Horn wiring

[Pop's Ram]

I've seen the YouTube videos of the a$$-hats cutting the horn wires thru the front grill to disable the horns so they can break into the truck without making any noise. I have a secondary horn that I want to install away from the stock horn, but need some help with the wiring. I figure if I can tie into the same wiring, but deeper in the engine compartment or even under the dash, if they cut the wires to the stock horns thru the grill, the 2nd horn will still sound the alarm when they open the door. Anyone have any ideas regarding where else I can tie in? Trying to avoid a massive dashboard interior teardown to get to the wiring. I saw in my manual that fuse #57 in the engine compartment power center is for the horn. If I tie/tap into that fuse, will it work? Any other ideas? Ravelco looks unbeatable, but trying a much cheaper alternative first.

 

[Idahoktm]

I haven't looked at the horn wires recently, but couldn't you just rewire the stock horns, so the wires are not accessible through the grille?

 

[Pop's Ram]

I thought about that - the wires are tied together with the wires that connect to the sensor that identifies when the hood is open. I would have to take them apart and then re-tape them, then relocate the stock horns. I was hoping to avoid that. If no other solutions come up, I may take that approach. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Mdhwoods]

i will be tackling this when my truck arrives. Not sure how yet but i want to make it more difficult if possible. Let me know what you come up with.

 

[GMetal]

Or add a vinyl coated wire rope cable inline with the horn wires. Zip tie every inch or two. Nobody is reaching in that deep to cut that from the outside of the grille.

 

[Bpebler]

I was looking at how I am going to be attacking this the other day as well. How easy is it to pop the tabs in the black plastic shroud over the radiator without breaking?

 

[scottmoyer]

Those tabs are the push pin type that expand into a hole when pushed in. Use a flat screwdriver and carefully lift the pin, then pull the entire clip out of the hole. It takes about 2 minutes to do them all.

I did this last night just to see how they were accessing the horn wires. The entire horn assembly can be moved to another location and the wires can be secured, but the length of the wires will need to be extended. I'm thinking the vinyl coated wire rope won't solve the problem as the cable won't be cut, but the wires can still be cut with one side of the cutter as the thieves attempt to cut thru it.

 

[Bpebler]

Those tabs are the push pin type that expand into a hole when pushed in. Use a flat screwdriver and carefully lift the pin, then pull the entire clip out of the hole. It takes about 2 minutes to do them all.

I did this last night just to see how they were accessing the horn wires. The entire horn assembly can be moved to another location and the wires can be secured, but the length of the wires will need to be extended. I'm thinking the vinyl coated wire rope won't solve the problem as the cable won't be cut, but the wires can still be cut with one side of the cutter as the thieves attempt to cut thru it.

I seem to always break these damn things even with the special tool specifically for them.

 

[GMetal]

I seem to always break these damn things even with the special tool specifically for them.

Just pull that center pin completely out. Then re install it back into the clip when installing.

 

[Bpebler]

Just pull that center pin completely out. Then re install it back into the clip when installing.

So it’s almost like a 2 piece pop rivet style opposed to the old 1 piece clips like what’s found in most older interiors?

I’m out of town right now so I will look at it when I get back on Friday. Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question. I just don’t have the ability to run out & check real quick.

 

[Eighty]

For what it's worth, the videos I've seen of thieves disabling the horn looked more like "yanking them out", rather than "cutting them". If I was going to do something like this, I would be thinking of wrapping the wires with a braided steel line (even if it meant depinning the connector, sliding the wires through the braided line, and reattaching the connector), plus ensuring that the braided line was solidly fastened at each end to something sturdy.

 

[Mdhwoods]

Where does the horn tie into? The other end? Can we split it on the other end and tie in a 2nd horn? Somewhere they cant get to with the hood closed.

 

[GMetal]

The horn is fed by two wires the 12 volt trigger and ground. If they stick a coat hanger into the grille and twist it will pull the wires out of the horn connector. Its fairly deep so a long tipped wire cutter may be used also. I wrapped mine with braided wire covering and zip tied it to the back of the connector to prevent the twisting. If the wires touch and the alarm goes off it will blow the horn fuse. Best is to just move it to another area. The wires run on the backside of the top core support rail.

 

[Pop's Ram]

Update
I re-routed the horn wires from the backside of the top core support rail to make them inaccessible from the front grill. They are now higher, under the cover that is in the front under the hood. Cannot be seen if looking through the grill. I also did separate the wires from the 2 wires (purple) that detect when the hood is open and tied in behind the windshield wiper fluid tank to connect my 2nd set of horns, which are tucked in/mounted below the radiator and not visible unless you get under the truck and go looking for them. Fairly certain that I have made it impossible to cut my horn wires with the hood closed, and by adding the 2nd horn, have prevented them from eliminating any noise from the alarm if they open the doors without the fob.

