Hella Supertone Horns

[TDI-NEVER-DIE]

[ QUOTE ]
oldpoopie said:
I dont know. Maybe I'll go for one of these, mounted on the outside of the drivers a-pillar, whatcha think?


[/ QUOTE ]

This is sweet... i would like to mount one of these on my '74 [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Sawdust]

yeah sorry mine is a 2.0 so i had not intercooler then, but it can easly be mounted on the driver side. and of course there is small cones for the speaker but that is what i had and it fit so i keeped it.

[TDI-NEVER-DIE]

[ QUOTE ]
Sawdust said:
yeah sorry mine is a 2.0 so i had not intercooler then, but it can easly be mounted on the driver side. and of course there is small cones for the speaker but that is what i had and it fit so i keeped it.

[/ QUOTE ]

So when are you jumping over to the other side [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] The TDI side that is [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[AlanTDI]

If its not too late Im in.
My golf horn is about to go south for the winter.

[Variant TDI]

From the classified thread, since it gets less traffic.

This should help to visualize the base, and resultant beat frequencies of the 2 different horn sets.

I downloaded a proggie called NCH Tone Generator 2.0
It allows you to create WAVs with multiple simultanious frequencies. (so you don't just hear the base frequencies, but the resulting beat frequency as well).

They are done as "sawtooth" waves, as they sound (to me) to be the most "horn like", as opposed to pure sinewaves, which sound really soft and fuzzy.

Right Click, Save As.
300/375 Hz WAV file
300/500 Hz WAV file

I ordered the 300/500 horns, as they are the only ones that seem to be in stock.

[GotDiesel?]

While crawling around under the car to cut out the damaged center section of the front air dam (my wife and curbs, oof!) I noticed the OEM horns appear to be pointed backwards!

What's up with that? [img]/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[fitzski]

As with Michael, I too find "far too many turkeys are out on the road with a cell phone in one hand, a latte in the other, and their attention anywhere except focused on where they are driving". So, I finally added the Hella Supertone horns to my 2004 Jetta.

My install was essentially the same as Michael's, although I think I wired differently - or at least, I wasn't able to understand how he described his wiring. I did a quick wiring diagram of my setup in case it saves some headscratching for others. I left the OE horns connected. For reference to the OE dual tone horn harness, the Bentley Repair Manual page number is 97-58, or wiring diagram No. 1/13 (in the newer Bentley, that includes the PD).


I removed the front steel bumper and that made installation very easy - remove the 4 big blue bolts, and 6 smaller torx bolts (2 on each side, 2 in the top middle). Before removing the steel bumper, and leaving the bumper cover in place, I positioned and marked out where the horns could be mounted (see last picture, below). I then drilled a hole and bolted some small angle brackets to the bumper that would hold the horns.


I attached the horns, and ran the wiring behind the bumper. Note that I also rotated the horns so that the connections were at the "top" - an extra bit of protection, and a neater cable run. Ground cable is not pictured here, but also runs behind the bumper and shares a ring terminal with the ground for the relay, mounted to the lower OE horn frame mounting bolt - scrape away the paint, use some dielectric grease, and use a voltmeter to verify good ground.


The 12V - 30a relay is bundled with the Hella horns. I drilled a hole and bolted it to the back of the steel bumper on the drivers side, within easy reach of all necessary wiring. I used 12ga cable throughout, crimped (but did not solder) all the spade terminals, and put thread locker on all nuts & bolts.


Location of the horns is a balance between not wanting to block the radiator too much, offering some protection to the horns, and making sure the blast could be heard. And boy, can they be heard!! Nice upgrade, and pretty reasonable - my horns were CDN$60~, ordered through Canadian Tire.

[mtltdi]

Here's how I mounted mine. I wanted to keep the radiator totally clear so this is where they went.

I used essentially the same wiring setup as the previous poster, with the relay connected to give them maximum punch.

[fitzski]

Looks good. I considered that as well, but decided I would just as soon keep the stock horns, too. I'm not concerned about the radiator - blockage really is quite minimal, but I can appreciate the "any is too much" feeling; it is your car!

Also, did you change the brackets that came with Hella horns to fit your mounting scenario?

I see you're also dealing with the coolant heater cable... I'd like to install some sort of outlet for it. I hate having to leave it either exposed and flopping around, or fishing it out of the grill that is packed with salty slushy goodness on a regular basis. I have a Marinco outlet (halfway down the page, #5278DRI), but haven't decided if that's what I want to do yet.

[mtltdi]

I used the stock horn brackets, just used stainless steel bolts to mount them to L brackets.

My zerostart plug is just tie wrapped to the lower center grille, a better solution would be nice, I hope you post what you decide to do with that Marinco outlet.

[03_01_TDI]

is the hella horn relay required? I installed my Hella horns and kept factory wires and relay.

My factory horns stopped working - so I replaced them with the Hella. But the problem is not the horn. No my Hella horns sound like a little geo metro. About 1/3 as loud as they should be.

[mtltdi]

You need to install a relay to get maximum power to the horns.

[torgojr]

Of course, there are other 118dB horns out there...

Just ~$70 at JCWhitney. Dixie sure gets some odd looks up here in Washington, especially when coming from a Jetta.

[Golf_GTDI]

I bet it does.

[Bootre]

Are these at the rear of your car?