[rrrandall]

I updated my factory horns on the 2009 xB with a pair of Hellas. Easy install and great fit. They were from a fairly late model Mercedes. Cost was $5 at the auto recycling center. Install took about an hour and they work great. Definitely a deeper tone and probably louder.

The Merc horns seem to be located right behind the grill on all of the cars that I looked at today. They are retained by one bolt, but they each have their own bracket. The horns are flat and only a bit larger in diameter than the Scion horns.

Unlike most horns that ground through the bracket, they need a ground wire. That is easily resolved by running the ground wire under the bolt on the install. I put both horns in the original locations and used the Scion bolts and wiring.

With the horn and some wiring odds and ends, I was in about $6 and some of my time this morning to pull the horns. All of the Mercs that I looked at still had their horns, and it appears that the same horns are used on all models.

Dick

 

[crz_jsph]

thats great! i still havent had time to do this yet. any pics?

 

[rrrandall]

I'll try to get some pictures to PhotoBucket.

Here are the details:
Remove the upper shroud and the grill. Most of these are pop-out tabs, but you will need a 10mm socket to remove two bolts securing the grill.

Unclip the wiring from the stock horns, and then unbolt them using a 12mm socket.
I like to keep an OEM look and avoid wire splicing, so I drilled out the rivets holding the stock connector to the horns, then trimmed off the plastic at the top of the connectors, keeping the end of the brass spade to bolt through. You can see that in the pictures. This will allow the stock connectors to be used.

The Hella horns have a separate ground wire, so I made up a short ground wire with some connectors. A little shrink-wrap and they were ready to go.

From there it was just a matter of re-installing the new horns using the existing bolts, then reconnecting the power wire. After a test, the grill and shroud went back in. The whole process took me a little over an hour.

The Hella horns are only slightly larger than the stock horns and have, IMHO, a nice, authoritative sound.

 

[rrrandall]

Pix are in PhotoBucket: http://s564.photobucket.com/albums/ss85/rrrandall/Scion Horns/

 

[crz_jsph]

just got some merc horns at my pick n pull today. cost me 12 dollars but whatever. i need a few things then ill get to hooking them up...

by the way is there any other way to get the stock connectors off?

 

[rrrandall]

The stock connectors are riveted to the horn. The only way to remove them is to grind out the rivet.

You can use any sort of spade connector otherwise, but the wiring would not be held tight, like it is with the stock connector. I looked at using a spade connector, but decided to give the stock connector a try first. The spade connector should work.

Enjoy the horns; I hope that your install also goes easily.

Dick

 

[crz_jsph]

hooked it up last night and it sounds great! drilled out the stock connector like you said. thanks for all the help!

 

[rrrandall]

Glad that it worked for you!