05 Forester: better horn? better tires?

[Andrew Webber]

Is there any way to get a horn that doesn't make me sound like a toy car? I tend to forget how squeaky it is and then I'm embarassed when I use it.

I'm not looking for a 18-wheeler air horn (though that would be nice), nor do I want something that plays Yellow Rose of Texas. But a good solid horn like my ancient Explorer's would be good.

Also how important is it to replace the stock tires? I got through winter with no problem which I know was wrong (but next year I'll get winter tires, really!). Should I run the issue tires this summer, get winter tires on steel wheels in November, and new tires on the alloy wheels in Spring 06, or are they bad enough to replace now? I drive very little but expect to do more now that the snow is gone.

Thanks!
=aw

andrew

 

[tuttlejr24]

Try J.C. Whitney catalog. Great selection of horns from OOGA to large ship horn and many in between. Even a cow and bull horn.

 

[tuttlejr24]

Try J.C. Whitney catalog. Great selection of horns from OOGA to large ship horn and many in between. Even a cow and bull horn.

 

[Andrew Webber]

Try J.C. Whitney catalog. Great selection of horns from OOGA to large ship horn and many in between. Even a cow and bull horn.

Thanks, lots of options there. Apart from the various novelty horns, can anyone suggest an appropriate sound for a Forester?

=aw

andrew

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

um - maybe a chainsaw? Or crackling fire?

Actually I think others have reported using something from Pep Boys (IIRC) called a FIAMM horn.

Carl

Try J.C. Whitney catalog. Great selection of horns from OOGA to large ship horn and many in between. Even a cow and bull horn.

Thanks, lots of options there. Apart from the various novelty horns, can anyone suggest an appropriate sound for a Forester?

=aw

andrew

 

[Bonehenge]

Try J.C. Whitney catalog.

I can't think of anything "better" from J.C. Whitney.

Has their quality improved?

Barry

 

[l.lichtman]

Why not go to a wrecking yard and buy a horn off of an ancient Explorer? Or, you could walk around the yard with a portable jumper setup and "audition" a lot of horns.

 

[Mike Bender]

Try J.C. Whitney catalog. Great selection of horns from OOGA to large ship horn and many in between. Even a cow and bull horn.

Thanks, lots of options there. Apart from the various novelty horns, can anyone suggest an appropriate sound for a Forester?

=aw

andrew

I just installed a Fiamm Freeway Blaster (low note, $17.99 US @ Pep Boys)

http://www.fiammamerica.com/Product.asp?ProductID=156

in place of the anemic OEM horns in my '03 Forester and am reasonably pleased with the sound. I had intended to install both a high and low note horn, but the high note horn was missing the hardware kit (grrr). At this point I'm just going to try the low note for a while and see if it gets the attention of other drivers more readily. Then I'll either return the high note horn or get a hardware kit.

One thing I will warn you about if you haven't discovered it already: Subaru for some reason saw fit to squirrel the horns away behind the bumper above the left side driving/fog light. You'll need to remove or at least dislodge the wheel well liner on that side to get at them. Even then the opening is kind of difficult to get both hands in to do the job. Ideally I guess you could remove the road wheel and the wheel well liner but this is way more than I'd ever needed to do to get to the horns of any other car I've worked on.

-- Snuffy --

 

[Andrew Webber]

um - maybe a chainsaw? Or crackling fire?

Actually I think others have reported using something from Pep Boys (IIRC) called a FIAMM horn.

Carl

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the first one, how about "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay, I drive all night and I sleep all day..."?

=aw

andrew

 

[Andrew Webber]

I just installed a Fiamm Freeway Blaster (low note, $17.99 US @ Pep Boys)

http://www.fiammamerica.com/Product.asp?ProductID=156

in place of the anemic OEM horns in my '03 Forester and am reasonably pleased with the sound. I had intended to install both a high and low note horn, but the high note horn was missing the hardware kit (grrr). At this point I'm just going to try the low note for a while and see if it gets the attention of other drivers more readily. Then I'll either return the high note horn or get a hardware kit.

One thing I will warn you about if you haven't discovered it already: Subaru for some reason saw fit to squirrel the horns away behind the bumper above the left side driving/fog light. You'll need to remove or at least dislodge the wheel well liner on that side to get at them. Even then the opening is kind of difficult to get both hands in to do the job. Ideally I guess you could remove the road wheel and the wheel well liner but this is way more than I'd ever needed to do to get to the horns of any other car I've worked on.

-- Snuffy --

Thanks for the tips. I suspect I'll be getting someone to install this so how much work it is just means it costs more.

I imagine that when the vehicle's on the assembly line, behind the bumper looks like a perfectly accessible location, it's only when there's a body stuck on it that it becomes tough.

=aw

andrew

 

[Andrew Webber]

Why not go to a wrecking yard and buy a horn off of an ancient Explorer? Or, you could walk around the yard with a portable jumper setup and "audition" a lot of horns.

I like that idea, would there be issues related to size or mounting hardware? I do have one of those portable boosters (from the last couple of years driving my 91 Explorer, when the battery would mysteriously die).

andrew

 

[Mike Bender]

I just installed a Fiamm Freeway Blaster (low note, $17.99 US @ Pep Boys)

http://www.fiammamerica.com/Product.asp?ProductID=156

in place of the anemic OEM horns in my '03 Forester and am reasonably pleased with the sound. I had intended to install both a high and low note horn, but the high note horn was missing the hardware kit (grrr). At this point I'm just going to try the low note for a while and see if it gets the attention of other drivers more readily. Then I'll either return the high note horn or get a hardware kit.

