[John L]

OK, let's admit it, the horn leaves a lot to be desired. It's wimpy. Follow this guide and let your true emotions be heard when that jackass cuts you off.

Standard Disclaimer​

You may screw up your electrical system doing this. Proceed at your own risk. Disconnect the battery before attempting.​

Real estate under the hood is slim. I wanted to do a set of train horns :devil:, but space and cost put me off. A bit of research turned up the Stebel series of horns. The Nautilus Compact boasts 139dB(A weighted) at 4 inches, but more importantly 115db(A) at 2m (6.56 feet), all at 530Hz and 680Hz. Rather high pitched, but VERY FORCEFUL. This sucker is loud and commands attention. Found it on Ebay, buy it now for 33.95, 42.95 to my door.

Here's what you get. Horn, relay, mounting bolt and nut, and an air intake extension so you can route the intake somplace else.

Here's what you'll need electrically. Wire, I used 10ga for hot, 16ga for ground. I know, the ground is smaller than the hot, it's all I had laying around.
3 female 1/4" quick discos and 1 ring terminal for the hot side. 1 female 1/4" quick disco and 1 ring terminal for the ground.

Here's the additional mounting hardware you'll need. 1/4x20x.5 SS bolt ground down to about .450, mating nut and flat washer, and a small flat piece of metal. The piece of metal should have two holes drilled in it, .250 and .312. I used a piece of .040 2024-T3, .700 x I can't remember. Couple of inches I think, I just made it long enough to do the job.

Take the stock horn off. It's located behind the drivers headlamp. It takes a T20 and it's tight to get at. Refer to the red circle. After you get the screw out, unplug the two wires from the horn.
One is the switched hot, the other is ground. Again, can't remember the colors, but the ground is black. A stroke of luck here, the stock connectors will plug right into the relay so no changes are required.

Time to take off the grill. I think by now everybody knows how to do this. Jeep was generous enough to provide us with a mounting tab for the horn. I had marked where the solid portions of the grill were prior to removing it and by using this tab for mounting the horn it allows it to sound out through one of the open slots. BTW, use the tab on the pass side.

Mount the bracket you made (you did make it, right?) to the horn using the bolt and nut that came with the horn. I used loctite here.

Now mount the horn to the tab using the 1/4x20 hardware. I put the bracket behind the tab to hide it. If you can't get the bolt between the radiator and the tab, grind a bit more off the length. It's a pain getting all this together.
I used loctite here, no room for a lock washer. If you make the bracket longer it would be easier to assemble. Be careful tightening the hardware, don't damage the radiator.

Time to wire it. Locate the body ground between the power steering reservoir and the airbox. This is where I grounded the horn. Measure off a length of ground wire, crimp a ring on one end, 1/4" QD female on the other. Bolt the ring to the ground, route the wire to the horn and plug it in on the left terminal of the horn.

 

[John L]

Take your hot wire, crimp on a ring. Locate it next to the power connection (I used the fuse box main power in) and route the wire around the airbox, under the plastic cover on top of the radiator, and to the location where the stock horn was. Terminate it with a 1/4" QD female.

Take another length of hot wire, put a 1/4" QD female on it, locate it where the stock horn was, and run it to the horn. Terminate the other end with another 1/4" QD female. Plug the hot wire from the battery into the #30 relay terminal. Plug the hot that goes to the horn from the relay into #87 relay terminal. Plug the stock horn ground into #85 relay terminal. Plug the stock horn hot into #86 relay terminal. Plug the hot from the relay into the remaining right hand terminal on the horn.

Now you can mount the relay in the stock horn location using the stock screw.

Connect the hot wire to the relay to your power connector.

I put a piece of foam behind the horn to protect the radiator.

Here's how it looks.

Hook up the battery and honk the horn. Loud, huh?

Put the grill back on and you are done.

 

[Swinge86]

That looks great man! I was looking to put a new horn on and was given the idea by Woods to try this horn. I think it looks awesome. Nice work.

 

[durante1]

Question....

Why couldnt you just take the two leads going into the factory horn, disconnect them, and then put them right into the replacement horn?

I purchased a Wolo Bad Boy replacement Horn, similar in specs to yours, but all i did was remove factory (not from the torx screw location, rather from the screw in the back of the horn), disconnect two wires (positive and negative) going into factory horn, and just connected them to the Wolo replacement horn!

Oh by the way, you need to replace the fuse from 10amp to 25amp. I tested the new horn twice with the 10amp fuse and it quickly burned out! LOL

So took a quick trip to Auto Zone and picked up 25amp fuses and it works like a charm!

The only thing i noticed was when i arm my car, it used to chirp using the factory horn, now it no longer chirps when armed...not very important to me though. I am no longer embarrassed to use my horn!!!