 

[Idahoktm]

Update
I re-routed the horn wires from the backside of the top core support rail to make them inaccessible from the front grill. They are now higher, under the cover that is in the front under the hood. Cannot be seen if looking through the grill. I also did separate the wires from the 2 wires (purple) that detect when the hood is open and tied in behind the windshield wiper fluid tank to connect my 2nd set of horns, which are tucked in/mounted below the radiator and not visible unless you get under the truck and go looking for them. Fairly certain that I have made it impossible to cut my horn wires with the hood closed, and by adding the 2nd horn, have prevented them from eliminating any noise from the alarm if they open the doors without the fob.

Got any pics?

 

[Pop's Ram]

Here you go:
wire 1.jpg shows the wiring I added (green casing) coming from the stock horns over the top core support rail
wire 2.jpg shows where it's tucked in under where the top cover goes - cannot be seen thru the grill.
horn comp mount.jpg shows where the small compressor was mounted for the 2nd set of horns (inexpensive air horns from Amazon). I bent/made a U shaped bracket from galvanized steel- one side is secured the the top frame and the compressor is mounted to the bracket. Again, none of this is visible from either the front of the truck thru the grill or under the hood as it sits under the top plastic shroud.
horns 1.jpg and horns 2.jpg show the 2 trumpets under the truck, under the radiator and behind the front bumper. I needed more air line than came with the horns, so I switched from clear silicone to the braided silicone and I added hose clamps on both ends to make it more secure over the barbed ends.
Here is a link to the inexpensive air horns I added (don't judge - I'm not really a cheapskate ):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7HL7GPK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Not the neatest job in the world, but I'm satisfied that nothing can be seen nor tampered with unless someone knows they are there. Even if they did, it's not worth their time and effort to find and cut the wires to BOTH sets of horns just to disable the audible alarm so they can then get inside and make off with my truck. If I had to do it all over again, I would get a bigger set of air horns with a slightly bigger compressor to make it louder. As it is, it's louder than the stock horns, but not by much. My goal was to add a 2nd set of horns, and I did.

 

[Bpebler]

Here you go:
wire 1.jpg shows the wiring I added (green casing) coming from the stock horns over the top core support rail
wire 2.jpg shows where it's tucked in under where the top cover goes - cannot be seen thru the grill.
horn comp mount.jpg shows where the small compressor was mounted for the 2nd set of horns (inexpensive air horns from Amazon). I bent/made a U shaped bracket from galvanized steel- one side is secured the the top frame and the compressor is mounted to the bracket. Again, none of this is visible from either the front of the truck thru the grill or under the hood as it sits under the top plastic shroud.
horns 1.jpg and horns 2.jpg show the 2 trumpets under the truck, under the radiator and behind the front bumper. I needed more air line than came with the horns, so I switched from clear silicone to the braided silicone and I added hose clamps on both ends to make it more secure over the barbed ends.
Here is a link to the inexpensive air horns I added (don't judge - I'm not really a cheapskate ):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7HL7GPK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Not the neatest job in the world, but I'm satisfied that nothing can be seen nor tampered with unless someone knows they are there. Even if they did, it's not worth their time and effort to find and cut the wires to BOTH sets of horns just to disable the audible alarm so they can then get inside and make off with my truck. If I had to do it all over again, I would get a bigger set of air horns with a slightly bigger compressor to make it louder. As it is, it's louder than the stock horns, but not by much. My goal was to add a 2nd set of horns, and I did.

Is the green silicone to protect from heat?

 

[Pop's Ram]

Is the green silicone to protect from heat?

Not exactly. I had a 14/2 extension cord that had 1 end damaged, so I cut the damaged end off and kept it. Since I had it in my garage, I used it to keep things neat and to give some added protection.

 

[golfishard]

Hoping OP still subscribe to this thread but how did you tap into the factory horn wires. Was planning on going to the relay but realized we don't have a horn relay. Guessing it just goes through the bcm now. Was hoping not to modify the factory harness.

 

[Pop's Ram]

Hoping OP still subscribe to this thread but how did you tap into the factory horn wires. Was planning on going to the relay but realized we don't have a horn relay. Guessing it just goes through the bcm now. Was hoping not to modify the factory harness.

8 months ago - can honestly say I don't remember but will try to check this weekend and post back when I trace it. Top of my head, I tapped into the existing horns wires deeper in the engine compartment but give me a chance to verify.