horn button question

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

i got a new horn button kit and i cant figure out how it goes on. where im running into trouble is the actual plastic button. i know how all goes together but i cant figure out how to get the button in. i dont know how to get the tabs on the plate to work with the fingers on the horn button.

 

[sermis]

My replacement is a button that drops in and has a snap ring that holds it in the steering wheel.

 

[sermis]

Here are some pic's of mine. Simple if it is the same. My wire broke and I need to fix it.

 

[Stretch44875]

The other style you have to push the button, then turn it to remove. Can be a little stubborn.

Dennis

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

i tried to spin it but like you said its really hard.i think im going to try some grease on it maybe or using a hammer and a punch

 

[cranetruck]

The rubber cover comes off by prying, the button itself is seated in a twist lock fashion.
The horn button design is one of the least military devices on the truck IMHO, I'm surprised that it was ever accepted in this civy style with brass contacts that are constantly exposed to the environment, more or less anyway. A separate sealed switch could serve the purpose and meet mil spec, would also avoid the sliding contact in the steering column on some models....

 

[bottleworks]

The horn button is a poor design that is still used in the civilian world today.

 

[dmuchow]

On the topic of horns... are you supposed to hear the horn over the engine while at 45mph?

I think i'm gonna hide an airhorn in the engine compartment, what i have is pitiful.

 

[cranetruck]

The 8x8 I'm working on came from factory with an electric horn, which was promptly replaced with an air horn (should be an MWO somewhere...), so there is a precedent.
I'm making both functional and have a separate switch for the air horn. The horn button on the steering wheel is reserved for the electric, "motor pool" horn as Leonard Jones calls it.

 

[Cdub]

The contacts with the spring and the wheel around the nut was rusty on my M925 from sitting up in Maine for five years. Once I cleaned the wheel and the spring she worked just fine.

C'dub

 

[steelandcanvas]

So after you pull the rubber cover off, you push and turn on the black plastic (or phenolic) part to dis-assemble? Just want to make sure I have this right.

 

[JDToumanian]

On the topic of horns... are you supposed to hear the horn over the engine while at 45mph?

I sure can hear mine! It's LOUD!!! Maybe check to see that yours isn't clogged with rust... or a dead mouse or bird or something...

Jon

 

[saddamsnightmare]

February 24th, 2008.

DMUCHOW:

My M35A2 from 1971 has the same button set up as above, but there is a two note airhorn mounted on the inner right fender and connected to the airline splitter "T" up on the firewall in front of the passenger. The horn is operated by an integral solenoid that opens the air valve on the horn body. Desert Deuce has them NOS or reconditioned, they're military and not quite like civillian motor truck horns in their pitches, I suspect it had something to do with European traffic regulations. When I got my deuce from a GI up at Fort Carson,CO, it was missing the lower horn bell and did not sound much different then a 1970's Honda Civic electric horn, but once replaced, the horn is loud enought to scare the S--t out of the average Texas airhead driver and make them reconsider their suicidal notions and driving habits.If you cannot immediately replace the airhorn, you will need to temporarily cap or plug the airline, as you won't have airbrakes otherwise. Good luck gentlemen, and yes, the switch design is no different then a 1951 Ford F-6, but more subject to weather and corrosion.

I remain, As Always Sirs,
Indebted for the Insights,

Sincerely,

Kyle F. McGrogan

1963 Swiss Mercedes Benz S404.114 Unimog
1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare" Vietnam and Desert Storm Veteran Deuce Truck.

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

i got my button to go together, it turns out that the hole in the steering wheel where everything sits was misshaped. i sanded down the horn button some to make it fit and it twisted in like it should. the problem now is the darn thing likes to just start goin off all by itself. i may try and swap in some kind of civilian button

 

[emr]

When I got my first deuce, I was a serious newbie, i still have the electric horn in the grille area... so since it just squeeked i figured i didnt have an air horn , did not look for a wire just figured i had the electric one hooked up, so one day in a parade i was squeeking away, and ALL OF A SUDDEN The air horn cleaned it self out, Man I had that thing on overload for the rest of the parade luckily it was the 4th of july ...Randy

 

[BEASTMASTER]

those horns have a set screw on the back that you can adjust the tone.stuff one with a rag while you tune the other one.turn the asetscrew a little at a time and blow the horn. it helps to have someone at the wheel and just yell try it.it'll take a good 15 min. to get the loudest blast possible.and it will sound like a firetruck.

 

[rdixiemiller]

Do you screw the adjuster in or out to lower the tone?

 

[Capt.Marion]

You turn the screw out to lower the tone. I would expect that turning the screw out provides more space between the diaphragm (contained in the back plate on the horn) and the nozzle, causing the air to vibrate at a lower frequency, thus producing a lower pitch.

More info on horns:
http://trainhorns.net/gettingstarted/howtheywork.html

 

[madsam]

That was a good article. It makes me want to pull my horns off and play with them.

 

[madsam]

I pulled my horns and was looking at them, and they have a thick coat of green pain on the bell. I wonder if removing the paint off the bell would also make them ring better. I might to that. I only see a Allan wrench screw on the back to adjust then tone.