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Two horns in MJ


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Yes. The extra wire will be tucked away behind the bumper area on the side where there isn't a horn. On my truck, I installed both horns from a 2001 XJ.

 

I noticed that the wires on mine were juuuust long enough to work.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Reading this thread brought back old memories. The first car I owned was a 1966 AMC that I got in 1969 at the end of my freshman year at VA Tech. At a time when GTOs, Firebirds, and Camaros blazed new, a Rambler was definitely not a sexymobile. But it did the job for the college years. It seems almost alien now, but one of the improvements was to add a radio to a car that came without one. A radio was an option.  I put in a Ford radio that was too deep. To make room for it, I had to move the plastic ductwork for the defroster back. I accomplished that with a hack saw and some dryer vent hose. I bought a house carpet remant and cut pieces to fit and sewed them together with fishing line to cover the rubber floor. I had dear old Mom sew by machine, some new fabric into the seat panels. Actually it looked good and people commented. One of the changes was to replace a whimpy sounding horn. For schitz and giggles, I went to a junk yard and got a 6 volt horn out an old car and put it in the 12 volt system. Sounded like a f...ing train in a canyon.Was awesome actually, but I do not claim that was my original idea. Not sure when autos moved from 6 volt to 12 volt, 1954 I think, but jyards had cars older than that back then. 

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I may add a screaming truck horn on a second circuit to a MJ but don't want to do away with the stock horn. Years ago, a button attached to the horizontal bottom of the dash, was the Joe Cool thing to do. Seems amarteurish for a noble horn. Grand Cherokees from the 90's had spots on both sides of the center of the steering column to toot the horn. Most likely wired together at the top of the column. Does the MJ have two sets of contacts for the horn? If so, has anyone separated the two and run a new wire to one of them  and down the steering column and through the fire wall?

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Cadillac horns.  Go to the junk yard and look for the big bodied Caddys from the 80s/early 90s.  Tucked inside the fenders at the front there are 4 horns, two on each side of the vehicle.  They're easy to yank out.  Pull the wiring harness for them as one piece, it is a green wire that hooks all four horns together.  Splice the harness to your stock harness (can use a male spade connector on the Caddy harness to plug it into your stock harness).  Each of the horns mounts with one bolt, find convenient spots for them, drill holes, clean paint off around mounting bolt (the horns ground through the mounting bolt).  Sounds like a train horn with good volume.  

 

I swapped them into my XJ after I drowned the single stock horn.  I also relocated the horns to beside the air box to get them out of the water.  It is nice to have multiple horns in the event I drown one again, I will still have a functioning horn.  Was a nuisance when I found out my single horn was dead in a situation when I needed it.  :eek: 

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4 hours ago, bad_idea said:

Cadillac horns.  Go to the junk yard and look for the big bodied Caddys from the 80s/early 90s.  Tucked inside the fenders at the front there are 4 horns, two on each side of the vehicle.  They're easy to yank out.  Pull the wiring harness for them as one piece, it is a green wire that hooks all four horns together.  Splice the harness to your stock harness (can use a male spade connector on the Caddy harness to plug it into your stock harness).  Each of the horns mounts with one bolt, find convenient spots for them, drill holes, clean paint off around mounting bolt (the horns ground through the mounting bolt).  Sounds like a train horn with good volume.  

 

I swapped them into my XJ after I drowned the single stock horn.  I also relocated the horns to beside the air box to get them out of the water.  It is nice to have multiple horns in the event I drown one again, I will still have a functioning horn.  Was a nuisance when I found out my single horn was dead in a situation when I needed it.  :eek: 

 

I did a similar "horn mod" using two horns from a mid-60's Buick Electra 225. They do get people's attention and sound more like a bus than a car.  :D  Good idea mounting them out of the weather. I mounted them in the stock locations with the bells facing down to keep the H2O out. So far so good.

