Bad Boy Air Horns Upgrade - Sacman's Install
 

My first MOD to my new TW 2011 FIT Sport was to upgrade the wimpy "meep-meep" horns to louder air horns. I did this mod last weekend but finally got a chance to do the write-up on it. I wired this up a little different than most people here on the forums. I wired up both SECURITY SYSTEM and REGULAR HORN circuits to these new air horns. I'll show you how I did that but first let me show you the BEFORE and AFTER video clips.

BEFORE: (click on the pic below for the video of the weak factory horn)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...h_MVI_0615.jpg

AFTER: (click on the pic below for the video of the installed Bad Boy horns)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...h_MVI_0669.jpg

I upgraded to "Bad Boy" air horns by Wolo. I was comparing how different air horns sounded in various YouTube videos and I liked the way this one sounded so I went to look for it at my local auto parts stores. I found these at AutoZone for $39.99.
Attachment 36931

Click on the pic below to see video on the Bad Boy air horns.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...h_MVI_0623.jpg

im so jealous of your big wide driveway.

nice upgrade on the horns! i myself upgraded like most of the members to the oem accord horn.

Thanks JJIN. There are actually 2 stock/factory horns in the FIT. One is for the security system (behind left headlight) and the other is the regular horn (behind front grill). I wanted to get rid of that "meep-meep" sound altogether so that meant getting rid of both horns. That also meant wiring up the security and regular horn circuit up to the new air horns.

But those original circuits only had wiring and fuses rated at only 10 amps. The new air horns are so powerful they draw almost twice the current (18 amps). So I built a new circuit using 2 relays and a fused line directly to the battery.

The old circuits now are only used to trigger the (+) power to the coils on the relays. And the new circuit is what supplies (+) power directly to the air horns.

Here's some pics of the wiring I did for the 2 relays.
Attachment 36928

Attachment 36929

And here's a pic of the relays mounted to a safe location the firewall (wire tied to and existing wire loom), away from engine heat & excessive moisture.
Attachment 36930

And here's the 14 gauge wire and fuseholder I ran directly to the battery (+) terminal. I put a 25 amp fuse to protect the new circuit.
Attachment 36926

Attachment 36927

I shrouded my wiring using spiral black plastic loom. Ran the wiring behind the left headlight and out to the compartment just behind the front grill.
Attachment 36925


I made my quick splice connections to the original horn wires because I didn't want to cut off the original connectors.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...t/IMG_0657.jpg

So here's the new air horns wired and mounted just behind the front grill.
Attachment 36923


Replace the plastic shroud over the grill and WE'RE DONE!!!
Attachment 36924

lol.....very cool....now go make some people jump

I like the fact that it's a 1 piece design. I had the HELLA triple air horns on my GTi, and I had a problem with the hoses popping off the horns.

Yes I really like the 1 piece design without the air hoses too because I've also had problems with the air hoses getting dry, brittle and eventually cracking on me. Especially since I normally mount my air horns behind the grill (in front of a hot radiator).

Very nicely done!

Attachment 31782

Hey sacman (or anyone else that can help). Hopefully you can help me! Here is the way I am hooking up the relay for the horn on my 09 Fit but it will not work! It seems to work fine with I plug it in directly so I think it's just the wiring to the relay. Also, how do you mount that in the stock location?! I cannot get it to fit for the life of me! I am leaving Thursday from OKC through Dallas to Houston and would love the horn for that lovely traffic.

Thanks,

Casey

Casey,

Your diagram is for a "negative trigger" horn circuit (meaning when you press the horn switch it sends a negative ground to the relay). But the Fit's stock horn circuit is a "positive trigger" (sends +12v to the relay's terminal 85 when you press the horn switch).

So to make it work let's modify your wiring diagram. It's a simple fix. Remove the jumper wire between terminals 86 and 30 on the relay. Then connect a wire from 86 to Ground. That's all there is to it. It should work after that.

Your suggestion worked!
 

Sacman your fix worked as you stated. I didn't see your response until a few minutes ago via email but I found something online that pointed me to that same conclusion; however, your explanation was much clearer. I tried the change when I got home and out was the problem. Love the sound and can't wait for my trip.

Thanks again

It wasn't a hard diy at all. I just did one terminal wiring wrong because I looked at a different diagram. It is definitely worth it. its also rewarding to get the experience and should make you more comfortable doing things in the future. You also have awesome resources like fitfreak.net to help. Sacman replied in less than a day to fix my problem.

Sacman- how did you mount the WOLO? I'm pretty comfortable with the wiring, but I have no idea how to get the Bad Boy horn mounted in a stable and secure location.

I used a pair of electric horns instead of an airhorn. Maybe not quite as loud, but seriously worth it!

Hi fitfanIU,


I used a 3-inch metal strip of 1/2-inch plumber's pipe hanging tape folded over onto itself to make a bracket in the shape of a "L". The long part of the "L" bracket has a bolt hole at the end where the WOLO horns are mounted to. The short part of the "L" bracket (the other end) is bolted to the car frame at the same hole where the original horns were bolted.


If you can imagine... the long part of the "L" bracket sits horizontally and the short part sits vertical. Because the WOLO horns are 3 times heavier than the original horns siting on the end of a 3-inch bracket so the mount is not absolutely rigid (and it doesn't have to be). It will wiggle slightly and (if you look carefully at my pics) I actually tied up the long end with some cable ties to prevent it from wiggling much. It's been almost 2 years now without any issues.


Hope that helps.

Just a quick update with these WOLO BAD BOY air horns after 30k miles.

A few months ago I pulled up to a stoplight next to a Ferrari and we started playfully honking our horns at each other. I was very suprized to hear how similar our horns sounded to each other.

While at the dealer getting my 30k service and inpection done the tech/mechaninc was having fun honking my WOLO air horns. He kept blasting it at his co-workers in the shop while having the biggest smile on his face. :D

Sacman,

I just found this thread, great job by the way! I was wondering if you kept a list of materials you used to accomplish your install. I am a newb at this but fairly confident that with guidance I can get this done. I have the PIAA Sport Horns I want to install in my 2012 Sport. I already cut off the factory connector to the stock horn in front of the radiatorthinking it's a simple splice and connect. Wish I hadn't! Also was it difficlut to access the security horn? Any schematics,diagrams, etc. is greatly appreciated!

Tony