Midsize trucks are great until you try to fit a train horn kit: there's less frame to bolt to and less bed to give up, and a spare tire you'd rather keep. A battery-powered train horn gets around all three problems. It has no tank and no compressor, so all you have to find room for is a 14-inch horn and a tool battery.
Why air kits are a tight squeeze on midsize trucks
A conventional train horn setup is trumpets, a 12V compressor, an air tank, air line and a relay-and-switch harness. On a full-size truck the tank can usually find a home. On a Ranger, Colorado, Frontier or Gladiator it ends up competing with the exhaust, the driveshaft and the spare.
Owner builds show the same pattern:
- Ford Ranger: Kleinn sells a direct-fit train horn and onboard air system for the 2019 to 2023 Ranger, listed at $749.95, with horn options rated at 153.5 and 154.2 dB. A 2024 Ranger XT owner on the Ranger6G forum put that kit in the engine bay using brackets from the previous generation. Three of the four brackets had to be modified, one support bracket was made from scrap steel, and extra M6 hardware had to be bought. Their verdict was positive but telling: "anyone that likes to wrench can install this full kit."
- Chevy Colorado: On ColoradoFans, one owner mounted a constant-duty compressor and a 2.5-gallon tank in the spare tire spot. Other members pointed to a small gap under the driver's side of the cab or to tanks split across both frame rails.
- Jeep Gladiator: HornBlasters' Stealth Spare Tire Delete kit on a 2022 Gladiator puts a 2-gallon tank in the factory spare tire cavity. It cycles between 110 and 150 PSI, draws 20 to 22 amps at peak, and gives about 4 to 6 seconds of continuous horn per tank. Forum builds that keep the spare mount the compressor between the exhaust and the driveshaft instead.
So you end up choosing between giving up the spare and making brackets for the underbody. If you're torn on the spare question, our guide to a train horn without deleting your spare tire covers it in detail. A battery horn avoids that choice entirely.
What you're actually storing
The Extreme Series Train Horn for Milwaukee® 18v Battery measures 14 by 6 by 12 inches and weighs 4 pounds without a battery. It runs on any Milwaukee® M18™ pack from 2.0 to 12.0Ah. On a 6Ah pack it's rated for 500+ short blasts or 200 sustained ones. There are four powder-coated aluminum trumpets and three volume levels. It comes with a 160-foot remote on 433 MHz, and a 2,000-foot long-range remote is optional.
With the battery off, the whole thing is smaller than a carry-on bag. That's the only measurement that matters below. You aren't looking for tank space, just a spot about 14 inches long that stays dry.
Ford Ranger: bins under the rear seat
The current Ranger has a 5-foot bed that's 59.6 inches long at the floor and 48.2 inches between the wheel wells. That's roomy for a midsize truck, but anything loose back there gets wet and gets stolen. The better spot is inside the cab. Ford's launch materials for this generation say the redesigned bins under the rear seat now have enough room to be "over-filled" and still let the seat drop into place, and the truck also has storage behind the rear seat.
A horn with its trumpets facing up fits in a bin, and a spare pack fits next to it. The Kleinn install above took brackets, hardware and an afternoon in the engine bay. Here, you lift a seat cushion.
Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon: a lockbox under the seat
The third-generation Colorado, from 2023 on, has a 61.7-inch bed that's 45.5 inches between the wheel housings, with 41.9 cubic feet of cargo volume. The Crew Cab is where a horn should live. Tuffy makes a welded steel lockbox from 1/8-inch plate that fits under the rear seat of 2023-and-newer Colorado and Canyon Crew Cabs, with over 2,100 cubic inches of lockable space. It doesn't fit Extended Cab models.
That's plenty for a quad-trumpet horn and a battery, and it keeps them locked away from anyone looking through the window at a trailhead. If you'd rather not add a lockbox, the horn can ride on the cab floor between the rows. A pressurized tank needs a bracket, but an unpressurized horn doesn't.
Nissan Frontier: no-drill trays and a bed rail system
The current Frontier offers a 5-foot bed at 59.5 inches and a 6-foot bed at 73.3 inches, both with Nissan's Utili-Track channel system. For keeping the horn in the cab, Rough Country makes a molded under-seat storage tray for 2005-and-newer Frontier Crew Cabs, and WeatherTech makes one for select 2022-and-newer trucks that installs with no tools or drilling. One catch: the WeatherTech tray only fits Crew Cabs without the fender-mounted audio option.
If you'd rather keep the horn in the bed for tailgates, a lockable bed box works well, and the Utili-Track rails give you tie-down points for everything else in the bed. Take the battery off when you park. You'll get a longer pack life, and thieves get a horn that can't make a sound.
Jeep Gladiator: a factory lockable bin
The Gladiator's bed is 60.3 inches long and 44.8 inches between the wheel wells, and the removable roof and doors make anything left in the cab easy to reach. That's where the lockable bin comes in. Jeep's Cargo Management Group includes an optional lockable under-seat storage bin (Mopar part 6LT89TX7AC), and owners on the Gladiator forum point out that there's very little room behind the rear seat. If you don't have the factory bin, Tuffy's aftermarket steel lockbox for 2020-and-newer Gladiators measures 43 3/8 by 9 3/8 by 6 1/2 inches and holds 2,000 cubic inches.
A 12-inch-tall horn doesn't fit standing up in a 6 1/2-inch-deep box. Lay it on its side with the trumpets pointing along the box, which is the same way you'd pack it for a road trip. Gladiator owners who drive with the top off often keep the horn on the roll bar instead. Our guide to mounting a train horn on a roll bar or roll cage covers the clamps that hold up on trails.
Midsize fit at a glance
| Truck | Bed length | Between wheel wells | Best horn spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Ranger (2024+) | 59.6 in | 48.2 in | Factory bins under the rear seat |
| Chevy Colorado / GMC Canyon (2023+) | 61.7 in | 45.5 in | Crew Cab under-seat lockbox |
| Nissan Frontier (current) | 59.5 in / 73.3 in | n/a | Under-seat tray or bed box on Utili-Track |
| Jeep Gladiator | 60.3 in | 44.8 in | Lockable under-seat bin, laid on its side |
All four trucks can carry an air kit, but on each one it means giving up something: the spare, some underbody clearance, or a weekend. The battery horn doesn't take anything away. When you want it, clip a pack on. When you're done, take it off and put the horn back in the bin. Owners of full-size trucks have the same choice with more room. Toyota owners run into the same tank-versus-spare problem, and the guides linked below cover both.
FAQ
Do I need to wire anything into my Ranger, Colorado, Frontier or Gladiator?
No. The horn runs entirely on its own tool battery and fires from the trigger or the wireless remote. Nothing connects to the truck's 12V system, fuse box or factory horn.
Can I fire it from the driver's seat if it's stored under the rear seat?
Yes, if the battery is on. The included remote has a 160-foot range on 433 MHz, which is far more than a cab needs. A steel lockbox with the lid closed can weaken the signal, so keep the lid open or set the horn on the floor when you plan to use it.
Is a battery horn as loud as the Kleinn or HornBlasters kits?
Not quite. Kleinn rates its Ranger kit horns at 153.5 and 154.2 dB. The Extreme Series has three volume levels and is heard up to 1.5 miles away. What it gives up in peak output, it makes up with no install and the ability to move between vehicles. There's also no tank that runs dry after a few seconds of blasting.
Will the horn fit a King Cab or Extended Cab?
The under-seat lockboxes above are Crew Cab only. On smaller cabs, use a bed box or store the horn behind the seat. Because nothing is under pressure, it doesn't have to be bolted down.