Roof rack noise

[TrentonMakes]

I finally got it together and bought myself my Christmas-bonus present, a new Thule rack for the Honda.  It installed easily and feels rock-solid.  With it I will be able to carry my bike and the kids' bikes to go Riding in Fun Places.

...but it's noisy as hell, beginning at around 35 mph.  I had similar Thule racks on my old Taurus and then the Jetta - I guess my memory could be off but while I remember some wind noise in those cars, it was nothing like I'm experiencing now.  It sounds like when you're in the house and a 50mph gust blows through, a lot of "whistling" with variations in pitch.  Oddly, the "feet" on this rack look a lot more "aero" than the old ones.

I do not have a wind fairing (and never did on my other cars either).  Reviews online seem to suggest that the benefits of a fairing are not significant but maybe that's worth a try.

If you ever used a roof rack, did you find any way to reduce the noise?  Aside from taking it off and returning it, I mean.

[dinneR ★]

I've never heard of one being loud. My GF had a Thule with a rocket box and it was quiet. Her current car has a factory rack with a rocket box and it is quiet. 

Maybe yours is on backward. Try driving in reverse at 60 mph. If it's quiet, you'll know that it's mounted backward. 

[TrentonMakes]

I took your advice and you're right, the problem went away.... 60 mph in reverse, I lost control and the car is now in the river.  Completely silent!  Thanks.

[dinneR ★]

Glad to be of assistance.

[ChrisL]

12 hours ago, TrentonMakes said:

I finally got it together and bought myself my Christmas-bonus present, a new Thule rack for the Honda.  It installed easily and feels rock-solid.  With it I will be able to carry my bike and the kids' bikes to go Riding in Fun Places.

...but it's noisy as hell, beginning at around 35 mph.  I had similar Thule racks on my old Taurus and then the Jetta - I guess my memory could be off but while I remember some wind noise in those cars, it was nothing like I'm experiencing now.  It sounds like when you're in the house and a 50mph gust blows through, a lot of "whistling" with variations in pitch.  Oddly, the "feet" on this rack look a lot more "aero" than the old ones.

I do not have a wind fairing (and never did on my other cars either).  Reviews online seem to suggest that the benefits of a fairing are not significant but maybe that's worth a try.

If you ever used a roof rack, did you find any way to reduce the noise?  Aside from taking it off and returning it, I mean.

I had factory VW bars on my Tiguan with very aero bike racks and it was noisy as hell.  Just as you described.  I got a windshield and it helped a lot but didn’t completely silence the wind noise.

I did some reading up on the matter and it seemed the combination of car and type of rack vary wind noise greatly.  

[Square Wheels]

Are there holes in open tubes that can be plugged?

[TrentonMakes]

10 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

Are there holes in open tubes that can be plugged?

That's a good question - I think so.  On previous racks the bars slid into slots atop the "feet".  The bars themselves (once plugged at the ends) were solid.

These bars have plugs on the ends, but they have slots - maybe 1/2" wide - on the undersides, and a protrusion atop the "feet" slides in.  The remainder of the slot is open and I bet that's a contributor.

I see some advice online about wrapping a bungee cord around the front bar.... this $4 fix is probably worth a try (especially before I drop $60 or whatever on a fairing).

[donkpow]

3 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

I see some advice online about wrapping a bungee cord around the front bar....

I suspect this disturbs the air flow around the bar to reduce noise. You could do similar to each bar, strut, etc. in turn and see what happens.

[TrentonMakes]

followup - 

Black tape covering the open slots on the underside of the bars had no noticeable effect.

But a single bungee cord wrapped around just the front bar made a big difference.  Go figure.

Right now it's a rather unsightly faded old red (now pink) cord, but I will pick up a couple black ones.

[Razors Edge ★]

13 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

Right now it's a rather unsightly faded old red (now pink) cord, but I will pick up a couple black ones.

[Longjohn ★]

I solved the noisy roof rack problem on my car by playing my music louder. 

[Razors Edge ★]

On 11/17/2019 at 3:41 AM, Longjohn said:

I solved the noisy roof rack problem on my car by playing my music louder. 

I think Trenton solved it by not riding any more this season and just removing the rack????