K-Dogg
07-29-2006, 05:49 AM
Aloha Kakou:
Well, arrived home from work to find that my package frm Autobarn arrived w/my Hella Dual Horn kit and needless to say, I was pretty amped! :D Ripped into the box and... found two horns, two brackets, and a relay. :shock: No wires, connectors, or the like (well, to give Autobarn the benefit of the doubt, the website did say that the kit only included the horns, brackets, relay and instructions)...
Promptly logged on to the EOC to review all the posts regarding horn installs and since very few had pictures still attached, I kinda had to decipher the directions in the posts. Drew up my own crude wiring diagram, laid out a mat in my workspace, and proceeded to remove the front fascia, which came off quite easily.
Had a look at the OE Bosch horn and there is one lead wire that connects to the horn via a snap connector. The Hella's have universal tab mounts, which obviously were not compatible w/the OE connector. I determined I needed the following in order to proceed with the install: Two (2) wires to connect to the +/- tabs, two (2) female slip-fit connectors, one (1) wire cutter/crimping tool, soldering iron, solder, heat shrink tubing, electrical tape.
You need to understand that I haven't handled a soldering iron since middle school, so the install started to look rather daunting... Armed w/my crude diagram and parts list, I decided to damn the torpedoes and rushed over to Radio Shack to purchase my supplies. Arriving back home, I made the decision that rather than running both Hella's, I'd keep the OE horn in place and run one of the Hella's as an auxiliary. They came in a 300Hz/500Hz set and I ultimately ran the 500Hz in order to get close to a dual tone w/the OE horn.
I then fabricated two wires with the slip-fit connectors, one (red) positive and one (black) ground wire. I then spliced the red wire into the OE lead wire, soldered in place as best I could, and ran some heat shrink tubing to keep everything neat. Next, the Hella horn was mounted on the forward portion of the frame member and grounded the black wire to the mounting bolt. Connected the red wire, reattached the battery cable and proceeded with a test blast. Fire in the hole!!! HONK! Okay, it's pretty loud, but the OE/Hella combo is a dual tone, but somewhat dissonant. Well, as long as it gets the other guy's attention, I'm happy. :rolleyes:
Proceeded to button up the front fascia, and guess what?? No fit! The Hella is so large (nearly 5" in diameter), that in it's present mounting location, it interfered with the fog light protrusions!!! ARGHHHH! :mad: Okay. Remove the fascia, dick around with the brackets, made a near 90 degree bend and tried a test fit. Better, but not quite right. Bend some more, get the bracket as close to a right angle as I possibly could. Another test fit. Okay, but it's still close. Buttoned up the fascia, tightened up the battery cables, and went for a test drive. All is well! It works! :D If I for some reason, get ambitious in the future, I may try to install the 2nd Hella... I guess attaching a slip-fit connector to the OE wire wouldn't be a big deal, but that's perhaps for another time.
Just a word of caution. If you have fogs installed and want to do this upgrade, it may be best to go with a smaller horn or fabricate a longer bracket to keep it away from the fog light assembly. I didn't have any bracket material so I had to work with what came in the kit. This is how it sums up: Hella Supertone Dual Horn $65.00 + shipping from Autobarn. Miscellaneous wires, crimps, connectors, and tools from Radio Shack $40.00. Total upgrade: $110.00 and about 4.5 hours for the install, including the parts run to Radio Shack.
Well, at least I've learned something; how to remove the front fascia!
Well, arrived home from work to find that my package frm Autobarn arrived w/my Hella Dual Horn kit and needless to say, I was pretty amped! :D Ripped into the box and... found two horns, two brackets, and a relay. :shock: No wires, connectors, or the like (well, to give Autobarn the benefit of the doubt, the website did say that the kit only included the horns, brackets, relay and instructions)...
Promptly logged on to the EOC to review all the posts regarding horn installs and since very few had pictures still attached, I kinda had to decipher the directions in the posts. Drew up my own crude wiring diagram, laid out a mat in my workspace, and proceeded to remove the front fascia, which came off quite easily.
Had a look at the OE Bosch horn and there is one lead wire that connects to the horn via a snap connector. The Hella's have universal tab mounts, which obviously were not compatible w/the OE connector. I determined I needed the following in order to proceed with the install: Two (2) wires to connect to the +/- tabs, two (2) female slip-fit connectors, one (1) wire cutter/crimping tool, soldering iron, solder, heat shrink tubing, electrical tape.
You need to understand that I haven't handled a soldering iron since middle school, so the install started to look rather daunting... Armed w/my crude diagram and parts list, I decided to damn the torpedoes and rushed over to Radio Shack to purchase my supplies. Arriving back home, I made the decision that rather than running both Hella's, I'd keep the OE horn in place and run one of the Hella's as an auxiliary. They came in a 300Hz/500Hz set and I ultimately ran the 500Hz in order to get close to a dual tone w/the OE horn.
I then fabricated two wires with the slip-fit connectors, one (red) positive and one (black) ground wire. I then spliced the red wire into the OE lead wire, soldered in place as best I could, and ran some heat shrink tubing to keep everything neat. Next, the Hella horn was mounted on the forward portion of the frame member and grounded the black wire to the mounting bolt. Connected the red wire, reattached the battery cable and proceeded with a test blast. Fire in the hole!!! HONK! Okay, it's pretty loud, but the OE/Hella combo is a dual tone, but somewhat dissonant. Well, as long as it gets the other guy's attention, I'm happy. :rolleyes:
Proceeded to button up the front fascia, and guess what?? No fit! The Hella is so large (nearly 5" in diameter), that in it's present mounting location, it interfered with the fog light protrusions!!! ARGHHHH! :mad: Okay. Remove the fascia, dick around with the brackets, made a near 90 degree bend and tried a test fit. Better, but not quite right. Bend some more, get the bracket as close to a right angle as I possibly could. Another test fit. Okay, but it's still close. Buttoned up the fascia, tightened up the battery cables, and went for a test drive. All is well! It works! :D If I for some reason, get ambitious in the future, I may try to install the 2nd Hella... I guess attaching a slip-fit connector to the OE wire wouldn't be a big deal, but that's perhaps for another time.
Just a word of caution. If you have fogs installed and want to do this upgrade, it may be best to go with a smaller horn or fabricate a longer bracket to keep it away from the fog light assembly. I didn't have any bracket material so I had to work with what came in the kit. This is how it sums up: Hella Supertone Dual Horn $65.00 + shipping from Autobarn. Miscellaneous wires, crimps, connectors, and tools from Radio Shack $40.00. Total upgrade: $110.00 and about 4.5 hours for the install, including the parts run to Radio Shack.
Well, at least I've learned something; how to remove the front fascia!