Cross Bar Noise

I have the Land Rover Crossbar option on my Evoque and the crossbars whistle very loudly (or at least one of them - have not determined yet). Not a wind noise, a whistle!!! I had Yakama crossbars on my Explorer with a roof bike rack and did not experience this problem. The whistle starts about 20 mph and builds to a very loud, annoying, whistle by 50, still increasing with speed. Of course, there is no whistle with the crossbars off and the side rails on.

I really don't want to take the crossbars off and put them on every weekend for the bike ride. Has anyone else had this experience or can someone tell me this is not normal for the Land Rover crossbar option on the Evoke?? And, do I dare hope, does anyone have a fix? I'm trying to track down the specific issue causing the whistle. Next step, remove one at a time and test to see if one or both are whistling.

Turns out there is a channel on the top of the cross bar the bolts slide in for the bike rails (or other attachments) that make a great whistle when air passes over. A bit of tape over the channel stops the whistle. I'm surprised Land Rover does not provide a cap for the channel, configurable for the various attachments. Time to head to the hardware store to see if I can find a more aesthetically pleasing solution.... Anyone been there before?

There's a grommet that fits in that slot that comes with the crossbars. It's shown in the LR VPLVR0073 instructions on the last two pages as a hump with angled lines on it. Not very good documentation really. I picked up a pair of crossbars a few weeks ago and there were these two long rubber things in the box for that grove.

   

(06-08-2012 06:16am)cousin.it Wrote:  There's a grommet that fits in that slot that comes with the crossbars. It's shown in the LR VPLVR0073 instructions on the last two pages as a hump with angled lines on it. Not very good documentation really. I picked up a pair of crossbars a few weeks ago and there were these two long rubber things in the box for that grove.

Thanks!!!! As I suspected. Dealer installed the rack as part of purchase. Guess I'll be heading back there.

Bigfoot, to save you having any dispute with your dealer over whether or not there should have been a rubber insert go over the the Land Rover Topix website and download the installing instructions - on Topix there is a section that contains the accessory instruction for virtually all the accessories.

A long term update. The whistle is gone with the grommet installed and the bike rails not attached. Since the bike rails need to slide into the same slot where the grommet goes in order to attach them, the rubber grommet needs to be cut to fit around the bike rails. An equally loud whistle occurs with the bike rails on. The noise is a very high pitched squeal - when I gave a friend a ride to lunch, he suggested I get my brakes fixed as constantly squealing brakes is what it sounds like.

With the rails off, and the grommet installed in the channel in the crossbars a severe low frequency vibration occurs about 35-40 miles per hour. The vibration is like a loud subwoofer and shakes the car very noticeably - it is louder than he 825W Meridian audio system turned up to 30 on the dial and I can easily feel it I the seat and in the steering wheel.

I have no idea how Land Rover got (or allowed the supplier, likely Thule to get) this so wrong. I removed the components - they are virtually unusable. My daughter has the same design from Thule on her Mini Cooper, but with no grommet in the channel, no noise and no vibration.

If others have this same experience I'd like to know if they have found a fix. If others do not have this same experience I would also like to know as I may be missing other components.

Thanks,
David

I've read suggestions about using the Thule "fairing" to stop various noises/ vibrations. Also have read about moving the crossbars back/ forth and even wrapping them with rope (supposedly breaks up the wind). Don't have any first-hand knowledge though.