Beep Beep

[ihamner]

This may seem silly to some of you but when little kids on the side of the highway pump their arm up and down for us to honk at them, all we have is a little honk/honk and it is such a let down for them. Bummer! Our horn is pretty much worthless and if we needed it to really get someone's attention - forget it! I'm wondering about purchasing a decent air horn at a truck stop or some place. Any ideas on this? Is it something my husband (who is a handy sort) could install? What is the best kind to purchase if we do this?


India Hamner
[font color="purple"] FEDEX [/font][font color="blue"]Custom Critical[/font]
D Unit
He who hesitates is not only lost, but miles from the next exit.

 

[TeamCaffee]

India,

We keep looking at train horns for just this situation! Wouldn't that be fun. You see them in most of the truck stops and I just know Bob could install them. I just have a hard time coughing up that kind of money just for the shear entertainment of watching the kids jump when you would use it.

I do have to admit it is rather embarrassing to blow our horn!

 

[Dreamer]

I'm a firm believer that big vehicles need big horns! At least an added on air horn. If you don't want, or your truck doesn't lend it'self well to roof mounted horns, you can mount them sideways behind the bumper, etc.

To me it's very dangerous to have a horn that says

[font color="green"]'excuse me please' [/font]

when you really are in a situation that needs
[font color="red"][font size="+4"]LOOK OUT!!!!![/font][/font]

A lot of trucks have both... the steering wheel mounted 'City Horn' for politeness, and then the lanyard operated 'Highway Horns'.


Dreamer
Forums Administrator


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[Turtle]

A few weeks ago I snaked my way down through the semi-backroads of Nebraska, Kansas and Texas on the way to Laredo. I followed a couple of cattle haulers all the way to Dallas, and one of them had a set of train horns. Out in the middle of nowhere he blows this thing and I'm lookin' hard for the train tracks that I'm about to run over. hehe But the funniest was when we passed through a little one stop-light town and as we turned the corner there were a dozen or so kids playing in a yard. He let loose with the train horns and every single kid jumped at least three feet straight up, right out of a cartoon. Eyes got big as saucers, popped right out of their head, the whole bit.

Whatever he paid for those horns, it was worth every penny.

 

[FAMILYEXPDT]

LOL...the other day we were riding along and came upon a bunch of kids that were making the "horn motion" so we obliged....one of the little boys(about8-10) immediately lifted his shirt to show off his chest....took us by surprise and we laughed our butts off.



-charlotte

 

[Crazynuff]

I'd go for J.C. Whitney http://www.nextag.com/train-horn/search-html

 

[Broompilot]

Nothing elese is more satisfying than putting a smile on a childs faace.

School Photographer for 12 years: Air Horn user for 2 and half.

 

[arkjarhead]

empire chrome shop in west memphis, ar sales and installs the horns. the good thing about getting them installed is if they make a mistake they warranty their work. if you mess it up its on you.

 

[bambam]

not to damper anyones fun but in mose states train horns are illegal on any thing excect trains for the given reason the alertus there is a train near

 

[greg334]

Actually the horns are not illegal, it is the sound level that it illegal.

 

[Moot]

Good for you India and even better for the environment that you don't have an airhorn. A short blast of a truck's airhorn wastes enough compressed air to keep a family of four breathing for an average of 8 seconds. That may not seem like much, but when every airhorn equipped truck in the world is factored in, well that's alot of wasted precious air. And quit using those airbrakes. I would like some air to breathe come Monday.

 

[greg334]

Moot,
You ever think of becoming a writer for TV?

Well as Dreamer pointed out the differences in horns to get the attention of people, I have to point out that with people having thier stereo turned up, their cell phone in their ear or even arguing with someone next to them, there is a need for a loud window shattering horn at times.

On the other hand I was sitting in some truck stop in NC one night and here comes two flatbed trucks with train horns and they rolled through the truck stop at a high rate of speed letting those horns go waking up everyone in the truck stop.

 

[rode2rouen]

Check out: www.airhorns.com


Rex

 

[cheri1122]

As much as I like tooting the air horn for kids who make the motion requesting it, I recently got to experience the other side of the coin, and I was NOT amused: driving a fourwheeler on the highway, my teenager & her friend got a passing truck to blast the airhorn, and the unexpected blast scared the stuffing out of me! They promised to never do that again - after they were done laughing, of course!

 

[greg334]

Cheri,
I had to use my 'big' horns today when I moved my truck. The kids in the area were playing in the street and in the driveway at a house I have to pass to get the truck back to it's parking space, no big deal there but as I am going down the street one parent decided to pick up one of the kids stopped right in front of me in the middle of the street, she then got out of the van and went over to pick up her kid. In doing so she decided to start talking to the lady watching the kids. No way around her and after four minutes I honked the little horn that was greeted with a 'sitck it up your a**' look from her. After a couple more minutes I let the air horns loose for 20 seconds and that got her moving off the porch and into the van. scared the cr*p out of the kids too but that was not my fault. When I parked my neighbor came up to me really p*ssed off, he was sleeping and he fell out of bed. I told him what happened and he said she has parked her van in the street before when he was trying to get home so it was the right thing to do.

Now these are quiet horns in comparison to the Leslie or Nathan air chimes for a train.

 

[bambam]

>Actually the horns are not illegal, it is the sound level
>that it illegal.
better chech out florida law they sell then but they can not be used

 

[kg]

And some people wonder why drivers of trucks are looked upon with distain by the public in this country.

 

[Crazynuff]

> As much as I like tooting the air horn for kids who make
>the motion requesting it, I recently got to experience the
>other side of the coin, and I was NOT amused: driving a
>fourwheeler on the highway, my teenager & her friend got a
>passing truck to blast the airhorn, and the unexpected blast
>scared the stuffing out of me! They promised to never do
>that again - after they were done laughing, of course!
I know someone that ordered a new van with tinted windows to keep truckers from being able to see his kids trying to get them to blow the horns .

 

[Crazynuff]

When looking at J.C. Whitney I saw they have wolf whistles . I decided I preferred that over a train horn . Now when it comes I just have to convince my wife I need it for Canada trips to repel wolves the way deer whistles repel deer .

 

[cliffn]

A couple of months ago while heading north on the NJ Turnpike, I was in the second lane from the right and moving with traffic. There was a whole string of traffic in front of me. An 18 wheeler was behind me and LAID on his train horns for me to move out of his way. I did not budge. Don't know why there are some hot dogs out there who feel like they own the road.

Cliff and Tami
D Unit Team
18 Wheeler Team 8 years
D Unit Team 4 years