Hello everyone, I just picked up some United Pacific horns (3 piece.) They are beautiful works of art. Wish I could dish out $2K on horns, but right now… no funding… Hopefully these horns will sound ok… Any advise on setting them up would be greatly appreciated. I got a 5 gallon tank right now and working on getting some valves and compressor for my tank…Thanks Everyone! 
Bob,
Assemble everything you are going to need before you start. This can take up to several weekends and you don’t want to make ten trips to Home Depot.
The most valuable advice I can give you is Locktite 545. Throw away the teflon tape, it doesn’t work. After two weekends, all my joins are torqued as tight as is safely possibly and I am still the proud owner of the world’s loudest bubble machine. You can also use Permatex or pipe dope, but the consensus seems to be Locktite is best.
HB compressor brackets are very heavy duty, but I couldn’t make them work, so I used angled steel from Home Depot. You will need lots of nuts, bolts, washers, and a roll of strap iron. You also want a hand grinder to chop off lengths and deburr the metal. Use a hacksaw and waste your time, a lot of time.
Nuts, bolts, washers, self tapping screws for the grounds. Keep a lot of electrical connectors around, you will need them.
The HB wiring kit was very helpful. It contained connectors, fittings, fuses, switches, and wire. The compressor wire was at least 10ga. It was very heavy duty. Some of the male and female connectors didn’t fit together (same size, so one didn’t fit within the other) but otherwise it was high quality stuff.
You will need extra hose. You must cut the horn hose in equal lengths. Unfortunately, I cut the wrong hose. Luckily, I had extra on hand. Also, the twin ViAir 480Cs I installed came with hose for a remote intake. The compressors, along with all the hardware, were of very high quality, the hose was not. It was so inflexible as to make it almost worthless. The automotive hose I got from Home Depot worked great and it only costs about 5 bucks.
Speaking of compressors, the hose that feeds them doesn’t like to bend too far, so you may want to stock some street elbows if you are going to pipe your compressors in a tight spot. You are going to need a good 3"-5" of space to get your hose on the intake adapter or you will need the elbows.
Keep your compressors high and dry. If necessary, build an enclosure partly around them to cut down on road spray and dirt, while ensuring they can still breath.
Remote air intakes need to be higher and drier. I removed my brake lights and installed them behind and above the brake light housing. You can’t be too paranoid about this one point.
You can’t use too many wire ties, but you can torque them down too much and compromise the insulation on your wires. Leave everything loose during the install and then go around and tighten to the point where the wire can still move through due to normal temperature related expansion and contraction. Similarly, leave yourself extra hose and wire length. You will be thankful later when you get a break that you left extra play in the lines.
Keep your air hose away from your exhaust. I wire tied the heck out of it, and missed one small loop, and you guessed it, it melted my hose. Similarly, moving parts will wear holes in wires and hoses.
Wire ties, of many different lengths. You could also use some long hose clamps. I found they fit through the mounts for the air valves and made installation a snap.
That’s all I can remember about the truck that ate my weekend. I guess I’ll go change all those joins with Locktite next weekend.
Wow, what a comprehensive write up! Thank you so much… Thanks for the loctite tip. I will post my results. I hope I will be blown away with the horns.
^^ LOL “world’s loudest bubble machine”
Yes indeed, if you think that is funny you probably have also spent a weekend on your back with quivering neck and abdominal muscles, torquing down fitting trying to stop the hissing and the bubbles. I was so morose, I resorted to the grape and was hung over all day today.
However, I wouldn’t give up on my dream. Simply walking out of work early with absolutely no excuse at all for my absence, I went to Home Depot. I bought a galvanized coupling for my temporary patch, and inserted two 1/2" ptc fittings. After that, Gulfport Mississippi (check my consonants, did I have the right numbers of ssi’s?) wasn’t safe anymore. I had some “Missysips” riding my bumper on the ramp onto the highway. They received my new “howdy” horn. The sound of two sets of shocker, fore and aft, under the overpass were sheer bliss.
It has been worth every horrible minute of torture hanging this tumor under my truck. Now the frigging world will pay.
I’m stealing this for my signature block, but I’ll make sure to credit you.
I’ve got some upgrades planned … heheheheheheheheheheh.
Kris
Dude was on a roll tonight…lol
Welcome
Wow, thanks for the great advise. You guys crack me up with your stories. I will post my results when my set up is finally put all together. I will take my time, do my homework, and intall it properly. You guys rock!
take lots of pictures!
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
One other tip that worked well for me. I installed all my switches and buttons in a plastic junction box (@$7 at Home Depot), with extra play in the lines.
AFTER I had got everything working right and proper, and had used it for awhile, I planned to cut the wires and drill the dash. This has worked out well for me because I twice had to change my wiring. If I had installed directly into the dash, I would have wasted a lot of time and effort trying to change things up under the dash. Worse, would be to drill your dash and then change your mind about how you want to set things up.
I have also considered keeping the junction box so I can kick it under the seats if I get pulled over, and adding a dummy button by the driver’s window for the cops to push. Clickety, click officer.
What is the fine if you get caught scaring people with air horns…? I know you guys have a great deal of experience… LOL…
Minor sound ordinance fine, plus you might have to prove you’ve removed the “device”.
Most states have laws against “excessively loud horns” which is where we fall under, so base the fine off that … or what they can charge you with.
Kris
Yeah depends on the laws where you live. Could also be “improper use of horn” or you could be cited for violating a noise ordinance.
If somebody gets hurt, they could probably start looking at other charges.
Must be awesome to have some Nathans in a sleeper car… I drive a 05 2500 ram diesel, so I know the cops would suspect me… LOL…
I have no experience but is it possible some states may take your horns?
That would really suck, especially if you own renouned Nathans!
Had a bunch of “not so smart” high school kids blocking the roadway in front of their high school… Too bad I was driving our van. 1 person was taking 1/4 of the street and made like she (yes a she!) owned the road. I was really pissed. When I saw that person in my passanger window, I opened up my v tech on my odyssey and got a finger! What a crack head! I really wish I had my UP’s so I could scare the living crap out of them nut cases… Tomorrow, I’m going to drive there about the same time and hope they are out. I still need my 1st victim!
Welcome from another “Newbie” look forward to seeing your pics.