Another rack wind noise question

[Guest]

I have had my Yakama round bar racks on many vehicles with no noise problem, but on my new ford escape they howl. I have them attached to the factory roof rails. Any way to quiet them other than that expensive windshield? They howl the same loaded or empty. It seems to come from the front one.
Thanks, Turtle

 

[Guest]

Try wrapping them in rope. Either a full tight coil or just a dozen turns around the crossbar.

Or a piece of foam pipe insulation taped on the bar. Anything to disrupt the existing air flow. You probably only need to do the front bar; likely the aerodynamics over the windshield & front bar placement is different with your new vehicle.

 

[Boatman53]

A friend of mine wrapped a bungee cord around his. Not even that many wraps but it was enough to stop the noise.
Jim

 

[BWCA66]

Mine always goes away when I turned the radio up!

 

[goonstroke]

For my Thule bars (square) I have a fairly cheep ($65?) wind faring from Inno that is supposed to be "universal". It's a good design, but I don't use it much because the attach points constrain how I can place the gunwhale brackets, and I'm always swapping boats.

 

[MagicPaddler]

I have a bungee with about 6 wraps around the bar running from tower to tower. It helps.

 

[Guest]

Thanks! I'll try the bungee fix.