. There is a 1-2 second lag to get full air pressure to air horn. So a small bump of horn only fires the compressor off a short time. The air horn comes with a relay set up too. I wired mine direct to OEM harness with out relay set up. No trouble data
I removed OEM horn
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sanomechanic
Well-known member
That is a pathetic sounding horn for such a burly van. Just like the stock audio system. LAME
Rocksnsalt
There Can Be Only ONE
RIGHT!
grantwilson
FreedomVanGo
Yes. I have an air compressor, 3 gallon tank, and a large horn cluster on the driver side. worth it
Rocksnsalt
There Can Be Only ONE
Dang. ? Can you post a video or sound byte of it?
I’d actually like mine to sound like a Ship ?
And it’s even battleship(ish) gray.
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OffroadHamster
Well-known member
You shouldnt do that. Melted lead wire or roached OEM relay in your future. Guessing those draw 15-20amps. Stock horns draw like 2 amps......
I run a pair of Stebel compact nautilus air horns, and while they are nowhere near as loud as a compressor/tank driven trumpet, they are loud enough to cause people to jump in their cars. I would put them at about 115dB (140 rated). At 11amps each, they definitely needed a relay to sound as loud as they do. Run on stock relay they were nowhere near as loud.
I would love some brass trumpets with a high flow locomotive valve, would be a good investment for a big heavy van that's regularly going faster than it probably should!
sanomechanic
Well-known member
The horn would blow a fuse if too many amps were drawn. Not melt wires or destroy a relay.
A relay would not dictate how load a horn is either. A relay takes a small load to control a big load. Once the contacts are made in the relay voltage is applied. If using your OEM relay causes the horn to not be as loud then there is a resistor. bad ground or a voltage drop in the OEM circuit.
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OffroadHamster
Well-known member
You are right to an end. The 15A horn fuse lies between the body control module which the horn relay lives on and the horn. The fuse is there to prevent a ground short from burning the relay or the whole board. If you burn the relay on the board you are looking at $300-$400 to replace.
The two Stebels on my van will bark loud for about a half second and then taper down. Somewhere between the compressors ramping up and them hitting the full 11a each, the relay throttles them (internal resistance as it heats up? I dont know) and thats all I know. But I am sure that the relay on that very expensive BCM is significantly more expensive than a $5 bosch relay which will happily carry 30a indefinitely. The relay on the BCM is probably designed/rated to carry, what 5-10a? It should pop the horn fuse if you pass too much current, but the fuse doesnt seem to be a fast enough pop and the integrated relay is causing some issue, at least for me.
I would much rather run 22a through a 30a $5 relay, than work a relay on a $350 board beyond what it was designed to carry. But thats just me.
Ive seen enough funky shit with chopping into factory wiring and relying on factory relays (or in many cases factory switches which carry the load) to know a $5 relay is cheap insurance.
YMMV but probably unwise to encourage others to not follow best practices when adding substantially larger loads to switched circuits.
The two Stebels on my van will bark loud for about a half second and then taper down. Somewhere between the compressors ramping up and them hitting the full 11a each, the relay throttles them (internal resistance as it heats up? I dont know) and thats all I know. But I am sure that the relay on that very expensive BCM is significantly more expensive than a $5 bosch relay which will happily carry 30a indefinitely. The relay on the BCM is probably designed/rated to carry, what 5-10a? It should pop the horn fuse if you pass too much current, but the fuse doesnt seem to be a fast enough pop and the integrated relay is causing some issue, at least for me.
I would much rather run 22a through a 30a $5 relay, than work a relay on a $350 board beyond what it was designed to carry. But thats just me.
Ive seen enough funky shit with chopping into factory wiring and relying on factory relays (or in many cases factory switches which carry the load) to know a $5 relay is cheap insurance.
YMMV but probably unwise to encourage others to not follow best practices when adding substantially larger loads to switched circuits.
OffroadHamster
Well-known member
And before you flame me, I know a thing or two about automotive wiring and electronics. This is my other project which I recently spent dozens of hours chasing with a DMM and subsequently an o'scope when once back in multiple sensors were still misbehaving (thermal expansion short in bus ground 
)
Ive seen aftermarket loads melt wires and blow stock relays shy of popping fuses. My advice is borne of experience, not ignorance. Someone recently told me "good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions" Unfortunately, I have a LOT of experience.
All to say....use a relay!! Its cheap, it works, and there is zero risk, versus some unspecified amount of risk between zero and "OMG what did I do?" Should I post pictures of the car I burned to the ground when I was 19?
)
Ive seen aftermarket loads melt wires and blow stock relays shy of popping fuses. My advice is borne of experience, not ignorance. Someone recently told me "good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions" Unfortunately, I have a LOT of experience.
All to say....use a relay!! Its cheap, it works, and there is zero risk, versus some unspecified amount of risk between zero and "OMG what did I do?" Should I post pictures of the car I burned to the ground when I was 19?
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OffroadHamster
Well-known member
Trippel post! Anyone reading should definitely replace their horn! Its a big heavy van any way you slice it and the Vespa squeaker is woefully inadequate to let others know "I am here and if you do that there is going to be an accident, and right now its looking like you may not survive in that smart fortwo you are driving"
brianzoh
Active member
I have this one, easy install and sounds appropriate for the size of the van.
Agile Horn Upgrade Kit for Sprinter 2019+ - Agile Off Road
Agile Horn Upgrade Kit for Sprinter 2019+ - Agile Off Road
sanomechanic
Well-known member
I call them not so smart cars. What rocket scientist thought a 3 lug wheel set up was good idea?
Rocksnsalt
There Can Be Only ONE
The Agile horn kit does not fit if you have the auxiliary cooling system. They (Agile) looked at my van and said NOPE.
It’s ok though. I want something that sounds more like a ship ? anyway. Or at least a train.