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This is still in the planning stage.  I want to have a badazz horn mounted on top of the cab of the black 87 MJ, 4.0, 5 speed shown in the pic.  The pic below is what I have in mind.  Still looking for 3 level horns with the longest in the middle.  The one in the pic has one horn raised above the other two. I am looking for a wider look. I want the pitch of a train horn, not the higher pitch of a big rig.   If possible I would like to have an additional switch right in the center of the steering column but don't know if there are two sets of contacts that can be separated or not. I would like to keep the present horn operational.  The bigger issue is how to mount it. I rather not bolt it to the cab roof. The metal in the roof is probably not thick enough to handle wind at 70mph blowing  against the horn over time.  What I am thinking is to have a precision metal shop make a bracket to hold it.  Something with a chrome finish is likely to be way too expensive.  A not dull alloy might look nice.  Metal painted black might be the only practical alternative.  3 inch wide flat metal that is hollow so that wire can be run to the horn.  Bolted horizontal to  the roll bar plates on the bottom of the truck bed.  Y shape up to below the top of the bed wall meeting in the center of the cab. Then a single straight vertical strip to below the top of the cab and parallel with the back of  the cab.  Then have the metal curve back then forward like a cobra and not touching the top of the cab and extending about a third of the way across the cab.  The horn will be bolted to top of the end which would be horizontal.  It would be clearer to show a diagram of it but I don't have software for that. I think the view from the back and sides of the truck will be eye catching.  Bracket to be strong enough but allowed to flex a little when stopping or starting for appearance more than necessity. I haven't found the horn I want but this pic gives an idea of what I have in mind.

large_horn.jpg.b1114e137e3ab7aff1158a5da09572a4.jpg

 

Looking for suggestions from metal guys - welders and fabricators.  I already know it is nuts in advance.

 

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If you want it shiny, have the fab shop make it out of stainless.  With some elbow grease and metal polish, stainless can be made to shine like a mirror.  I have personally polished stainless to see my reflection in it clearly.  I do not recommend punching holes in the roof, they always leak.  You can rig something up similar to the roof racks that mount to the drip rails.

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5 hours ago, bad_idea said:

I do not recommend punching holes in the roof, they always leak.  You can rig something up similar to the roof racks that mount to the drip rails.

 

Insulated neoprene sealing washers work well when attaching objects to a vehicle roof, like sun visors, horns, etc.

image.png.85e652b83c884ed88909ad858139e118.png

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That washer looks like it is metal with neoprene glued to one side.  Correct?  By posting the washer, you are tacitly stating that you would drill through the roof instead of some other method?  Would those washers be found at Lowes or an auto parts store?

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I used them for my sun visor install many years ago and they have never leaked. You just have to be sure the washer hole matches the size of the sheet metal screws you use, and the neoprene washer is facing down on the sheet metal obviously.   :D 

 

Yes, they should be available at Lowes or similar.

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Did you drill through the curve of the roof or to the thicker column?  Two issues concern me about drilling through the roof. Leaks of course.  The second is if there is enough integrity in the roof sheet metal to stand a lot of stress from wind motion rocking the large horn up and down.  I am curious to see what multiple metal guys offer for opinions and suggestions.

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bad_idea, my knee jerk reaction is not to go through the roof, but a lot depends on the range of answers that guys post here.  Stainless steel, if it polished up as high as you indicate would be a good idea.  The Navy keeps coming up with new alloys that weather better than ss. Not sure what fabricators are using now for premium metals (above steel).  Was Pasqutank county flooded?  FYI, if you had an estimated tax payment or business tax returns due Monday, the IRS has granted until January 31, 2019 for you to file or pay.

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7 minutes ago, Manche757 said:

Did you drill through the curve of the roof or to the thicker column?  Two issues concern me about drilling through the roof. Leaks of course.  The second is if there is enough integrity in the roof sheet metal to stand a lot of stress from wind motion rocking the large horn up and down.  I am curious to see what multiple metal guys offer for opinions and suggestions.

I couldn't even imagine doing what you're doing. That's my opinion. 

 

Behind the grille..........or something. 

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10 minutes ago, Manche757 said:

Did you drill through the curve of the roof or to the thicker column?  Two issues concern me about drilling through the roof. Leaks of course.  The second is if there is enough integrity in the roof sheet metal to stand a lot of stress from wind motion rocking the large horn up and down.  I am curious to see what multiple metal guys offer for opinions and suggestions.

 

Only one way to mount a visor using the existing mounting holes unless you want to remove the headliner.

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