Roof Bar Wind Noise

[FMAN]

I have just fitted some 2nd hand Toyota roof bars and they create an impressive set of wind noises. At about 30kmh it sounds like someone blowing over the top of a bottle. At 60+kmh there is general wind noise and also the bottle blowing noise (but not consistently). To save me time experimenting, has someone else come across this and how did you fix it.

Thanks

Neil

[freedy1001]

I have just fitted some 2nd hand Toyota roof bars and they create an impressive set of wind noises. At about 30kmh it sounds like someone blowing over the top of a bottle. At 60+kmh there is general wind noise and also the bottle blowing noise (but not consistently). To save me time experimenting, has someone else come across this and how did you fix it.

Thanks

Neil

Being a second hand set you may be missing some sealing plugs.

I am not familiar with the Toyota bars specifically, but my Rhino roof bars have rubber grommets which fit into the screw holes once the bars have been attached to the vehicle.

If these are not installed, then you can get wind moving in these areas causing noise.

Any area that is not streamlined will create some noise.

Also be sure the bars are fitted correctly, ie not back to front,

They may be designed to have one surface facing the forward wind direction, and the other side being the trailing edge.

The noise you are describing seems to indicate the first item I mentioned.

[FMAN]

I fixed the bottle noise by putting tape over the slot that runs the width of the bar. I will have a look for any other holes as suggested. These bars win the award for the nosiest bars I have encountered. Another quality Toyota product...

[freedy1001]

I fixed the bottle noise by putting tape over the slot that runs the width of the bar. I will have a look for any other holes as suggested. These bars win the award for the nosiest bars I have encountered. Another quality Toyota product...

The slot that runs the width of the bar is designed to have a rubber strip inserted along it's full length.

The slot in the bar is there to accept mounting hardware for things like tie-down bolts and ski brackets etc.

The idea is that you cut out a small section of the rubber strip, to allow the mounting hardware to be fitted, and so that strip pushes up flush against each side of the bracket, leaving no gaps.

More importantly, this rubber strip also acts as a surface for carried load items to sit on once they are loaded onto the roof bars.

When used in conjunction with a ratchet strap or similar, they create a friction surface to stop items sliding off the bars under heavy breaking, or in a collision.

You will notice that the roof bars without the rubber strips are a nice slippery smooth surface.

Not good for a load holding device.

Also they protect the items from being damaged on the metal surface of the bars.

I would strongly suggest you try to locate a set of the strip inserts, maybe from Toyota.

They will make life a lot easier, and quieter.

Your tape fix is a good temporary measure, but be aware of the limitations.

Edited May 23, 2010 by freedy1001

[FMAN]

Thanks for the reply. I have the rubber strip in the top slot but I wasn't very clear in saying it was the bottom slot that I put the tape over. There is aluminum in the middle third but open for the rest. Is there normally rubber in there as well?

[freedy1001]

Thanks for the reply. I have the rubber strip in the top slot but I wasn't very clear in saying it was the bottom slot that I put the tape over. There is aluminum in the middle third but open for the rest. Is there normally rubber in there as well?

Not being familiar with this particular bar, I can't say for sure.

Maybe if you posted some pics of the whole bar.

It may also be worthwhile to try and get a look at a new set somewhere. For purposes of comparison.

[Toyopet]

I fixed a similar problem years ago by running some black PVC electrical insulation tape across the back of both bars. The trick is to leave half the tape (~1cm) trailing in the air, with only the front half of the length of tape stuck along the rear top edge of the roof bar. This stopped the wind noise from the bars.

[FMAN]

Interesting approach, were the bars square or oval?

[Toyopet]

My old noisy bars were oval or rather ovoid, like an elongated egg. The only problem was damaging the PVC tape when attaching something to the bars. But at least it's easy and cheap to replace.