The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks SHOCKING!

When I honk my horn, I get shocked when I'm touching metal (door handle, door, etc.). Any ideas why? Yeah, I know, I must have wired it wrong.

Maybe you just need new bumper brackets. No, wait. That's not it! LOL!! (Private joke)

It must be a bad ground but that's merely a guess. I'm sure that some one will give a more thorough answer. Just curious, does the horn sound weak or strong? and does it honk even when you don't get a shock (i.e. not touching any other metal)?

Try running a body ground from the cab to the engine and maybe another to the frame,
Scott

a body ground? would i run a wire from the body directly to the engine AND the frame?

The Factory Assembly manual shows the size and locations of the original grounding straps, if you chose to do it the way it was done at the plant. You can purchase grounding straps at your FLAPS.

thanks guys!

It's not a wire it's a grounding strap. As Tony eluded to, if you go to your local parts store, such as NAPA, and tell them you need a "Grounding Strap" they can hook you up with the correct part.

Most are braided copper and look like this: http://inlinethumb16.webshots.com/48271/2336585610103882008S600x600Q85.jpg

It's the steering column that's not grounded not the cab. He says he's getting a shock if he touches anything metal- doors, handles, etc.
If the cab needed grounding then he wouldn't be complteing the circuit with his body.

He needs to check his column mounts or add a ground wire to them.

John's solution sounds better

The rag joint at the steering box has a small strap to ground the horn. I'd bet it is missing/broken.

I just got done looking under the hood and under the driver front fender. I didn't see any straps or grounds connected to the frame or cab coming from any part of the steering column or box. I'm curious to know what a "rag joint" is though. Would I use a grounding strap and connect it to the frame or the cab metal from the "rag joint"?
As always...Thanks in advance!!!

The rag joint looks similar to this:

http://www.performanceonline.com/images/T/t-16596-352.jpg

and it is the connector that attaches the steering column shaft to the steering box, as shown in this photo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/dano69c10/ColorsTruckPics013.jpg

so...if there was a ground strap that connected to the rag joint, wouldn't it spin while i turned the wheel?

No the ground strap is a small peice of brass that simply connects one foot of the steering shaft to one of the feet on the input shaft of the steering box. It is pinched under the bolt or rivet and sandwiched between the foot and the rubber "rag joint". It simply bridges the rubber from one side to the other since rubber is nonconductive. Hope this helps Lyle

I'm sure that everyone is on the right track. Right now I don't seem to be able gather up enough brain cells to see where the problem might be; but when I was a small lad I found out quite by accident what causes the shock. I had a bicycle with a horn. Since I took everything apart, I took the horn out. While holding the wires for the horn I touched then to the two "D" cells that usually powered the horn. As long as the horn was sounding - no shock. As soon as one of the leads came off you got quite a shock.
I found out about collapsing fields and how their voltage is much higher than the source voltage. I wonder if you get a shock while the horn blows or after? John

Thanks for the input guys. John...I get shocked when the horn sounds. Lyle...thanks for the info. This rag joint is an interesting part to me. I wonder why the engineers place a piece of rubber in-between the connection. By the looks of the picture that HotRodJohn sent, there are enough nuts and bolts on this thing that would warrant any type of movement whatsoever. I'll look more closely at this issue this weekend.

The rubber was put in there to help isolate road vibration, just like rubber cab mounts, as well as provide a shear zone in the case of a major collision.

If you have lost the ground at the rag joint, it's a pain to fix. So if you are not going for the ultra factory correct look, there are 2 easy places to add the ground. Under the dash where the column connects to the ebrake plate or outside on the firewall where the column is secured to the firewall.