factory cross-bar wind noise
03-23-06, 07:23 AM
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factory cross-bar wind noise
just got some factory cross bars from my 04 wrx wagon. plan on getting some yakima adapters and bike racks and felt the factory flat bars had a cleaner look to them than the yakima low riders.
anyway, installed them as the instructions state - the front bar is 3" from the front seam and the rear on the seam. unfortunately, now i have a terrible, howling wind noise at anything about 40mph.
now these are the factory bars that they sell stock w/the outback, correct? i can't believe they would sell those cars with the bars if there was a noise issue...
anyone else have the same issue? is there an ideal placement of the bars to eliminate the noise??
anyway, installed them as the instructions state - the front bar is 3" from the front seam and the rear on the seam. unfortunately, now i have a terrible, howling wind noise at anything about 40mph.
now these are the factory bars that they sell stock w/the outback, correct? i can't believe they would sell those cars with the bars if there was a noise issue...
anyone else have the same issue? is there an ideal placement of the bars to eliminate the noise??
03-23-06, 08:27 AM
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I've never had any roof rack, factory or aftermarket that didn't cause wind noise to some degree. The fairings that Yakima and Thule sell help some.
03-23-06, 08:28 AM
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I have kayak racks (Mako and Hully Rollers) and bike racks (raptor?) on my roof rack, so I can carry bikes and boats at one time. I only experience the noise when the crossbars are empty. No noise when the kayak racks are on. I was suprised it made a difference, I was considering one of those air deflectors but instead I put the kayak racks back on = no noise.
I did meet some guy who actually took the racks off the roof completely including the crossbars and towers and put them inside his car, even when we were just away from the parked cars paddling for a few hours. Personally, I done have the time to keep installing stuff everytime I want to use it.
I did meet some guy who actually took the racks off the roof completely including the crossbars and towers and put them inside his car, even when we were just away from the parked cars paddling for a few hours. Personally, I done have the time to keep installing stuff everytime I want to use it.
03-23-06, 12:53 PM
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I have Yakima round cross bars on the factory rails on my 04 Impreza. They create some wind noise, it seems to be more on the passenger side of the car for some reason. I haven't tried different cross bar spacings but I think they would make a difference. I'll probably end up getting a fairing, it just seems like a lot of money for a hunk of plastic.
