Grumpy Old Man Wants an Air Horn

Anyone put an air horn on their 3rd gen Taco?
Yesterday on a one hour trip I was almost sideswiped by someone texting, cutoff by someone turning in front of me from the left lane to make a right turn, and another idiot pulled out of a side road obviously without looking first.
I've listened to some horn upgrades on YouTube but I want something that sounds like a freight train. Did I mention that I can be a little grumpy? Rant over. Back on topic.
Has anyone done the air horn install and could recommend something? It looks like products and prices are all over the place. Thanks.

 

Just keep driving defensively grandpa!

If you're running into that many bad drivers a day you're going to start running into an equal, if not greater, amount of crazies that'll start purposefully trying to mess with you while you're driving because of how loud your horn is. Nothing worse than someone who wants you dead over you honking your horn at them.

 

I pieced my kit together for my fire truck air horns with a 5 gallon tank. It all depends on what route you want to go

 

Just google air or train horn

 

I had a cheap Amazon electric one wired on my last desert truck...was pretty loud for no actual air tank setup.

 

This is what you really need:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hella-supertones-horns-install-guide.98465/

 

X2

If you're running into an average of three people an hour you want to use a train horn on, it's not going to end well when you get one.

 

I think I can render an opinion from a rather unique perspective, as I spent over 20 years driving emergency vehicles in EMS, and am also a grumpy old curmudgeon with little patience for stupidity any more. While big train and fire truck air horns definitely have a cool factor and grab attention for sure, it's kind of hard to mount trumpets and a tank that size on your Taco. There are plenty of decent electric alternatives that shoot out a bunch of decibels and can be hidden behind your grill. We had them on the ambulances and believe me, they got attention. The trick is to be not only loud, but have a different sound. That's why sirens have varying pitches and sound patterns.

 

An air horn install will have many challenges. Cost, compressor, air receiver, solenoids, pressure relief valve, pressure switch, piping, mounting of all the pieces.

Suggest to look to the old '70s GM land yachts with the 4 tone horn.

PIAA has horns that could mimic the old GM He77 horn. 330, 400, 500 and 600 hz for about $130. Dig on Amazon.

Another thought depending on location and State Laws.....Decibel level of a "Train horn" maybe excessive.

 

Check-out Harbor Freight, they have a dual-tone horn which has that 1970's sound without having to track down a pair of working 1970's Horn's.

As far as idiot drivers go, be glad you don't ride a motorcycle! A couple of nights a week I like to go for a quick ride after dinner and I always have to watch idiots. A while-back a woman turned left in front of me, almost taking me out then she stopped unexpectedly. When I pulled-up next to her she said she didn't see me. I told her if she couldn't see a guy, 50' from her riding a bright orange motorcycle with it's headlight on, maybe she should consider walking!

 

I fantasize often about running people that text and drive off of the road.

 

There is a ton of room behind the front grill and on the rad support.

In fact I fit a "26 horn in there...



as well as a 1/2 Gal tank.


Made a quick thread about it....

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/was-doing-on-board-air-but-then-got-horny.725352/

Used all factory holes on the rad mount for the horn, manifold and tank installation.

There are "kits" on Amazon etc with a tiny compressor that attaches to a air horn, those don't tend to last too long. and are not much louder than a regular car horn.

If you really want to have a "shart" horn you will need a system that has an air tank in it.

 

I got passed by a local EMS rig that had those rumbler sirens installed yesterday. I was amazed by 1. how far it carried in urban traffic and 2. that it really stood out vs background noise, tunes, etc compared to the higher pitch traditional sirens.

Also, for OP and to your point, there's a lot competitors in our local offroad race series that run 100 and 200w electric sirens as passing warnings. If they're loud enough to cut through unmuffled LS motors and all that PPE they wear, they'll be more than sufficient.

https://www.extremetacticaldynamics.com/100-watt-siren-speaker-compact/

 

This one has been working since December. Easy to install ran a separate switch and kept the factory option also. Only use it for the bad situations.

$30 GAMPRO 12V 150DB Car Air Horns, 18"es Chrome Zinc Single Trumpet Truck Air Horn with Compressor for Any 12V Vehicles Trucks Lorrys Trains Boats Cars (BLACK)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QXQ9HW9?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

You want really loud?

Just go here: https://hornblasters.com/

 

Wolo Bad Boy Air Horn?

 

I had one of these on my Harley Ultra Classic. Vibrated like crazy and the bracket eventually fell apart. Granted, the Taco isn't going to vibrate like a 2012 Ultra Classic, but still.....

 

I put a CB radio with a PA system so I can at least speak my mind (a little louder that usual) when I get cut off

 

these horns are nice and loud and definitely get attention from other drivers. Mine did not last more than a few years, though. They were from Amazon so they were probably knock-offs

 

Amtrack or Freight train air horns