I got my k5 kit about a month ago. Installed them myself on my F250. They sounded great BUT they just didnt sound loud enough. So, I called and talked to Garrett who told me that the debris covers might make some difference. DUDE, they sound freekin outstanding. From any distance, they sound bowl loosening. Its hard to believe that screens would make THAT much difference. They are fenominal. Everything I thought they would be plus more. Thanks guys. Will post some pics of the install soon.
Don’t want to say I told you so but…I TOLD YOU SO! lol
I’m glad your happy Ryan! We can’t wait to see pictures!
Ok Garrett,
How much for debris covers?
wait what?
how do those make it sound louder?
Yeah, I’m confused too…Trains have debris covers and their horns don’t suffer acoustically.
probably because their horns are 15 feet in the air and it doesnt matter, theyre still loud as f**K
I dont know how either BUT it does make a difference. I guess the cover affects the way the air flows out of the bells.
damn can you take a vid of them???
will try to have pics of the whole install plus a video of a blast.
If that were true, wouldn’t Nathan make them with the condoms already on them?
I don’t know… maybe if the debris covers were made of steel covering the bells lol… I’ve never heard of such… Amtrak used steel cones on their K5LAs and they were just as loud as any other K5.
They don’t… The covers muffle the sound slightly.
I don’t have proof to back it up, but I’d imagine any cover would make it suffer a little. It just makes sense that anything covering the bell would muffle it in some way. The metal, cone-shaped ones seem like they’d do the least damage.
i dunno if you’re going to do any videos, but it’d be cool to see what you’re talking about cuz most of us just don’t quite get it. i agree with teirnan that it would muffle the sound a little.
a video of like with the bell covers and without the bell covers? that’d be kewl…
i put a coarse metal mesh over mine (1/4" holes), and they stop larger debris from going in, and dont affect anything
I bought the bell covers from hornblasters as well and the same thing happened to me man. I put them on my K5la’s in the shop before i ever had a chance to blow them off and when i did they werent that loud, it just sounded like a muffeled quiet version of like a cheap train horn kit. i was kinda depressed about the lack of sound and destruction so i called hornblasters and talked with them and they suggested some things to me. I crawled underneath my truck took the covers off and tried the horn and it blew me away how they sounded then. i dont know why they make such a difference with them off, its not like theres no holes for the sound to go through, but the covers aren’t going back on ever again.
Hm, I thought you guys were talking about the real covers that the railroads use. Now that you mention it, I actually thought they may muffle the sound since more solid material covers the bells than does the holey part lol.
I think I have it figured out …
Because these covers aren’t metal, any vibration will be dampened. Remember, sound is basically audible vibration and if you muffle the vibration you muffle the percieved sound. And since the sound we hear is simply vibration passing through and out the bells the covers are acting as mufflers.
Now if the metal cone style debris covers were used then this problem wouldn’t exist because the vibration would just be transferred through and out the cones because they are metal and would allow the vibration (sound) to continue through them.
Kris
I’m still confused as I hear no difference in horns on trains with the cloth/vinyl covers or without.
Its night and day man. The covers that hornblasters sells just kill the sound.