DIY Horn Upgrade Mod - Updated Jan 12

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thankyouOB said:
nice sound on the one right above, but here is what comes up for the previous "facebook" photo show:

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OK, I'll just go ahead and post the pics here too. I was trying to avoid repetition, since mine are not dissimilar to those of others who have gone in from underneath.

FIAMM 'El Grande' 74100 Electric Horns:

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LEAF safely up on Rhino Ramps:

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Tools required. 8, 10, 12, 13mm wrench or sockets to remove various bolts; flatblade screwdriver to remove plastic rivets; wire stripper and connector crimp tool:

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Belly pan removed:

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Belly pan fasteners. Six bolts and six plastic rivets:

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The offending wimpy horn. Sadly ineffective.

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New horns vs. old horn:

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Pigtails for hooking two horns to one set of connectors:

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New horns installed and ready for use in anger! LOL! This is why I needed a 13mm socket and you may not....I installed my horns one above the other, since there was a bolt hanging around below the stock horn bolt that seemed to be doing not much of anything:

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Magnificent and gratuitous electric motor shot:

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That tool set looks an awful lot like mine, Mr. Walsh. I have the same vintage of everything!
I should post a photo of the tool set needed to make the NEMA L6-20 to 14-30 adapter so you can see.

In any case, I think I got the identical result to you. Unfortunately, I didn't use a lock washer or locking thread compound on my horns, so I'll have to go in again sometime to correct that.

Nice photos (and the links all worked for me).
 
Boomer23 said:
I admire your initiative in upgrading your horns, guys. I was just wondering why none of you decided to go really big, if you're going bigger.
I didn't go for air horns of any type because I am concerned that, while they're louder, they require a fraction of a second to generate sound. First-hand observation in several air horn installations as well as various accounts from others confirm that. I believe that it's because an air horn compressor/reservoir of a size practical for use on cars and motorcycles would be too small to supply the necessary air volume and pressure to sound the horn(s) immediately upon hitting the horn switch.

A wake-the-dead air horn would be very satisfying to use when one really needs to "voice" one's displeasure, but when I use the horn, it's almost always because I need to use it right now so I don't want to trade the reaction time for sound volume.

Boomer23 said:
Here's a fellow who did just that. How would a set of these look on a LEAF?

scaled.php
Dunno... Are you volunteering? :D
 
aqn said:
A wake-the-dead air horn would be very satisfying to use when one really needs to "voice" one's displeasure, but when I use the horn, it's almost always because I need to use it right now so I don't want to trade the reaction time for sound volume.

Dunno... Are you volunteering? :D

Well.... I guess not, now that you've pointed out the technical defects. :lol:
 
Just wanted to chime in (or perhaps honk in?) that I also upgraded to the FIAMMs yesterday. Was very easy to come from the top and removing the coolant tank was much less scary than I had expected. I used a couple of adjustable wrenches to clamp the hoses down. Was a bit of a trick to figure out which arrangement to mount the horns in as the brackets I received with the FIAMMs were straight rather than having bends at the end like those in the photos. Definitely sounds way better now!
 
Here is a cheap easy one. I calls for a 10A fuse, so direct hook-up to car seems easy.

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-12-volt-electric-horn-set-99911.html
 
After two near misses from lane changes into me, I finally did my horn upgrade yesterday. I found a set of new horns on ebay that were actually for a Lincoln Town Car.(400HZ & 500HZ) The only reason I chose them is that they were mounted on a bracket that looked like it would fit them easily on the factory bracket in my car. I went into the car from the top and it was not easy for my big hands to get in there, but I finally accomplished it. I just can't imagine why they put that wimpy cookie horn in the car!!
 
aqn said:
I may have helped convince another LEAF driver to do a horn upgrade. I passed a blue LEAF on the road the other day and did a "BEEP BEEP!" salute. In reply, he went "meep meep!" :D

LOL! I am having much more success getting the attention of other drivers now. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade!
 
mogur said:
The VSP and lock "meep" from the fob do not use the horn so the mod has no affect on either.
Thank you mogur! I assumed that the horn was the source of the VSP. I am going to go ahead with the mod now. The horn is one of the few dislikes I have with the car.
 
I just put in the Wolo 320-2T horn mentioned by turbo2ltr on page 2. Quick and easy, glad I read through this topic to find out about the release button on the connectors. My positive terminal release button was mounted towards the old horn, so I needed a small screw driver to push it down while pulling it off, not so easy in the tight space.

Attached the ground wires provided to the brackets, made a pigtail using the male connector from the old horn, and did the vertical mount using the original bracket as attachment point. Left the original ground connector unused to blow in the wind. Had to find a bolt that fit the hole on the original bracket, as the supplied bolts were too thick. Worked fine, nice and loud.

They are available at any local store, but here's the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Wolo-Model-320-2T-Universal-Replacement/dp/B00029XGQ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1314586999&sr=1-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can hear a sample here, down towards the bottom of the page:
http://www.wolo-mfg.com/elec.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are also several videos available on the web of different horn sounds.
 
turbo2ltr said:
...I did go in from the top ( I was lazy and didn't want to go under the car), but I didn't remove the reservoir. I unbolted it and flipped it to on top of the radiator support. No need to remove the hoses.
I bolted the two horn brackets directly to the main bolt, not to the OEM horn bracket. i.e. I removed the OEM horn and bracket. I felt the bracket(s) would be flapping in the wind too much...

I just did mine the same way, using the $16 Fiamm El Grande kit from Amazon. When I tested the new horn, it sounded... normal. Which was a nice change from meep-meep.

Now I'll be able to properly signal those slow idiots in front of me, and the aggressive jerks behind.
 
DeaneG said:
Now I'll be able to properly signal those slow idiots in front of me, and the aggressive jerks behind.
I see you employ the same logic I do in determining who is driving correctly on the road. It's nice and simple: if they're not me, they're doing it wrong! There's a slight bit of leeway in that rule depending on how long I've been at work, the temperature, state of charge, audio being played, traffic conditions, colour of offender's car, cleanliness of offender's car (in relation to my own), and sentiment expressed by offender's bumper sticker(s). :mrgreen:
 
I upgraded my honker today with the FIAMM horns. I mounted them away from the radiator to minimize impact to the cooling capacity. One at each end of the grill for increased stereo effect :lol: .

Passenger side exterior


I used some stock L shaped aluminum mounted with self tapping screws to the aluminum impact absorber in the bumper.

Passenger side interior view


My recommendation is to install the horns from below. When working from the top it is fairly easy to bang up the radiator fins with the hand tools.
 
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