 

[ibjammin]

I run one of these on my street bikes and it is loud I can say it has saved my but a few times!!! The reason your chirp does not work is the delay of the air compressor it has to build pressure for the horn to work I think it was a 90 millisecond delay? not much but enough to make it not chirp!

It may just be the picture angle but the head of the bolt next to the condensor looks awfully close I see you put a piece of foam behind it but vibration and flexing of the plastic tab could cause problems over time with dust dirt and sand getting between the foam and condensor? It would also be a good idea to use the air intake tube I had a problem with my first horn sucking water into the compressor and it killed it I replaced it and used the air intake tube and it has never been a problem!

Here's a link if you want to hear what it sounds like!
http://stebelengineeredsounds.com/mini_air_horns.html

 

[John L]

Why couldnt you just take the two leads going into the factory horn, disconnect them, and then put them right into the replacement horn?

I purchased a Wolo Bad Boy replacement Horn, similar in specs to yours, but all i did was remove factory (not from the torx screw location, rather from the screw in the back of the horn), disconnect two wires (positive and negative) going into factory horn, and just connected them to the Wolo replacement horn!

Oh by the way, you need to replace the fuse from 10amp to 25amp. I tested the new horn twice with the 10amp fuse and it quickly burned out! LOL

So took a quick trip to Auto Zone and picked up 25amp fuses and it works like a charm!

The only thing i noticed was when i arm my car, it used to chirp using the factory horn, now it no longer chirps when armed...not very important to me though. I am no longer embarrassed to use my horn!!!

I think you answered your own question about the wiring. The 10 amp fuse went south because the horn pulled too much current. The 25 amp fuse should only be a temporary fix. Jeep can get away with the small gauge wire because the stock horn probably pulls 8 amps at the most. (That's why it sucks.)

I went with the relay to take the load off of the stock wiring. Don't think of the horn as a horn, think of it as a small air compressor. I used large gauge wire because it has the advantage of being able to A.)carry more current, and B.) ensure you get full voltage to the other end (air compressor). Some devices don't like being underpowered and will fail if the condition continues.

 

[John L]

I run one of these on my street bikes and it is loud I can say it has saved my but a few times!!! The reason your chirp does not work is the delay of the air compressor it has to build pressure for the horn to work I think it was a 90 millisecond delay? not much but enough to make it not chirp!

It may just be the picture angle but the head of the bolt next to the condensor looks awfully close I see you put a piece of foam behind it but vibration and flexing of the plastic tab could cause problems over time with dust dirt and sand getting between the foam and condensor? It would also be a good idea to use the air intake tube I had a problem with my first horn sucking water into the compressor and it killed it I replaced it and used the air intake tube and it has never been a problem!

Here's a link if you want to hear what it sounds like!
http://stebelengineeredsounds.com/mini_air_horns.html

Yeah, it's pretty close. I need to find another place to mount it really. The foam keeps eveything rather stable, there is no flexing except in the forward direction(just a bit if any). Not really worried about any fod b/t the foam and condensor. I think I lost the tube....

 

[Joneszj]

Why couldnt you just take the two leads going into the factory horn, disconnect them, and then put them right into the replacement horn?

I purchased a Wolo Bad Boy replacement Horn, similar in specs to yours, but all i did was remove factory (not from the torx screw location, rather from the screw in the back of the horn), disconnect two wires (positive and negative) going into factory horn, and just connected them to the Wolo replacement horn!

Oh by the way, you need to replace the fuse from 10amp to 25amp. I tested the new horn twice with the 10amp fuse and it quickly burned out! LOL

So took a quick trip to Auto Zone and picked up 25amp fuses and it works like a charm!

The only thing i noticed was when i arm my car, it used to chirp using the factory horn, now it no longer chirps when armed...not very important to me though. I am no longer embarrassed to use my horn!!!

Wow, great info. I;m going to have to try this with 25 amp fuse fix. I purchased a wolo badboy and hooked it up. First time i tried it, it rang out for like a tenth of a second and I haven't been able to get it to work since. going to try the 25 amp fuse and see where that gets me. So now it works totally fine?

 

[Dancin Dan]

Wow, great info. I;m going to have to try this with 25 amp fuse fix. I purchased a wolo badboy and hooked it up. First time i tried it, it rang out for like a tenth of a second and I haven't been able to get it to work since. going to try the 25 amp fuse and see where that gets me. So now it works totally fine?

Don't forget to add beefier wiring if you're upping the current draw on the stock circuit.

 

[Dabo]

WONDERFUL INSTRUCTIONS

Just wanted to say "Thank You" so much for the detailed instructions and photos. I had been staring at the Stebel horn on my desk for weeks because I did not understand the wiring schematics. Then I found your instructions and thought I was a bit nervous tapping into my Jeeps power, cutting wires, etc., I followed the instructions to the letter and it works and boy is it LOUD.

Thanks again, I truly appreciate your help.

Dabo...