Upgrading to a Louder Horn for Safety on Unusual Bus Builds

[s2mikon]

Yes, the Hella's are like 118 db but it is anoying as heck and pierces through air head drivers pretty good. I think you could take an arduino and program it to play music with the 4 note gm horns to the bone heads on the road. Use proximity senser and you would have both hands available for hand signals.

 

[desrtdog]

i ordered a pair of them today…if I don’t put them on my bus, they’ll go on my Samurai

 

[Mr. Beefy]

i ordered a pair of them today…if I don’t put them on my bus, they’ll go on my Samurai

Yep. Me too. Thanks!

Where are y'all locating them?

 

[desrtdog]

Yep. Me too. Thanks!

Where are y'all locating them?

On the bus they’ll probably go where the originals are, but have to look…samurai - wherever they’ll fit up front…

 

[FawnaFox]

My wife bought me nautical air horns as a birthday present you can probably see in my pic here mounted over the driver's window. They're absolutely awesome (as in, 'make me giggle' just thinking of them), but honestly they're more about fun than practicality, at least any other place than the freeway. They're simply too loud for most situations. Depending on where you're at, firing them off may even be considered illegal.

If I were you I'd skip the air, and look for a loud electric horn that mounts under the hood / bumper (maybe look for models popular in the first-responder sector). Adding an electric circuit, if necessary, is (to me) easier than adding an air circuit. Depending on the amp draw and your horn wiring, it may just be a matter of swapping out new for old. As a matter of fact, doing the exact same thing is on my 'to-do' list.

Most people in a time-critical situation that requires a horn will instinctively push on the center of the steering wheel. I think that's another good argument for upgrading your stock horn while keeping the actuation the same.

My horn circuit has seen better days, and the tiny button on the wheel that freigtliner thought was "Good enough" is very particular on the way you push it, you have to push the bottom of the button otherwise it's radio silence.

My younger brother suggested one of the old timey "ooga" klaxons, while silly it might be louder then my bus's horns, although the price at my local hardware store makes me question the quality of the horn.

Realistically, I was thinking of using one of those 12v air horns or a more traditional horn.

 

[GunnyVP]

My bus is probably one of the stranger spec'd busses out there, it uses hydraulic brakes, but has airbag suspension and air ride seat. I was in a situation where the bus's stock car horn caused more confusion then safety, I was driving my bus down a 2 lane (with middle turn lane) highway, at around 55 miles per hour. A minivan pulled out but didn't make it quite into the turn lane, I of course started braking and wailing on the horn, but the person driving either did not hear the bus's horn or thought it was some impatient person telling her to go. Long story short, I had to veer off the road to not hit them.

TLDR: I want to put either an air horn or some other kind of louder warning device. What is everyone's consensus on that for my bus? It does have air, but I don't think big enough for an air horn. I do want it to be a serious "get out of the way" horn, so I'd prefer an air horn that isn't goofy. Any advice is helpful.

Ooohhh….. This is definitely on my wish list. Go for it! An air horn tapped into your air reservoir probably would not affect your brakes at all. I’ve seen where truckers tap their reservoir main line for air hoses and pneumatic tools. Stop by a semi-truck repair shop and ask how the “big boys” do it. They’ll be glad to tell you a simple setup.

 

[s2mikon]

Always feed air horns from the accesory tank only. This tank has a protection valve on it to keep from depleating your brake air tank and setting your spring brakes while driving.

 

[GunnyVP]

My bus is probably one of the stranger spec'd busses out there, it uses hydraulic brakes, but has airbag suspension and air ride seat. I was in a situation where the bus's stock car horn caused more confusion then safety, I was driving my bus down a 2 lane (with middle turn lane) highway, at around 55 miles per hour. A minivan pulled out but didn't make it quite into the turn lane, I of course started braking and wailing on the horn, but the person driving either did not hear the bus's horn or thought it was some impatient person telling her to go. Long story short, I had to veer off the road to not hit them.

TLDR: I want to put either an air horn or some other kind of louder warning device. What is everyone's consensus on that for my bus? It does have air, but I don't think big enough for an air horn. I do want it to be a serious "get out of the way" horn, so I'd prefer an air horn that isn't goofy. Any advice is helpful.

Also, if you go with air horns, look for “train horn” style horns. They are the loudest.

There’s also a simple 12v electric “train horn” air horn that they use on motorcycles and it’s loud as heck. It has a tiny air pump. I had one on my motorcycle and it fit under the cowling. Once, a lady driving on the freeway to my right was putting on lipstick using her visor mirror when she drifted left onto me in my lane. I hit the horn and she jerked back to her lane and hit the brakes. When she came alongside me again, she gave me a glare and I could see a long red streak across her face! Those little electric air horns work!