Summer Question - Road noise with empty ski racks

My wife was asking me for a new ski rack for the winter, as when she is on the freeway w/o skis in the rack, our Yakima FreshTracks 6 makes quite alot of noise inside the cabin. Its totally fine/quiet with skis in the rack.

I get that its part of having a ski rack on, but what is actually causing the noise? Is it just a matter of the thing being empty and not *compressed* that makes the noise? Should I go for the FatCat Evo or a kuat which are more low profile? Or maybe just add a fairing? Id throw our roof box in, but its like 1in too tall to fit in the garage on her car.

Searched but didnt really find anything recent. Eager to hear folks thoughts! Thank you in advance.

I had really bad road noise from round bars and solved it by wrapping parachute cord around the bars. Maybe 8 wraps across the bar. I know that wouldn't make sense to rerig every time you take the skis off but maybe there is something similar you can come up with.

Keep the skis on year round so everyone know she is the best skier on the mountain

carrying stuff with thule straps like a boat or kayak will make a humming noise unless you put a twist in the strap to disrupt the airflow SO you need to disprupt the airflow

I know a guy with a vintage beetle in original shape and when he drives it he has a ski carrier that put the tails in the bumper so he has an old pair of k2's he carries when he drives the car

X2 on trying the paracord wrap -- cheap/free to test it out. Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arVo...EveryotherKarl

why not just take the bars off? my thules on square bars cost me about 30-50 miles a tank.

You own a ski company, shouldn’t your rack be full of sweet fucking skis at all times just for, oh I don’t know, marketing or whatever? Full disclosure. I know nothing about sales.

Or maybe just take the ski rack part off the bars for the summer?
I usually take mine off in the summer anyway so it doesn’t get covered in bug guts

Sorry if it wasnt clear. The thread title was intended to imply that this is *a trivial topic for when its 98F outside*. The ski rack is taken off all summer. My wife recently mentioned (again) how annoying the noise is and that she would love for it to be gone next winter :(

The factory crossbars dont cause any excessive noise when bare. It only gets loud when the ski racks are on and dont have anything in them. I get that this is part of the deal with a roof rack -- but the ski rack in question is a 1 year old $300+ yakimas, so not something ancient or from walmart or anything. Putting hands back on them now, they are surpisningly flimsy. Maybe I just need something more aero aor more stout so it wont vibrate as much...? It is easy enough to try the paracord thing in the fall and see if that helps. Certainaly better than dropping $400 on the next step up rack and hoping it helps.

As a truck owner, its not something I had ever thought about, and figured someone else may have.

have you thought about starting a ski rack company?

If skis aren’t on top in the box, neither is the rack, same with my hitch rack. That said I’ve hung out the window to hear the source, or felt with my hand. Then I apply shipping tape to the offending area until it’s gone.

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Originally Posted by plugboots

If skis aren’t on top in the box, neither is the rack, same with my hitch rack. That said I’ve hung out the window to hear the source, or felt with my hand. Then I apply shipping tape to the offending area until it’s gone.

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You install a ski rack or box every day you go skiing, and then remove it every time when you get home?

Get a really old pair of skis that no one cares about but look cool and put them in the rack when not in use. Like some Olin Mark IVs or some snow blades, or a 2x4 or a snowboard.

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

You install a ski rack or box every day you go skiing, and then remove it every time when you get home?

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Depends. I don’t need the box and/or hitch rack all the time, so I take it off. If I can put the bike in the car, I do.

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Originally Posted by Marshal Olson

Sorry if it wasnt clear. The thread title was intended to imply that this is *a trivial topic for when its 98F outside*. The ski rack is taken off all summer. My wife recently mentioned (again) how annoying the noise is and that she would love for it to be gone next winter :(

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That makes sense. In that case I got nothing.
Maybe crank up the tunes a bit higher [emoji38]

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Originally Posted by Name Redacted

Get a really old pair of skis that no one cares about but look cool and put them in the rack when not in use. Like some Olin Mark IVs or some snow blades, or a 2x4 or a snowboard.

