So the other night when it was -20 degrees during a snowstorm, trophy mom in her SUV pulls out in front of me. Take evasive action, lay on the horn and BEEEeee….

Yes the craptactular quality OEM plastic horn in my Jeep Gladiator, froze, cracked, and choked itself. Barely under the 36,000 mile warranty I dropped it off this morning. Final verdict, it’s covered, 5-7 weeks wait on parts and a $396 cost if it was not covered.

I was going to replace it myself with a higher quality item until I watched a couple of you tube videos. Yes, removal of the whole entire front grill is required to access the horns. I know the dealership is going to replace it with the same crappy parts and it will probably fail again in the cold, but at least this time it doesn’t cost me anything.

Now the next question, what to replace it with next time it fails? Train horn? Dukes of Hazzard horn?

Hella Supertones, man.

I’ve had them on a couple of vehicles. Rowdy enough, but not obnoxious.

Search YT for examples of vehicles with "train horns." There are kits and some do NOT require air compressors or tanks.

The YT channel "Keep Your Daydream" has a video or two on air horns on a SuperDuty.

I recently replaced a horn on a Civic, Rock Auto, $9.99. It’s a much louder horn.

This job also suggested an invasive procedure, bumper, whatever. I was able to get a wrench down, remove the old horn. I lengthened one wire, then mounted the new horn higher.

If you’re under warranty, I’d lean to let them do it.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Hella Supertones, man.

I’ve had them on a couple of vehicles. Rowdy enough, but not obnoxious.

My first thought as well, if you're looking for something 'normal' and a bit louder than stock.

The horn in my old Mazda5 was SO weak and wimpy sounding it was actually embarrassing to use it.

I had my mechanic replace with a Wolo set and was much better:



They aren't hard to do

The new Subaru horn is OK, it sounds very old fashioned to me but is loud and assertive

Ebay, get a horn or two from a 50s-60s 'murican car!

No, no, get the horns that play La Cucaracha!

I was able to get a Vibratone horn and a bell for mine.

Seems to be a lot more fun.

If you decide to go DIY, I know of no rule that says you have to put the horns in the OEM location. Snip the horn wire some accessible, extend it to somewhere convenient to YOU, and mount the new horns as you see fit. Go Afghan Airbase on the old horn and just abandon it.

Why not ask the dealership if they will install the aftermarket horn instead of waiting for the OEM horn to come in. You'd probably have to pay for the aftermarket horn but at least you wouldn't have to worry about replacing it in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by whanson_wi:
If you decide to go DIY, I know of no rule that says you have to put the horns in the OEM location. Snip the horn wire some accessible, extend it to somewhere convenient to YOU, and mount the new horns as you see fit. Go Afghan Airbase on the old horn and just abandon it.

This is the solution.