Hey guys, im trying to figure out where to put these massive horns. I cant mount them under the truck, I work in the bush, and they would be packed full of mud/snow in an instant, and most likely get wrecked, and need a rebuild. So I have 2 options, Break em apart, and try and mount them behind the grill, (tough with the biggest bell), or mount them in the box of my truck. Issue there being I ordered a custom sled deck today, so they would be under the deck. I went K3LA cause I wanna wake the dead. I have no issue making break apart kit and doing away with the manifold. Also does anyone have a picture of the horns with the manifold taken off, im wondering if tapping them is an option. Or if Ill just use 1/4" thick plate, and gasket, and tap that. All fittings will be swagelok compressions. If breaking apart, I hope to run something bigger to the front of the truck (its a crew cab), to keep the pressure drop down in the line. I think the best would be in the box, but again, under a sled deck, not sure how it would turn out. Id rather not mount them in the open on the rack.
Suggestions? Maybe change to 3 solenoids, and parallel lines etc? I want it to sound like a real train (hence why I didnt go shocker). Whatever it takes im game for.
Not familiar with the term sled deck, but I assume it’s some sort of flat bed.
I wouldn’t put the horns in an enclosed box. What would the box look like?
If you split em up, run a single 1/2" ID (5/8" OD) line up to your solenoid valve. Get the 1/2" SMC valve from HB that has a 15mm orifice. Then buy or make a manifold like Mcmaster Carr part #5469K115. Tap your brackets and run 3/8" OD lines to each horn. You can buy a kit with everything figured out - usually on ebay.
Tapping the horns is somewhat feasible, but that is the measured orifice and going too deep could ruin the horn. You would need brackets for the horns anyway, so you might as well just tap them and use a gaskets or o-rings from the Nathan manifold.
Thats a sled deck. So there will be open spots all around the deck, between it and the top of the box, and above the tail gate etc. But I think it may muffle the horns.
I have the solenoid that came in the HB kit. Ill check out what size orifice is in it. I was planning on running 1/2"od, 0.035" Wall, 316SS tube to them (unless they went in grill).
I have a 400c, and a 444c on the way (have 400, 444 is in mail). ill be using it for onboard air aswell. I should have ordered the OB2.
Damn just put em under a fender…haha I assume that’s not yours since you just ordered the deck.
That tubing is fine. It’s thinner wall gives it a slightly larger ID than the standard 1/2" DOT tubing. Are those swageloks flareless? I was looking at some Lenz fittings and they’re $$. I’m currently working on some hardlines myself… All JIC fittings. FYI - Amazon had the best price on my SS tubing.
No they have ferrals. So there is some flare. But nothing that restricts flow. They are high dollar but in my line of work I wouldn’t pay for materials. Tubing is about $3/ft, fittings would be about $20 each for straights, $35ish for elbows. I also have swagelok benders that have rollers and doesn’t crush the tube when it bends. I can bend a 90, and slide the nut around the bend.
Think there will be too much muffle under the deck? It should be better then running them under a fiberglass box cover (can’t spell tonnoue or whatever). But under there I might have 1ft of tube so flow and pressure would be max. Horns wouldn’t be choked by pressure drop through the tube. But that should only matter for long blasts. If I put them up front, I think I’ll mount a second tank under the bumper. Maybe 2 gal.
And no that’s not my truck, I’m single rear wheel 3500hd, no lift, white.
I had my k5 under my hard tonneau cover (aluminum roll up style) last year. I religiously opened the cover about 2’ when I went somewhere. Yes it’s still pretty dang loud with it shut, but just not the same. But mine is somewhat sealed compared to all the gaps you’ll have. The only way to know if you’ll be satisfied is to try it out. Maybe just rig it up for a test.
I went with the JIC fittings to save money then turned around & bought a $100 flaring tool. Go figure. The swagelok benders look awsome. I bought 1/4" and 3/8" Rigid benders. They are at least a notch up from the universals.
I wouldn’t worry about pressure drop. Nobody really even mentions it. Of course it is there, but IMHO it’s splitting hairs in this application. Just don’t use a bunch of 90s. Keep in mind that each horn orifice is only about 1/8".
Yeah the swagelok benders are the cats oven. But pricy. Locally was almost $800 for 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2".
The swagelok fittings just need wrenches to set ferrals. And fitting are rated at 10,000psi mwp iirc. The tubing blows out before the fitting let’s the tube go. I’ll try under the deck, if not go from there.
Are their dust covers/snow covers for these horns, or just take some outerwear filter covers?
That’s not my dualie, just google helping me out with the sled deck picture. Mine is a 2012 crew long single tire 3500hd duramax. I take it off road but not muddying etc, just to work. Why I didn’t go duals, they suck in mud.
Since it’s semi-enclosed anyway, I would do whatever is better looking or works easier for the install. It shouldn’t make too much difference, but you could test different directions. Mine faced the rear as well as a couple others I can think of…