One thing I will warn you about if you haven't discovered it already: Subaru for some reason saw fit to squirrel the horns away behind the bumper above the left side driving/fog light. You'll need to remove or at least dislodge the wheel well liner on that side to get at them. Even then the opening is kind of difficult to get both hands in to do the job. Ideally I guess you could remove the road wheel and the wheel well liner but this is way more than I'd ever needed to do to get to the horns of any other car I've worked on.

-- Snuffy --

Thanks for the tips. I suspect I'll be getting someone to install this so how much work it is just means it costs more.

I imagine that when the vehicle's on the assembly line, behind the bumper looks like a perfectly accessible location, it's only when there's a body stuck on it that it becomes tough.

=aw

andrew

Horn installation follow-up:

After using just the low note horn for a week, I decided that it still wasn't getting the attention I felt is needed so I installed the high note as well. It definitely has more attention-getting ability. I would highly recommend installing both horns.

- Snuffy -

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Pardon my ignorant questions;
Is it fairly easy to do?
Is there plenty of materials in the kit to accomplish the job? Does it use the stock relay/wiring,mounting,etc.? Any pitfalls to watch out for?
tia

Carl

I just installed a Fiamm Freeway Blaster (low note, $17.99 US @ Pep Boys)

http://www.fiammamerica.com/Product.asp?ProductID=156

in place of the anemic OEM horns in my '03 Forester and am reasonably pleased with the sound. I had intended to install both a high and low note horn, but the high note horn was missing the hardware kit (grrr). At this point I'm just going to try the low note for a while and see if it gets the attention of other drivers more readily. Then I'll either return the high note horn or get a hardware kit.

One thing I will warn you about if you haven't discovered it already: Subaru for some reason saw fit to squirrel the horns away behind the bumper above the left side driving/fog light. You'll need to remove or at least dislodge the wheel well liner on that side to get at them. Even then the opening is kind of difficult to get both hands in to do the job. Ideally I guess you could remove the road wheel and the wheel well liner but this is way more than I'd ever needed to do to get to the horns of any other car I've worked on.

-- Snuffy --

Thanks for the tips. I suspect I'll be getting someone to install this so how much work it is just means it costs more.

I imagine that when the vehicle's on the assembly line, behind the bumper looks like a perfectly accessible location, it's only when there's a body stuck on it that it becomes tough.

=aw

andrew

Horn installation follow-up:

After using just the low note horn for a week, I decided that it still wasn't getting the attention I felt is needed so I installed the high note as well. It definitely has more attention-getting ability. I would highly recommend installing both horns.

- Snuffy -

 

[Mike Bender]

Pardon my ignorant questions;
Is it fairly easy to do?
Is there plenty of materials in the kit to accomplish the job? Does it use the stock relay/wiring,mounting,etc.? Any pitfalls to watch out for?
tia

Carl

Hi Carl,

There are no ignorant questions here! Well, not this time, anyway. :^)

Other than getting to the horn mounting location, it was pretty straightforward using the parts in the horn kit. One thing I did differently was instead of bolting the horns to the front of the mounting tab (between the tab and the front bumper) I mounted them to the rear side of the tab since it made the bolts easier to reach. I used the single wire installation with the factory wiring and relay. The biggest pitfalls I ran into were breaking a couple of the fasteners that hold the plastic pieces together on the underside (they needed to be removed to allow access and they were a bit brittle) and I accidentally put a small tear in the wheel well liner. All-in-all it took me about an hour in my driveway and didn't require any tool fancier than a screwdriver and ratchet set.

- Snuffy -

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

thanx!

Carl

Hi Carl,

There are no ignorant questions here! Well, not this time, anyway. :^)

Other than getting to the horn mounting location, it was pretty straightforward using the parts in the horn kit. One thing I did differently was instead of bolting the horns to the front of the mounting tab (between the tab and the front bumper) I mounted them to the rear side of the tab since it made the bolts easier to reach. I used the single wire installation with the factory wiring and relay. The biggest pitfalls I ran into were breaking a couple of the fasteners that hold the plastic pieces together on the underside (they needed to be removed to allow access and they were a bit brittle) and I accidentally put a small tear in the wheel well liner. All-in-all it took me about an hour in my driveway and didn't require any tool fancier than a screwdriver and ratchet set.

- Snuffy -

 

[the one and only]

Hi,
I just installed air horns on my xt. Living in south florida with super quiet cars and deaf older drivers had me spooked.

I had to fabricate a bracket for the air horns in front of the battery. Took one wire from the horn and attached it to the relay. I jacked up the car and took off the lt front wheel to better access the horns in the lt front quarter. Four clips and a little bending did the trick. Horn did not work at first till i figured out that the compressor had to be totally isolated. Mine grounded out thru the mounting bold. Works well, never fails and drains to the builge. What more can you ask??
mitch

 

[Andrew Webber]

Horn installation follow-up:

After using just the low note horn for a week, I decided that it still wasn't getting the attention I felt is needed so I installed the high note as well. It definitely has more attention-getting ability. I would highly recommend installing both horns.

- Snuffy -

Thanks for the info.

=aw

andrew