Additional Wind Noise from Crossbars

[stynes]

I took delivery of my R1S a couple of weeks ago and my crossbars came in yesterday. I put them on the front two positions and first thought it, man they're sharp looking. They make the R1S look even sportier. Second finding was they give off a distinctly audible high pitched whistle virtually all the time when I'm going over 45mph or so. Anyone else experiencing this?

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[CommodoreAmiga]

Yes, they're noisy over the cab.

I usually keep mine on the bed of my R1T, where they don't make any noticeable noise in the cabin. Obviously that isn't an option on the R1S, however.

If I had the R1S I'd only use them when I needed the utility, as the noise is annoying.

 

[joelster]

Yup... Noisy. I think the noise is caused by wind flowing through the handles on the ends. I plan to experiment with filling those openings somehow.

 

[SANZC02]

I took delivery of my R1S a couple of weeks ago and my crossbars came in yesterday. I put them on the front two positions and first thought it, man they're sharp looking. They make the R1S look even sportier. Second finding was they give off a distinctly audible high pitched whistle virtually all the time when I'm going over 45mph or so. Anyone else experiencing this?

You will only want to use them when you need them and store them the rest of the time. That noise is not only annoying but will translate to wasted energy.

I have always removed them from my vehicles until I need them.

 

[VenturaLuke]

I leave them over the cab of my R1T pretty much all the time. I don't want to fuss with putting them on and taking them off when it's time to go surf. I commute a LOT of miles (7k so far in ~8 weeks) and the noise doesn't really bother me and I think the efficiency hit is really pretty minimal.

 

[stynes]

I didn't expect, and haven't seen, much efficiency loss. The whistling of the wind noise is intolerable, though.

 

[moosehead]

It also may be the open Tslots on the crossbars. Thule/Yak have rubber grommets that install in the chanel around wherever gear mounts are installed. Perhaps a retrofit would work, not sure.

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessorie...MImor46evW-wIVoxetBh1oiwvwEAQYBSABEgJ0FvD_BwE

On prior roof racks we’ve run the only way to really cut noise was add a front fairing.

 

[DannyC]

I keep them on the back, above the roof they make a lot of wind noise. Easy to move when needed.

 

[MJ98AG]

I didn't expect, and haven't seen, much efficiency loss. The whistling of the wind noise is intolerable, though.

Not sure if its the same problem. But, I used this trick on my wife's cross bars on her QX. It eliminated the whistling. Only had to do the front cross bar. You do have the cosmetic issue, though. But, its not really that noticeable.

 

[stynes]

I keep them on the back, above the roof they make a lot of wind noise. Easy to move when needed.

Doesn't help me in an R1S.

 

[stynes]

It also may be the open Tslots on the crossbars. Thule/Yak have rubber grommets that install in the chanel around wherever gear mounts are installed. Perhaps a retrofit would work, not sure.

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessorie...MImor46evW-wIVoxetBh1oiwvwEAQYBSABEgJ0FvD_BwE

On prior roof racks we’ve run the only way to really cut noise was add a front fairing.

Just so I'm tracking... you're talking about the using the rubber strips on the open slot on the bottom of the cross bars?

 

[moosehead]

Just so I'm tracking... you're talking about the using the rubber strips on the open slot on the bottom of the cross bars?

Topsides of the cross bars where the tslots are located could be causing the whistling. It literally is like blowing across the top of an open bottle.

Similar to the rear lower deck on the R1T, a rack fairing will redirect most of the wind on a rooftop mount up and over the bar and towers. Below is a Rhino Rack example, Thule/Yak also have them.

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...=2ahUKEwir5fyc9db7AhW7xykDHTu9ARwQvhd6BAgBEG0

 

[Msg43]

It also may be the open Tslots on the crossbars. Thule/Yak have rubber grommets that install in the chanel around wherever gear mounts are installed. Perhaps a retrofit would work, not sure.

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessorie...MImor46evW-wIVoxetBh1oiwvwEAQYBSABEgJ0FvD_BwE

On prior roof racks we’ve run the only way to really cut noise was add a front fairing.

Thanks for the awesome video! That paracord idea is a neat one. Wouldn’t it be easier to just adhesive some bumps or something to break up the wind flow? I’m thinking something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MDW52SC

 

[GrokTime]

Did you ever try the adhesive bumps?

 

[shandel]

I inserted this in the gap in the cross-bars and it significantly decreased the noise: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1QHA8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

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