When I bought the truck the horn button was relocated to where you would find the volume button on the radio! As there was no radio present, this was a bandaid fix to the real problem. The horn contact switch had gone in the steering wheel. (I neglected to photo this repair – but will get some shots as I pull the truck apart)
There was also no relay for the horn. From what I’ve read, the relay was standard on all trucks. The lack of the relay is what likely melted the contact switch on the steering wheel. As the replacement horn contact switch looked very flimsy, a relay needed to be added. I could of bought a relay from many part places, but I happened to find an old GMC school bus at a wreckers. When I popped the hood, I saw the horn relay, and quick detached it! I had no idea if it worked, but what the hell – clean it up and give it a try.
The horn that was under the hood wasn’t the factory horn, the wiring harness suggested it originally had the bugle type horn which attached to the manifold. One of the Stovebolt members was parting out a truck, and I picked up one for $20. You can hear it in action!
Time to open it up and clean it up…
I have a question about the relay. I have a 49 chevy P/U and all the wiring was out of the truck but the other owner had bought new replacement wiring. I also bought a new horn relay. My question is I have wires for the horn but do not know how the relay fits into the diagram. I have a fuse block on the firewall it has the old style fuse with HI beam Lo beam Parking lights, tail lights etc it does not have fuse for the horn. At the bottom of the fuse block are two screws not together and no fuse holder would this be where the relay goes? I could send you a picture if you have an e-mail address. don’t see anywhere to attach a pic
Thanks
Bennie Blackward
Hi Bennie,
The relay came with the dual horn option, (in 49 at least) and my truck didn’t have it. You are correct in your assumption, it connects to the bottom of the fuse box as show in this diagram:
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1948_51truck/images/51ctsm1202.jpg
You’ll notice there is no relay shown in the 48-51 manual. However, it is show in the later 54 manual:
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1954truck/54ctsm1202.html
I added a relay because the new horn switch you get from vendors will not handle the current draw that the original ones did and will burn up fast.
You might find this diagram helpful:
http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc355/Chevytwoton/leons%20drawing/?action=view¤t=Leonsadded.jpg&evt=user_media_share
Mark
Mark, I am working on my horn same as yours.have a few .?s
Shoot.
I have a 1949 Chevy Pickup in good condition that has started honking the horn randomly just by turning or putting pressure on the outside of the steering wheel. Any suggestions on how to remedy this issue. The horn itself works great and the wiring that I can see looks good.
The horn is switched by a ground switch. (IE – the switch is completes the ground, in the steering column.)
Sounds like the switch is falling apart in the wheel, its a weak spring behind a metal button. That or the wire that attached near the base of the steering column (you should see it near where your knees would be if sitting in the truck) is shorting out.
The switches are replaceable. Sounds like you just need to do a little bit of circuit tracing.