Midsize pickups are the hardest trucks in America to fit a train horn kit into. The Colorado, Ranger, Frontier, and Gladiator all have short beds, packed engine bays, and a spare tire hanging exactly where a tank kit wants to go. A battery-powered train horn skips the tank. Here's where one fits on each truck.
Why Tank Kits Fight Midsize Trucks
A traditional train horn is an air system: compressor, tank, trumpets, air line, and relay wiring. On a full-size truck there's usually room under the bed for all of it. On a midsize truck, forum and shop installs keep running into the same walls.
- Trumpets get split up. A shop install of a Kleinn HK9-Slimeline kit (rated 158.8 dB) on a 2016 Colorado couldn't mount the trumpets as one bracketed unit. The installer drilled and tapped the frame rail for the 14.75-inch trumpet and used nutserts in the body sheet metal for the other two.
- The tank shrinks and moves. That same install used a 3-gallon slim tank instead of the usual 5-gallon, strapped to the crossmember on custom brackets, and the bracket had to be modified to lift the tank away from exhaust heat.
- The spare gets evicted. On ColoradoFans, one owner put the compressor and a 2.5-gallon tank where the spare tire used to be. Another tried a bed toolbox and found the trumpets, over 3 feet long, were then hard to place. A Ranger Station tech write-up for an older Ranger bolted the trumpets to a 24-by-24-inch, 16-gauge steel sheet in the old spare tire spot, with the compressor and a 2-gallon tank boxed in the bed and wiring run through a hole drilled in the bed floor.
None of that is wrong. It's just a lot of steel, drilling, and wiring to add to a truck with a 5-foot bed. Our spare tire delete guide covers what you give up when the spare comes out. For the full range of truck options, air and battery, see the best train horns for trucks in 2026.
What Changes With a Battery Horn
A battery train horn puts the compressor, valve, and trumpets in one power-tool-style housing, and a cordless tool battery clicks into the bottom. No tank, no relay, no wiring to the truck. That changes the midsize install in three ways:
- It fits a short bed. The whole unit takes up about as much space as a cordless tool, so a 5-foot bed barely notices it.
- The spare stays. Nothing has to go under the bed, so the factory spare stays put.
- It comes off the truck. The same horn works on the boat, at the tailgate, or at the trailhead. For a daily-driver midsize truck, that flexibility is often the whole point.
Our flagship is the Extreme Series Train Horn for Milwaukee® 18v Battery. It's rated at 150 dB, runs on any Milwaukee® M18™ pack with no adapter, arrives fully assembled, and ships with a 160-foot wireless remote. So you can mount it in the bed and fire it from the driver's seat.
Chevy Colorado (2023+): Tie-Downs and Bed-Wall Pockets
The current Colorado comes only as a crew cab with a 5-foot-2-inch bed. The good news is that Chevy put plenty of anchor points in that short bed. Dealer spec sheets list 13 fixed tie-downs as standard, pockets molded into the bed walls, and the CornerStep rear bumper.
- Front bed corner. Run a ratchet strap through the horn's grip and cinch it to the two front tie-downs. Point the trumpets rearward or over the side. This is the quickest no-drill mount on the truck.
- Bed-rail clamp. If you run a rack or cargo rails, a clamp on the rail keeps the horn up high where the sound carries.
- Grille area. Owners of earlier Colorados have mounted air trumpets in front of the radiator or next to the fog lights. With a battery horn, that means lithium packed in with the cooling system and engine heat. Read our engine-bay heat guide before you go that route.
Ford Ranger (2024+): Five-Foot Bed and a Workbench Tailgate
For 2024 the US Ranger comes only as a four-door crew cab with a 5-foot bed. Ford gave it more than four feet between the wheel wells, a tailgate that doubles as a workbench with C-clamp pockets, an available box side step behind the rear tires, and an available 400-watt inverter with an outlet in the bed.
- Wheel-well mount. Four-plus feet between the wells leaves room to strap the horn against the front of a wheel well, low and out of the way of cargo.
- Tailgate for events. At a tailgate or a trailhead, set the horn on the dropped tailgate and trigger it by remote. Nothing is bolted down, so it goes back in the cab when you leave.
- Bed outlet. The 400-watt bed outlet can top up a spare tool-battery pack between stops. Check your charger's wattage label first.
