Roof Rack Wind Noise

[NJDevil5]

ROColorado, I would agree with Trader in that this rack is substantially larger than most (specifically the cross rails). I removed my rails, but did not cover the slots. I would also agree that it probably doesn't much matter if the side rails are covered or not. Now that the bulk of my wind noise is gone, I can barely detect some noise from the front rack posts. These are rather substantial as well. Not much you can do to eliminate that however.

[flymuck]

It's too bad Honda doesn't offer a wind deflector (do they?) to go with the roof rack. That would help a lot with the noise (which I've noticed now too). When I bought the Yakima racks for my wagon, the noise was *insufferable* -- I'm talking, really, really, really bad, even with all windows and moon roof closed. I got the Yakima deflector, which cost too much money IMHO, but man, did it make a huge difference! Honda, are you listening?

[captmiddy]

Originally Posted by flymuck

It's too bad Honda doesn't offer a wind deflector (do they?) to go with the roof rack. That would help a lot with the noise (which I've noticed now too). When I bought the Yakima racks for my wagon, the noise was *insufferable* -- I'm talking, really, really, really bad, even with all windows and moon roof closed. I got the Yakima deflector, which cost too much money IMHO, but man, did it make a huge difference! Honda, are you listening?

Oh I definitely agree with you that a deflector should be considered, but I believe that this is really an aftermarket product produced for Honda and is from Thule. I am surprised Thule hasn't offered any products yet for the Ridgeline. Honestly I don't notice any noise from the roofrack, but maybe I am just deafer than I really think.

[flymuck]

The reason why I suggested it should be OEM rather than after-market is because I know at least in the case of the Yakima deflector, the fit is much better when you also have the Yakima racks (although it will work with other racks). Same probably goes for Thule, since they are pretty even competitors. I just would rather have something that is *made* for our roof racks, and maybe even says "Honda" or "Ridgeline" on it rather than "Thule" or "Yakima".

Maybe I'll just snag my wind deflector off the wagon and see if it works, and whether or not it makes a difference... I'll post the results. Has anyone else tried this?

[ninefive0]

take a few pictures of the roof rack without the cross bars if you can.

[tricycleone]

I just put over 500 miles on my Ridgeline with roof rack and running boards at speeds of 60-75 MPH and did not detect any undue noise. After all, a 32K vehicle probably won't be as quiet as one costing 350K.

Not only that, half the trip was in driving rain on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I had no interior water leaks or other complaints about the truck.

I knew going in this was not a Rolls-Royce, so I expected some noises. However, this is probably the quietest vehicle I have owned to date (over 45 vehicles of all types).

It is a very comfortable truck with loads of great features, otherwise my wife would not have bought it for me! Yepper, she was a good catch (but she still is not allowed to take the truck to work or drive it without adult supervision - me).

Yes, my Access Roll-Up cover leaks a little and I have had it back to the installer for a fix, but the fix didn't work, so I will "fix" it myself. I have pinpointed the problem (small openings at either corner on the leading edges of the cover's metal parts). Climb inside the bed, close the tailgate, and have someone shine a strong light around the edges of the cover - you'll soon find the leak. Fix the leak and quit complaining.

[ninefive0]

Interesting:

I just found this in the install instructions of the roof rack:

11. To reduce wind noise, cut the rubber molding from each roof rack and install the pieces of the rubber molding you just cut between the crossbars.

Can anyone explain where this rubber molding is and came from so that I can check for it?

I aslo noticed that you have to cut the roof molding to install the roof rack making it a permenent install unless you purchase new roof moldings.

[NJDevil5]

ninefive0:

If you look at the roof (without rack) you'll notice a rubber strip installed in the channels that run the length of the roof. The installer basically removes this strip, then installs the rack on the roof. They then cut the strip into pieces that will fill the channel gaps in between the front, back and middle roof rack support pieces. If you ever decided to remove the roof rack at a later time, you'd have to order new rubber pieces to fill the entire channel as the original rubber pieces were cut up.

[flymuck]

tricycleone: most of the time the roof rack wind noise only happens to me when there's a cross-wind. So, sometimes it's very quiet, and sometimes the cross-wind hits it and it's pretty loud. This being the case, I guess a deflector wouldn't help, because it's not the head-wind that's the problem. Oh well. I just turn the radio up.

[ninefive0]

Originally Posted by NJDevil5

ninefive0:

If you look at the roof (without rack) you'll notice a rubber strip installed in the channels that run the length of the roof. The installer basically removes this strip, then installs the rack on the roof. They then cut the strip into pieces that will fill the channel gaps in between the front, back and middle roof rack support pieces. If you ever decided to remove the roof rack at a later time, you'd have to order new rubber pieces to fill the entire channel as the original rubber pieces were cut up.

So this rubber piece should be cut up and installed in the channels between the cross racks (per instructions)?

I would have to remove these rubber parts to slide the cross racks forward or back?

I'm just trying to find out if the pieces are installed in my rack.