Factory Dual Tone Horns

[DirtDonk]

This is really just for the archives, since I don't remember seeing them posted up anywhere before. Didn't search either though.
We've talked about them over the years, but most have not seen a set. I remember having seen a couple of EB's over the years with two horns from the factory. But no pics...

Until now that is. Maybe it's been posted before and I just missed it, but just in case, here is an original owner '76 Ranger (stripe delete) with all the usual bells-and-whistles. Including the dual tone horns.



I should get a sound bite!;D

Paul

 

[thegreatjustino]

I'd always wondered why the cars had the HI and LO horns but the Bronco didn't. Kind of cool to see one.

 

[ransil]

I just dug out a pair of horns I had, they had 2 different brackets on them so I figure they were a set.
but testing them they kinda sounded the same to me.

I just cleaned 3 old horns that were not working, thru them in a electrolysis bucket over night and then put spray lube in the hole from the adjustment screw( dried them using a heat gun aimes at various parts of the horn for about an hour)

 

[surfer-b]

My 74 Ranger has them, only Bronco I'v ever had that did. It is a high an low

 

[WRG]

Very interesting ! Did not know that was ever an option.
Been tempted more than once to install a set off an Expedition because they sound better to me.
Any reason why stock wiring would not support dual horns ?

 

[blubuckaroo]

Very interesting ! Did not know that was ever an option.
Been tempted more than once to install a set off an Expedition because they sound better to me.
Any reason why stock wiring would not support dual horns ?

You'll need to have a horn relay.
The earlier models of our Early Broncos had a horn that was powered directly off the horn button. Later models came with a horn relay.
I don't know the year of change, but it's easy to find the relay. It's mounted on the passenger side inner fender just forward of the air cleaner.

 

[DirtDonk]

Either '74, or at the latest in mid-'74 they started using the relay.
And that's when the dual horns started showing up in the factory wiring diagrams as an option. They still showed both single and duals, but I'm sure it's not a coincidence that they didn't offer them earlier. Like you said, without that relay it was just too much current flowing through the horn button circuit.

I installed relays on my '71 and '79 long ago to help things last longer. No more carbon scored contacts for me!

And speaking of the '79... You'd have thought that a relay would have been automatically included by then. But noooooo. Ford had to be odd again. For some reason many of the trucks of that era did get the relay, but some did not. I can't remember exactly what the tipping point was, but it was something like if you have A/C you didn't get a relay, or something like that. Or maybe it was trucks with the Dana 60 front? Or maybe if you had an ammeter instead of an idiot light? Who knows...

Paul

 

[jckkys]

Since my original single horn works as weakly as it did new, I'd like to add a second. I can't see if it's a hi or lo with the windshield washer reservoir in the way. Does anyone know?

 

[DirtDonk]

No, I've never heard if the single horns was either, or something entirely different. Like a mid-tone so to speak.

Unless someone comes up with an answer first, next time I see Allan's Bronco I'll see if we can disconnect one at a time to see if either one sounds like just a standard Bronco horn.

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Very interesting ! Did not know that was ever an option.
Been tempted more than once to install a set off an Expedition because they sound better to me.
Any reason why stock wiring would not support dual horns ?

Same here. Don't think I knew that

 

[Lawndart]

My 73 Explorer has dual horns (hi/low).
Seems original as the original harness has the wiring for two horns and properly colored wires.

 

[DirtDonk]

Now THAT's very interesting. As Sgt Schultz used to say...
Maybe that's why '74's came with relays. After trying a few dual horns in '73, they realized that the other components upstream just weren't up to the task.

But still odd. Looking at the Hayne's books just now they don't start listing dual-tone horns until the '76 model year. So not even the '74's and '75's show it as an option.
The diagrams have been wrong before though.

But on that note Lawndart, anything else ever crop up on your Bronco to say that it was a different year or had ever had wiring mods done? Does it have a horn relay by any chance?
Even more interesting would be if yours was a very late '73 and happened to have all the '74 stuff, such as the relay and the hazard switch on the steering column.
What month was yours built in according to the decal on the door pillar?

Thanks

Paul

 

[Lawndart]

May 73 build.
No horn relay.
Hazard on the dash.
I'm certain it is original; the wiring is correctly colored and connectors are the same.

 

[DirtDonk]

Good info. Thanks.
Just goes to show... About Fords I mean.

I wish I'd looked at the harnesses closer on those '73's in the shop recently. Guess I'll go diggin' under the hoods of anything after '72 now to see if the wiring is already there.
At least with the way the OE's work, you'd think that they would put the wires on all of them and only add the horn if optioned that way. But again, with EB's you just never know.

Paul

 

[LUBr LuvR]

My 74 Ranger has them, only Bronco I'v ever had that did. It is a high an low

This post had me curious, was pretty sure and yes my late July '74 Ranger has them also...

 

[Crush]

I put an original road runner horn on mine. Gets a few laughs.

 

[DirtDonk]

This post had me curious, was pretty sure and yes my late July '74 Ranger has them also...

Although in your case those are not original horns. And the wiring between the two is aftermarket as well.
That's not to say yours could not have come with them originally and some PO simply changed them out when they stopped working, but maybe you can check the main input wire.
Should be a Yellow w/green stripe. If there's only one and it does not split, yours likely came with just one horn originally.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Looking at my Hayne's book again (a little closer this time) I had forgotten that in some diagrams there are not even "dual tone" horn setups, but in fact have a switch in between to toggle between the two individual horns. One was marked "City" and the other "Country" (presumably quiet and loud?) but that's something that I've never seen on an EB.

I'd heard of city/country setups on other vehicles, but never seen any kind of a switch on a Bronco that was for switching horns. And like the ones posted in this thread, always saw a single connection splitting off into two, with the normal expected wire colors. So this could be one of those often cited mistakes that plagued some diagrams back in the day. Or an ultra-rare heretofore undiscovered option!

Early, pre-relay color was Blue w/yellow, while later models with relays (single or dual horns) got the Yellow w/green stripe.

According to Haynes, the secondary horn was on a straight Yellow wire, with no stripe/trace.

Oh, and in the '77 diagrams, they politely designated the stock single horn as a "low tone" horn. Someone was asking about that the other day.

Paul