reducing wind noise from roof rack

[jasonification]

Recently picked up a Yakima roof rack (Q-tower ones) for my car (IS300 sportcross). First, I noticed that where the rack attach underneath the roof deforms the rubber seal around the door a fair bit. Second, I noticed that when driving at highway speeds, it gets pretty loud! Sounds like air is leaking through the rubber seal around the door. Any tips?

Thanks!

[dougefresh]

fairings really help with the noise.

[phoenix]

I don’t have a recommendation for the deformation of the door jam rubber, however I would recommend investing in a front Fairing/Windshield. The fairing will really help quiet down the windnoise created by the rack.

[batman1425]

Fairings do help. I always used one with my roof rack setup which got moved across 3 different cars over the years. You'll see a good hit in gas milage though. The reduction in noise was worth for long trips IMO.

[pdmtong]

If you leave the rack on the vehicle, only a fairing will help cut the noise. There is no way around it. yes the bottom fairing edge will rub your roof paint.

Unless you are transporting your bike often, I would remove the rack and just put it on when you need it. It doesn't take that long to do and I would trade the time to take off / put on the rack against the hit in mileage and noise. having the rack on also compromises the enjoyment from using your son roof or going to a car wash

lastly, as you are probably aware, now you need to be mindful of driving into parking garages.

if you have a garage or carport at home, the best thing you can do to avoid ripping your bike off the roof is to put a large object in the space you normally park - garbage can or ladder.

hiding your remote or a post-it on your dash aren't enough to overcome absent mindedness when you come home late and habit hits the opener and you drive right in followed by the sickening sound of crunch

if you are lucky, only the bike gets damaged. if you are unlucky, the rack can openers the roof of your vehicle.

your roof line looks long enough but if the rack interferes with the hatch opening, just reverse the trays so the rear wheels are forward.

[MattTuck]

back in the day, I used pipe insulation around the cross bars. But it might look out of place on a Lexus.

I think the fairing is the best option.

[jasonification]

I don’t have a recommendation for the deformation of the door jam rubber, however I would recommend investing in a front Fairing/Windshield. The fairing will really help quiet down the windnoise created by the rack.Thankfully the roof rack came with fairings AND 2 bike racks!

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

[batman1425]

Another trick I've found valuable - go to your local tint shop and ask them for some scraps of 3M clear-bra or whatever equivalent they use. Most places will give it to you for free. At worst, charge you 5 or 10 bucks. Cut into squares sized to fit under the feet and the contact points of the fairing on the roof. Make sure the roof is clean before sticking them down and they will protect the paint on your roof from any abrasion from the rack and fairing.

[AngryScientist]

here you go, works like a charm on yakima round bars, i gaurantee it will cut wind noise by a lot.


the noise you hear on the highway is actually the flow separation coming off the back end of the bar and the air flows around it. reduce that effect and you reduce the noise. take a simple bungee cord and spiral wrap it around the front bar, with a spacing of about a foot between wraps. it's magic, and cheap. trust me.

https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-06fc7653e2a22b90c6f781f83ebc780a

[batman1425]

here you go, works like a charm on yakima round bars, i gaurantee it will cut wind noise by a lot.


the noise you hear on the highway is actually the flow separation coming off the back end of the bar and the air flows around it. reduce that effect and you reduce the noise. take a simple bungee cord and spiral wrap it around the front bar, with a spacing of about a foot between wraps. it's magic, and cheap. trust me.

https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-06fc7653e2a22b90c6f781f83ebc780a

This is part of the reason that car antennas and smoke stacks have a spiral wrap around the outside. Vortex-shedding. Also why power lines can "sing" in the wind, same principle. If the structure isn't sufficiently reinforced and the right speed of moving air is hit, the oscillations can hit a harmonic frequency with the structure that build huge oscillations that can destroy the object.

[loxx0050]

If you leave the rack on the vehicle, only a fairing will help cut the noise. There is no way around it. yes the bottom fairing edge will rub your roof paint.

Unless you are transporting your bike often, I would remove the rack and just put it on when you need it. It doesn't take that long to do and I would trade the time to take off / put on the rack against the hit in mileage and noise. having the rack on also compromises the enjoyment from using your son roof or going to a car wash

lastly, as you are probably aware, now you need to be mindful of driving into parking garages.

if you have a garage or carport at home, the best thing you can do to avoid ripping your bike off the roof is to put a large object in the space you normally park - garbage can or ladder.

hiding your remote or a post-it on your dash aren't enough to overcome absent mindedness when you come home late and habit hits the opener and you drive right in followed by the sickening sound of crunch

if you are lucky, only the bike gets damaged. if you are unlucky, the rack can openers the roof of your vehicle.

your roof line looks long enough but if the rack interferes with the hatch opening, just reverse the trays so the rear wheels are forward.