Older Rangers have the same space problems in a smaller package, which is why the classic Ranger Station install ended up in the spare tire spot.
Nissan Frontier (2022+): Utili-track Channels
The Frontier is the only truck here that still offers two bed lengths. The King Cab gets a 6-foot bed (73.3 inches). The Crew Cab gets a 5-foot bed (59.5 inches) standard, with the 6-foot bed optional. Both are 61.4 inches wide with 44.5 inches between the wheel wells.
Its best mounting feature is the Utili-track system: three channels in the bed that take sliding, lockable tie-down cleats. Slide two cleats to wherever you want the horn, strap it down, and move it later without a new hole. It's a factory version of the no-drill methods in our no-drill train horn mounting guide, which also covers magnets, clamps, and factory bolt points.
Jeep Gladiator (2020+): Spare Under the Bed, Rails on Top
The Gladiator's bed is 60.3 inches long with the tailgate closed and 44.8 inches between the wheel wells. Unlike the Wrangler, it carries its full-size spare under the bed, behind the rear axle. That's the same spot a tank kit wants, so an air install means relocating the spare or cramming a tank beside it.
A battery horn goes on top of the bed instead. Mopar's in-bed Trail Rail cargo system for the Gladiator adds two side rails and a front rail, each rated for a recommended 250 pounds. That's an easy clamp point for a horn that weighs a small fraction of that. If you've added a sport bar or bed cage, the clamp methods in our roll bar and roll cage mounting guide apply directly.
Wrangler and Bronco owners have a different layout (no bed, a tailgate spare, and a factory sport bar), covered in our Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco train horn guide.
Which Spot and Which Horn for Each Truck
| Truck | Bed | Factory anchor to use | Best battery-horn spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevy Colorado (2023+) | 5 ft 2 in, crew cab only | 13 fixed tie-downs, bed-wall pockets | Front bed corner, strapped to tie-downs |
| Ford Ranger (2024+) | 5 ft, crew cab only | Tie-downs, 4+ ft between wheel wells | Against a wheel well, or loose on the tailgate for events |
| Nissan Frontier (2022+) | 5 ft or 6 ft | Three Utili-track channels with sliding cleats | Anywhere along a channel, moved as needed |
| Jeep Gladiator (2020+) | 60.3 in | Tie-down loops; optional Trail Rail (250 lb per rail) | Clamped to a Trail Rail or sport bar, spare untouched |
For the horn itself, pick the tier that matches how you'll use it:
- Dual, 130 dB. Plenty for a daily driver, the farm, or the campground.
- Quad, 140 dB. Four trumpets in four sizes for a fuller locomotive chord. A good middle ground for most trucks.
- Extreme and Boss Series, 150 dB+. For trail rigs, chase trucks, and anyone who wants to be heard across open country.
Every tier comes in versions for the major battery platforms, including DeWalt® 20V MAX™, Ryobi® ONE+™, Makita® LXT™, Bosch®, and Ridgid®, so you can run the horn on packs you already own. The truck train horn collection has the full lineup.
If you mount in the bed and drive from the cab, the standard remote covers it. If you want to fire the horn from well away from the truck, say at a campsite or across a field, the Long-Range Remote extends range up to 2,000 feet.
Wherever you mount, follow the basics from our train horn mounting guide: keep about 2 inches of open space around the housing's vents so the motor can cool, and keep the horn at least 12 inches from any fuel component.
FAQ
Will a train horn fit in a Colorado, Ranger, Frontier, or Gladiator without removing the spare?
A battery horn will. It mounts in the bed or on a rail, so the spare stays where the factory put it. Tank kits on these trucks often end up in the spare tire spot because there's no other room under the bed.
Do I have to drill holes in my truck?
No. Each of these trucks has factory anchor points you can strap or clamp to: the Colorado's tie-downs, the Frontier's Utili-track cleats, the Gladiator's tie-down loops or Trail Rails, and the Ranger's bed tie-downs.
Can I mount a battery horn under the hood of a midsize truck?
We don't recommend it. Midsize engine bays are tight, and lithium tool packs don't like sustained heat. A bed or rail mount gets the trumpets clear air and keeps the battery easy to swap.
Does a battery horn replace my factory horn?
No. It isn't wired to the truck, so your factory horn works exactly as before. You fire the train horn separately with its wireless remote.