Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (Full Version)

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Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out?

  

SlapDaddy -> Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/16/2007 3:08:45 PM)

Forgive me, I've owned my H3 for 3 days and been on the Forum for less than a day.  Love them both!Will learn the search functionality on the site soon. [8|]  At any rate, this facory horn has got to go! [:@] Ordered air horn.  In the meantime, is the H3 grill pretty easy to remove?  Just haven't had the chance to get in there yet.  Any help appreciated. 

  
littlehummerboy -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/16/2007 3:20:56 PM)

Check out this thread, it has description and pics.  It's really easy, takes about 5 minutes. http://www.hummerforums.com/m_18521/tm.htm

2luke2 -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/17/2007 10:46:53 AM)

Let us know about the airhorn and where you got it and how hard the hook up is.  My horn is broken due to too much water damage lol... I was looking at some train horns from hornblasters.com

sjr21805 -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/17/2007 7:19:00 PM)

I got a trian horn on my H3 a few months ago. I love it. I get all kind of looks...lol. It would have been alot easier to put on if it would have been done right the first time. The original horn was taken off and it tripped the passlock sysytem and had to have it towed to Tampa to have it fixed. 

[image]local://upfiles/1760/0BFF59E1CD74437F81C157FEC82ABB3B.jpg[/image]

NJTEX -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/17/2007 7:34:58 PM)

The grill is very easy to take off, just 4 screws (I think) if you have no brush guard yet.  Look up the associated thread and you're good to go.

I swapped out the single factory horn for a pair of Autozone 135 db "Highway Blasters".  The package said "Big Rig" sound but to my ears, the H3 has more of a loud, big Cad-oo sound now.  Still like them though!

One other thing to note.  The harness for the factory horn ends in a weather-lock connector.  You'll have to cut it off and substitute female spade connectors so pick up a pack if you don't have some already and maybe some wire in case you want to move the horn further away from where the factory horn is mouned.  Otherwise, there's a lot of room to work with for mounting larger horns between the grill and the radiator.

Good luck with your project! 
.

2luke2 -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/18/2007 8:26:10 AM)

So if I disconnect my stock horn it's going to set something off that can only be reset by a dealer?  Also where is your grill is that just a picture with it taken off or does it not fit any more now that you added the horns?  Last, but not least lol... how much did the total install cost or did you do it yourself?

finskeeper -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/18/2007 10:39:53 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: 2luke2

So if I disconnect my stock horn it's going to set something off that can only be reset by a dealer?  Also where is your grill is that just a picture with it taken off or does it not fit any more now that you added the horns?  Last, but not least lol... how much did the total install cost or did you do it yourself?


You should be fine if you disconnect the battery -> swap horns -> then reconnect battery.  The passlock (apparently) kicks in if an 'unscrupulous' person tries to disconnect your horn 'alarm' before he steals your truck.  If passlock kicks in for some reason, you should be able to deactivate it by following the procedures we used for a PCM swap.  Can someone else confirm this?

Dennis -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/18/2007 11:05:11 AM)

I disconnected my horn to swap it out with a pair of Caddy horns and left the battery connected...No problems..

NJTEX -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/18/2007 11:06:24 AM)

I've got an '06, no problem with Passlock and I didn't disconnect the battery either.  In my case, I just modified the cable end with spade connectors and extra wire for two horns in parrallel.  I also just did the same mod to one of my other GM cars with anti-theft system and all was okay too.

If you install airhorns, I believe you will need to add a high current power lead and a relay to safely drive the associated compressor.  Maybe the Passlock problem has something to do with diving deeper into the electrical system to power the relay?

importkiller -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/18/2007 4:12:12 PM)

never heard of a orn setting off a passlock system before and we wire alarms to them all the time...thats odd.

sjr21805 -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/18/2007 4:35:33 PM)

I don't know how difficult it was to put on I had a friennd do it...big mistake...lol. The service dept said that when the original one was cut off that is what caused the problem. They told me to disconnect the battery and let sit and it should reset itself. Of course with my luck it didn't work and had to have it towed in. There had to be something added(sorry I don't know what it is called...I'll find out later from my friend) and had to have a switch put in to turn the compressor on and off. Plus they put the original horn back on. So if there is no pressure the original horn works. I took the picture before the grill was put back on. It fit with no problems. The horns had to be turned the other way (I couldn't reach the lever to open the hood).  Lucky for me the dealership did the repairs under warranty even though it was my mistake.

Dennis -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/19/2007 12:07:12 AM)

I will agree..Disconnecting the Battery any time you work on any part of the Electrical system, is a SMART move..[;)]

2luke2 -> RE: Horn Swap. How do I get the grill out? (4/19/2007 12:12:05 PM)

I asked two places that install horns around me... They quoted me around 800 out the door.  I was like screw that I can buy the whole setup from hornblasters.com for 350... I mean seriously it can't be that complicated to install.

SlapDaddy -> RE: Horn Swap. FOLLOW-UP (4/24/2007 8:52:33 AM)

Hi All - Here's the horn swap followup.  I'm embarrassed to say, I went SUPER DIRT CHEAP on the new horn.  Spent a whopping $28 (amazon.com, shipping included) on a set of Wolo 403 Airmax Chrome horns.  Even though they are plastic (stop laughing) I have to tell you, it was a fanstastically easy install and inexpensive solution to replacing the stock horn.  I used the link to the "How to get the grill out" archive post (thanks littlehummerboy!) to easily remove the grill, de-installed the stock horn by removing one bolt, cut the original wiring harness away, and attached the two bare wires to the two horn compressor terminals.  Did not unhook the battery.  The toughest part of the whole install was finding a place to mount the compressor and the two horns and still get the grill to fit back in with no interference.  Minimal drilling required.  Let my trial and error be your knowledge gain on that one.   [;)]  Twenty eight bucks, 2 hours of time (due to learning curve) and it's done.  Only thing that shows through the grill is the chrome compressor (see attached photos).  As long as you mount them pointing down (to avoid water collection) and keep them away from engine and radiator heat, the plastic horns should be fine.  Thanks for all your input.  Photos attached.

littlehummerboy -> RE: Horn Swap. FOLLOW-UP (4/24/2007 10:17:45 AM)

So how do they sound?

  

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