Batboard

these are the air horns i'm working on. not done yet so they don't function, but everything is mounted up. just need wire and hose. i tested these in the shop with a bunch of anxious spectators. one blast and everybody ran out of the room. you could feel the vibration in your chest!!! made by hadley, they're rated at 152 decibels.

here's a shot with the hood open so you can see a sliver of them down behind the front bumper.


here's a shot of the business end. you wouldn't wanna be here when these go off.


here's a shot of the air manifold and the solenoid and pressure sensor. notice the air hose quick-coupling so i'll be able to air-up tires if needed.


the solenoid is mounted right on the horn so there's no delay time for air to get to the horn. i'm gonna get the hoses made up this week with SAE flare swivel fittings. -6 hose with -4 female fittings. a button on the ss2000ss will control the solenoid.

Industrial Rubber in Elizabeth has done a bunch of stuff for me. (Hoses - both SAE & JIC). If you are going with Aeroquip, let me know - I have the tooling for -6, -8, and -12 reuseable, and an abrasive cutoff saw.

(One edit to fix a sentence that made no sense).

Martin

Damn, that's nice! Great job - would love to hear a sample of that if you can ever get around recording a video or soundsample of that!

Out of curiosity, is this on a POV or where is this vehicle going to be used? I think there is a place in NJ called emergency one or 1st priority (or something like that) that make custom built medic and command SUV's that put airhorns in a similar fashion.

AWESOME!!! Only wish I could hear those in action. What do they sound like??? Is it like a piece of fire apparatus or ambulance... or more like a 18 wheeler or boat? Great job all around - Nate

Isn't that a 3 chime locomotive horn?

jedi_saber wrote:I think there is a place in NJ called emergency one or 1st priority (or something like that) that make custom built medic and command SUV's that put airhorns in a similar fashion.

Are you thinking of Odyssey in Wharton (http://www.odysseyauto.com) ? They built the local medic cars. Class act all around.

spareparts wrote:

jedi_saber wrote:I think there is a place in NJ called emergency one or 1st priority (or something like that) that make custom built medic and command SUV's that put airhorns in a similar fashion.

Are you thinking of Odyssey in Wharton (http://www.odysseyauto.com) ? They built the local medic cars. Class act all around.

Most definately. It was always neat to drive by their lot when I lived in Ledgewood. Also look at the fleet that RPS in Rockland County NY has from them.

ah, yes! My apologies, it was Odyssey! We bought a nice (and I mean NICE) cruiser from them for my old outfit. Super quality work.
The suburban that was delivered last year had a similar set-up with airhorns mounted in that fashion - although they are loud, they sort of sound like a 1978 station wagon or old caddillac - not like an emergency vehicle.

Eboe, would love to hear a sound sample if you ever get around posting a wav or a short movie file, that would be hot!

Odyssey started out as a custom cabinet manufacturer and does some nice work, but man, do they charge for it. When I worked over at Royal Communications (The local /\/\ dealer in Wharton) we got in an Exporer from Dover PD with a BASIC cabinet in the back and they said it ran... $5,000.00!!!! They do some nice work though, but they need someone that knows radios as they used to have us fix all the re-install fudge-ups when someone brought cars in for equipment transfers.

apco25 wrote:Isn't that a 3 chime locomotive horn?

you win a cigar! this one is hadley, but wolo makes one also and they call it the "cannonball express train horn".

jedi, don't worry this thing doesn't sound ANYTHING like a 78 station wagon. very much like a fire-truck, a really serious ambulance, or ummm... maybe a train? lol. it's safe to say it's about the loudest thing you ever wanna hear.

i got the hoses today. changed my plan a little. swapped out the sae flare fittings for some push-lok hose. much cheaper and simpler to replace if needed.

hey chuck, i didn't know you worked for royal. how long ago? i deal with jim all the time. we get our state contract stuff from them. he offered me a job once. i'm not sure if he was kidding or not. nice guy.

i'll see what i can do about getting a sound clip or video, but if you wanna hear the one that wolo makes they have a sound-clip on their site. sounds almost the same. mine seems like it didn't have all that echo type stuff. more of a sharp blast and then quickly silent. unless that was the deafness setting in. :/ make sure you turn your volume waaaaayyyy up. here's a link...

http://www.wolo-mfg.com/837.wav

Tim the Toolman would be proud , definetely an Ar-Ar !

Sounds PHAT!! I can dig it, the "pain train" is rollin

JAYMZ wrote:Most definately. It was always neat to drive by their lot when I lived in Ledgewood. Also look at the fleet that RPS in Rockland County NY has from them.

Odyssey hasn't done a truck for them since at least 1999, when Goosetown Communications completed several vehicles for RPS. Wholesale Lightbars in Orangeburg now performs the conversions and has done so since the switch to the current body style of Suburban.

eboe wrote:hey chuck, i didn't know you worked for royal. how long ago? i deal with jim all the time. we get our state contract stuff from them. he offered me a job once. i'm not sure if he was kidding or not. nice guy.

Ah yes, Jim Farety! I worked for them several years ago, before I went out on my own. Jim's a really nice guy and I really miss working with everyone there. Be sure to say hi to him for me when you talk to him again.

philter wrote:Wholesale Lightbars in Orangeburg now performs the conversions and has done so since the switch to the current body style of Suburban.

Good bunch of people here to. I deal with Matt on a regular basis. I didn't think they were still doing installs and conversions though, other than for a select few old time customers.

I've got a set of Nathan K3LA's on my ride

What kind of air supply/tank are you running?

Initially I was going to run a nitrogen bottle, then decided to go the SCBA route with regulator as I have access to a cascade & compressor.

I ended up getting a 12 gallon tank and VIAIR compressor onboard.

~S~

cool, i'd like to see a pic of that set-up.

i was going to go with a VIAIR system (and still might eventually) but for now i just have a hadley mini compressor and their large tank. their definition of large is 275 cu. in. which comes out to about 1.2 gallons @115-135 psi. surely that won't last too long with these things (and don't call me shirley), but it's not like it's going in an ambulance or a train for that matter. btw this is a POV so it'll definately be used sparingly. we'll see how the 1.2 gallon tank works out.

eboe wrote:cool, i'd like to see a pic of that set-up.

i was going to go with a VIAIR system (and still might eventually) but for now i just have a hadley mini compressor and their large tank. their definition of large is 275 cu. in. which comes out to about 1.2 gallons @115-135 psi. surely that won't last too long with these things (and don't call me shirley), but it's not like it's going in an ambulance or a train for that matter. btw this is a POV so it'll definately be used sparingly. we'll see how the 1.2 gallon tank works out.

Sure, ask and you shall receive!

EDIT-- Oops, I forgot to add the Graham-White 353-100 manual valve... note: VHF MT-2000 Mod II, UHF HT1250 LS and Delphi SkiFi II in background

Although not as nice & shiny as the other install, this one has been here for a while. I've been told that with the K series horns, every gallon of air you have in the tank equates to 3/4 of a second at full blast.

Viair 480 compressor:



12 gallon tank, mounted against framerail



Nathan K3LA Pic 1



Pic 2



Graham-White 353-100 manual valve Pic 1



Pic 2



~S~

Good God!

Daaaaaamn - the paintrain is rollin!

Nice! A bit overboard, but sweet

niiiiiiice. hey where'd you get that 12 gallon tank?

A friend works for a truck fleet maintenance company, he hooked me up.