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Snow blades on the roof rack? [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

This is actually a great april fools or jerry set up - build some sort of an “adapter” so your snow blades work on the roof rack. Most people wouldn’t notice, but those that did would be cracking up

and replace the fifth wheel with a saucer…

and replace the fifth wheel with a saucer…

What exactly is the noise? Rattling, whistling, hollow sound, wind noise?


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I would describe it as a Rumble. You *feel it in the eardrum* as much as you hear it. Not high pitch.

Thought about adding a fairing?
May deflect the wind around the rack and reduce noise.

Open to it if they make a positive difference. Don't see them as often as I used to, hence asking!

Marshal

I have a Thule fairing that might fit on newish Yakama bars. I know you are local so if you would like to give it a try feel free to stop on by.

Cheers
Kevin

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

WOW!!! I'd certianly love to try it some time!!! that's amazing. We are just right around the corner from you at Bell Canyon :D

Fairing made a big difference on a former car of mine that had a roof rack.

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Originally Posted by Marshal Olson

I would describe it as a Rumble. You *feel it in the eardrum* as much as you hear it. Not high pitch.

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Could be some kind of resonant frequency. Add a fairing or keeping some cheap skis or blocks clamped in there would be my first two solutions to change the airflow and frequency dynamics.

Could Fab up some kind of Heritage Lab sign to clamp in the rack and then you can get a tax write off? Haha

I still think the paracord method (or bungee) should be tried. Front cross bar only.

What about a low profile ski box?

I just had to dump a set of tires because of excessive rumbling/road noise. Bridgestone Ecopia. Awful. Replaced with Michelin Defender2, makes a HUUUDGE difference.

At first I thought it was the rack.

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

I still think the paracord method (or bungee) should be tried. Front cross bar only.

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This. Cheap/ free, easy, fast. No risk of paint damage like with a fairing.

Add something that makes even more noise, like those tailpipe BRRAAP things, to drown it out?

It's probably some wind buffeting that is strong at a particular frequency and you have to change something in the airflow to break it up. You have all probably experienced where you roll down a car window a few inches at moderately high speed and there's a loud whump-whump air noise, but when you either roll the window further down, or partway back up, the noise decreases. There's no obvious way to tell which change to make to the rack (short of a wind tunnel) - the paracord idea is nice because it's easy and reversible.

Any body else put playing cards in the wheelspokes of their mustang bike ?

Rumble sounds like vibration more than wind noise, but I gave up on exposed skis long ago and now I just deal with the mpg hit and hollow rattle of a roof box.

Thanks for all of the ideas, everyone. Have $5 worth of paracord coming to experiment with... and have an idea about trying some split pipe insulation as an insert for the racks when they don't have skis in em too... Will report back with findings, and more than happy for any other ideas too! Cheers

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Originally Posted by coldfeet

Add something that makes even more noise, like those tailpipe BRRAAP things, to drown it out? It&#39;s probably some wind buffeting that is strong at a particular frequency and you have to change something in the airflow to break it up. You have all probably experienced where you roll down a car window a few inches at moderately high speed and there&#39;s a loud whump-whump air noise, but when you either roll the window further down, or partway back up, the noise decreases. There&#39;s no obvious way to tell which change to make to the rack (short of a wind tunnel) - the paracord idea is nice because it&#39;s easy and reversible.

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The Whistle Tips go Wooo Wooo!</p>
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy4ZK4qBUrI</p>

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Originally Posted by Marshal Olson

Thanks for all of the ideas, everyone. Have $5 worth of paracord coming to experiment with... and have an idea about trying some split pipe insulation as an insert for the racks when they don't have skis in em too... Will report back with findings, and more than happy for any other ideas too! Cheers

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I was thinking some sort of spacer taker upper to put in the rack when there's no skis, since it your description sounds like it has to do with the rattle or vibration of the rack vs. wind noise.