The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1939 chevy truck horns

Can anyone tell me if these horns are original to the 1939 year Chevy trucks? They were in the truck when I bought it, but I'm not sure if they work. I did wire a horn button to it and gave it power from the battery, but nothing happened.

Did the 1939 trucks have two horn button? There's the center button on the steering wheel, and then there's a column button as well. Not sure if the column button is an aftermarket?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angji/4621578630/

Thanks,
Angie

They look right, Same ones on my 40 Dodge.

1939 Truck Engine, showing stock horn

"Horn button in center of steering wheel"

Accessory horns might have been added (but no accessories are shown in the 1939 Truck Data Book).

The stock horn was the single horn mounted on the manifold. This appears to be the accessory horns offered on automobiles, that in the 40's were also offered as accessories on the trucks.

As noted above they are most likely accessory horns. In '39 on the cars they were called "Town & Country" horns with a switch on the top of the dash to switch between the single "Town" and double "Country" horns. The use a relay, powered straight off of the battery. One hot wire to each horn & the ground to the horn button (from memory, don't have a diagram in front of me). I have a set on my '38 coupe and wired a three position (on left-off-on right) toggle under the dash in place of the hard to find switch for the top of the dash.
Here's how mine looked pre restoration.

Thanks for the information; although they're not original to the truck, they may have been added fairyly early in its' history. Guess I'll have to decide whether to leave them or switch back to the stock horn. This photo shows the horns when I got the truck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angji/4572781512/

I believe those are original to 39-46 trucks. However you are missing the long bracket that bolts to the radiator support rods. I'm running these on my 46.

Angie,

Your dual horns look a little like the Accessory Dual Horns shown in the 1946 Chevrolet Truck Data Book. There was a City/Country horn selector switch with this unit (soft for city and loud to wake the country animals - "complies with anti-noise ordinances").

1946 Accessory Dual Horns
It looks like the set came with a fender-to-fender cross-brace (referred-to by JiMerit)?

There are no optional or accessory horns shown in 39-41 Truck Data Books (but they still might have been GM options/accessories available from a dealer, or after-market horns from elsewhere). There were most likely no domestic Truck Data Books available during WWII. If you are really interested in what might have been available from a GM dealer, a 1939 Accessory Price list will at least have the name. The 1938 or 1942 Sales Brochures might show options/accessories.

Interesting post. My 1950 3600 came with a set of these horns bolted to the firewall. The wiring was not stock and included a wire from the foot switch to the horns for power. I have been unsure whether to use them or go to a stock 1950 horn. It sounds like they were not really a 1950 item, and my mounting is all wrong.