A couple months after installing the horns, my conclusion was this: Some of the dumbest money I've ever spent, but totally worth it. The more time you spend in places where the horns are least expected, the better. Case in point: Chicago, land of overpriced condos, concrete and steel, and foreign-made cars. A casual drive down Damen Avenue on a warm spring evening will reveal a solid mile of patio- equipped bars and eateries in the Bucktown area. I call this stretch of pavement Horn Bait. The streets are relatively narrow, which serves to amplify the horns. If you’re not able to scare a serving tray out of the hands of at least one waiter, you ain't tryin' hard enough.
Other popular places in which to use the horns may include the following:
- College campuses – the youngsters love the horns. Hippies always get the horn – I once spotted a dude walking down a sidewalk with two ladies while playing a guitar. Some might call this multi-tasking I call it Horn Bait.
- Any opportunity when there’s a possibility of scaring the poop out of a dog wearing a sweater.
- Any opportunity when there’s a possibility of scaring the poop out of an owner of a dog wearing a sweater.
- See a Segway, blast’em. Unless it has big fat off-road ATV tires – those are just a little bit cool.
While it’s hard not to find a reason to use the horns, there are certain occasions to keep your finger off the magic button. A few examples:
- “The Man” is in your rear view mirror.
- You’re stopped at a traffic light and your target has no sense of humor.
- Your target looks like your grandmother.
- Your target is your grandmother.
- Next to bus stops – bus people are not like you and me. They rarely react to anything unless it looks or smells like a bus.
In summary, to quote Ferris Buehler: “It’s so choice…if you have the means, I highly recommend it.”
Troubleshooting
Other than the melted air line caused by slightly careless routing near the exhaust manifold, the only other issues I had were tracking down air leaks. The Viair pressure switch had a leak at the 1/8" air line fitting, but Suicide Doors replaced it at no charge. I also made a mistake in assembly of the compression fittings. The Hornblasters.com kit didn't include any brass tube supports and I didn't bother to acquire any. I should have. Every 40 minutes or so the tank would lose enough pressure to trigger the compressor, and every night the tank would lose most of its air, which meant the compressor kicked on just about every time I turned on the engine. Once again, McMaster- Carr to the rescue. They are one of the few places I was able to find 5/16" brass tube supports (or 5/16" fittings of any kind). After than, no problems at all.
Update July 2007
I finally got around to adding an air chuck, primarily for use of an air hose if I ever need to fill up a tire. Eventually, once my Sonoma finally died, I had plans to make my Blazer my dirt bike hauler, and I liked the idea of being able to adjust tire pressure without having to carry a pump. The frame rail next to the air tank had a hole in just about the perfect spot to mount a 1/4" air chuck. I used a 3" length of galvanized steel pipe to pass through the frame hole. One end of the pipe was connected to the air chuck the other end was attached to a 90- degree fitting. The limiting factor here is the metal brake lines, which had to be pushed out about a quarter-inch to clear the 90-degree fitting (this is the reason for the 90-degree fitting to begin with - you can't access the hole straight-on because the lines block the hole). The pictures show how I connected 3/8" nylon air tubing to a series of connectors at the air tank. I added a shut-off valve because I was getting a slight leak in the connections. Whenever I needed air, I would turn the red lever.
