Thule Roof Rack noise

I just installed a Thule Roof rack on ny 2004 Honda Accord. I have found there to be a lot of wind noise from the towers and cross bars without the J racks installed even at low speeds. Will a Thule fairing be effective in reducing the noise and will it make the rack nore aerodynamic when not carrying the kayak?



Thanks for any insight and suggestions

Not sure
In have never had a Thule rack WITHOUT a fairing to make a comparison, but I never hear anything with the fairing in place. My fairing and rack sit behind my sunroof, and even with the sunroof open, I don’t hear anything, so I guess it’s doing its job.

cheap fix
Take some nylon cord and run spiral over the bars. Make sure it is quite tight.

Much cheaper than purchasing a fairing.

The fairing helped me.
I installed a Thule rack onto my Corolla. I had it on for a few days before I installed the fairing. The fairing made a HUGE difference in noise levels for me.

Yakima fairing made a big difference
on our 2000 Accord, but the fairing brackets interfered with gunwale brackets and ropes for our tandem canoe. I ditched the fairing and went back to Windjammer clip-ons. Don’t know if Thule has a comparable product. They suppress noise effectively and cut wind resistance a little.



Fairings are likely to work very well with kayak cradles or saddles, if there is no bracket interference.

It’s wind vortices
making the noise. On some cars, manufacturers have gone to a radio antenna with what looks like a spiral wire wrapped around it. The design keeps vortices from slapping back together after the antenna has sliced through them. The same thing is happening on your roof rack. Notice how quite things are when your boats are loaded? The cheap answer was already given. Wrap a piece of line tightly around the cross bars. What cost the big three auto makers millions of dollars to figure out and fix will cost you 25 cents.

Thule Roof Rack noise
Thanks all. I tried the spiraled nylon twine remedy and the wind noise is abated. For the long term I may get a fairing.

A fairing
quiteted the noise on my Thule. It does cause some probs though, because the mounts for the fairing take up a bit of space on the front bar and you are constrained in placement of accessories.

When I have my sea kayak on the roof
rack, the wind noise is much lower than when I have nothing on the roof. I don’t know why this is so. I guess it has something to do with the breakup of the air flow by the kayak. (I have Yakima round bars.)