Try this and you will find such a way around it.

Go with the rubber bulb seal style
https://www.mcmaster.com/#rubber-bulb-seals/=1ahwzjw

https://images1.mcmaster.com/mvB/contents/gfx/large/1120a141c2-style1-j05l.png?ver=1458300454

I used to use that when I had a roof rack (even still have some left over because of the minimum purchase quantity). The wind fairing makes a huge difference in reducing noise though.

I also once did the drive into my garage with my bike still attached up top....luckily at low speed but that still sucked. Bike downtube had scratches (aluminum hardtail MTB) and my roof rails we severly dented under the foot packs. After that (with that previous car) I hid the garage door remote in the trunk to force me to get out. Current car doesn't have that luxury (homelink) but I rarely use the roof rack on that since I can fit the whole bike inside or alternatively have a hitch rack now.

[pdmtong]

here you go, works like a charm on yakima round bars, i guarantee it will cut wind noise by a lot. The noise you hear on the highway is actually the flow separation coming off the back end of the bar and the air flows around it. reduce that effect and you reduce the noise. take a simple bungee cord and spiral wrap it around the front bar, with a spacing of about a foot between wraps. it's magic, and cheap. trust me.
This is part of the reason that car antennas and smoke stacks have a spiral wrap around the outside. Vortex-shedding. Also why power lines can "sing" in the wind, same principle. If the structure isn't sufficiently reinforced and the right speed of moving air is hit, the oscillations can hit a harmonic frequency with the structure that build huge oscillations that can destroy the object.

Funny you should mention this. i tried that solution back when I had a roof rack - it can work but it also depends on what you are carrying. I was using the rack for windsurf boards as well as bikes. the bungee etc method is serviceable, but the fairing in my experience works a lot better, and would be the way to go if one is leaving rack attached to vehicle

Try this and you will find such a way around it.

Go with the rubber bulb seal style
https://www.mcmaster.com/#rubber-bulb-seals/=1ahwzjw
I used to use that when I had a roof rack (even still have some left over because of the minimum purchase quantity). The wind fairing makes a huge difference in reducing noise though.

I also once did the drive into my garage with my bike still attached up top....luckily at low speed but that still sucked. Bike downtube had scratches (aluminum hardtail MTB) and my roof rails we severly dented under the foot packs. After that (with that previous car) I hid the garage door remote in the trunk to force me to get out. Current car doesn't have that luxury (homelink) but I rarely use the roof rack on that since I can fit the whole bike inside or alternatively have a hitch rack now.
same here...whole bike inside or hitch rack.

[jasonification]

Funny you should mention this. i tried that solution back when I had a roof rack - it can work but it also depends on what you are carrying. I was using the rack for windsurf boards as well as bikes. the bungee etc method is serviceable, but the fairing in my experience works a lot better, and would be the way to go if one is leaving rack attached to vehicle


same here...whole bike inside or hitch rack.

to be honest generally have the whole bike inside when driving to specific rides, but am pre-empting a cross-country move, so trying to figure out how to maximize storage space for the long drive!

[batman1425]

Love our rocket box. Was a necessity when we moved cross country 2 years ago.

[Mikej]

I found sun roofs are prone to allow roof rack noise into the cabin. Make sure the bar ends are not sticking out too far. I finally took my thule off of my 2012 accord, any body interested? 3 Echelon trays, locks, fairing..

[pdmtong]

to be honest generally have the whole bike inside when driving to specific rides, but am pre-empting a cross-country move, so trying to figure out how to maximize storage space for the long drive!

well, the only way to do that is bikes on a rack - roof or hitch.
even more space = hitch rack rear and cargo box up top.

if bikes go on roof, get yourself one of those nylon covers that stretch over the bars down to the fork or else be prepared to clean dried bugs off every possible frontal area of the bike - no matter how small.

[loxx0050]

Ok, I missed the part about moving until now. I rather pony up the money to ship them instead (insured just in case). That leaves more room to store in the vehicle for the move and not having to figure out how to keep them from being stolen when settling down for the night to sleep.