Dixie Horn!!

My new truck needs a dixie horn. it consists of 5 different sized trumpets i have on on my boat. but i want one on the truck too. there is ATON of free space in the engine bay. could i mount the compressor over where that battery tray looking thing is, or is that there for some reason??? as well as the horn, does anybody who has done train horns or somthing, do i need to loose the stock horn, or can i keep it.

what my dream is to have a train horn and a dixie horn, which if i have enough space i may do.

just asking, a dixie horn has many of the same charictoristics of a train horn.

Dixie horns, and train horns, are so cool. You could totally put anything that fits where that tray is, as long as you make sure it's protected from heat. You can definitely keep the stock horn, and just put a switch somewhere so you can use the horn button, which I would do, or have a separate button. I saw once where this guy wired it into his horn button without a switch, losing the stock horn, and I couldn't understand why he didn't put a switch. Sometimes it makes sense to use the stock one, and what happens when a cop asks you to demonstrate the horn after he hears a train? Also, I see that most of the time they mount the compressor/tank right to the frame. And I guess you'd have to have air routed to both train and Dixie, and another switch would control which horn blows, as the activation solenoid is right at the horn itself, I believe. I think the main supplier is hornblasters.com, and there's trainhorn.org, though I bet you could build your own kit for less money (but more effort).

Black Dog said:

Dixie horns, and train horns, are so cool. You could totally put anything that fits where that tray is, as long as you make sure it's protected from heat. You can definitely keep the stock horn, and just put a switch somewhere so you can use the horn button, which I would do, or have a separate button. I saw once where this guy wired it into his horn button without a switch, losing the stock horn, and I couldn't understand why he didn't put a switch. Sometimes it makes sense to use the stock one, and what happens when a cop asks you to demonstrate the horn after he hears a train? Also, I see that most of the time they mount the compressor/tank right to the frame. And I guess you'd have to have air routed to both train and Dixie, and another switch would control which horn blows, as the activation solenoid is right at the horn itself, I believe. I think the main supplier is hornblasters.com, and there's trainhorn.org, though I bet you could build your own kit for less money (but more effort).

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thing im worried about is can the electrical system support it, i know this is apples to pinapples here, but the boat one just reaked havoc on my electrical system, it got to where i litrally had to spend 6k to have every wire replaced with 10-12 guage and have a whole new system put in. now it paid off for other reasons, but it was the only way the boat could support it. i dont wanna have that happen.


other thing im worried is, say the nav system takes a crap, gm comes back and says your horns caused it.


its really cool and i have a dixie horn in my garage where i decided not to put it on the mustang as there was no room, but the 07 engine bay is HUGE. :yesnod:


this is a DIY thing for me so i could mount it on the frame , but where do i wire it, on the fuse box?? or the alternator terminals, like where i put my HIDS on the 06.


also, could the system support two compressors, i would never use both at once, but would love to have both with out all the complications of using one compressor with a "switch between the too. i would love to wire my alarm system in to the train horn. that would ROCK!!!


i still need the stock horn to pass inspection here. but the dixie horn is much louder. boat one is rated at 120 decibles.


thanks for all the info.

No problem. How did it mess up the boat? I don't think it would be a problem, as long as you don't tap into any sensitive buses or other circuits. In this case I think everything is getting wired straight to the battery (independent fuses). You could avoid the regular horn button, but it shouldn't matter. And I really think the truck can handle charging for the draw of the compressor, it's only on at certain times and it's not huge. I would only use one compressor and have both horns tied to it, with a switch for which one you want to use. This will route the current to the relays that open one or the other horn, and the air feed splits off to both. There's no way they could get away with blaming for your nav going out, but I would try to install everything so it comes out clean if you need to uninstall it if your worried. For all intents and purposes this system should be totally isolated from everything else, except the effect it may have on the charging system, if any.

One Compressor, will work with both horns. You probably need a small air tank (3-5 gallon). The compressor feeds the tank, with one air line going from tank, to each horn. The tanks always have several threaded openings. Which ever switch you activate will open the solenoid to that particular horn, and draw the blast of stored air from the tank. Happy tooting & Good Luck.

ive been wanting to do the exact thing, train horns and a dixie horn, was going to order all my stuff from hornblasters. one suggestion i have is make sure u get a good size compressor and tank atleast a 3 gallon becuase the dixie horn will die down if you dont have a large enough tank. the way i plan to wire my horns is like my buddy has and what he did was run a switch to his steering wheel horn and you can switch between the sotck horn and the train horn but i was planning on having my dixie horn on a hidden button/switch.

let us know where u end up mounting everything. since i removed my spare tire i was thinking about mounting my tank and horns back there and mayb my compressor under the hood.

z71offroader said:

ive been wanting to do the exact thing, train horns and a dixie horn, was going to order all my stuff from hornblasters. one suggestion i have is make sure u get a good size compressor and tank atleast a 3 gallon becuase the dixie horn will die down if you dont have a large enough tank. the way i plan to wire my horns is like my buddy has and what he did was run a switch to his steering wheel horn and you can switch between the sotck horn and the train horn but i was planning on having my dixie horn on a hidden button/switch.

let us know where u end up mounting everything. since i removed my spare tire i was thinking about mounting my tank and horns back there and mayb my compressor under the hood.

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the dixie horn on my boat just has a compressor that pumps air. so when ever the compressor is on the horns blow their sequence.

i think that the train horn could be my main horn, and dixie be my fun horn, just have a switch under the dash to change the two and use the stock horn button. i like the idea

i ordered a dixie horn and the Cannonball express train horn loudest legel horn. IM EXCITED!!!!!

....good Lord RT, you and your damn horns....