7000ft
SILVER Star
I've had the ARB lightbar attached since the BASERACK was installed and have not experienced the sunroof vibration issues the OP is experiencing.
ARB Base Rack - Destroying my Sunroof (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter RyanR
- Start date
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Just got my rack on. Having the same sunroof vibration issue. I have the wind deflector and do not have the light bar.
The long term effects of the vibration on the sunroof concern me. I see what some folks are saying about the tape. Is this the solution? Would prefer to only have to deal with it once.
The long term effects of the vibration on the sunroof concern me. I see what some folks are saying about the tape. Is this the solution? Would prefer to only have to deal with it once.
How do you like the lightbar? I’ve been on the fence since installing the rack. Where did you run the wiring?
I did the tape and didn't help a ton, but wondering if I should have used something thicker and more foam-like. In some spots where the rack sits on the mounting platform I can see some daylight and looks like the rack isn't resting on it in some spots.
After driving several thousand more miles since my last post, I have not felt any increased vibrations beyond what I would expect as normal, even without a rack. I wonder if there is a QA issue with the rack or bracket construction and tolerances. On my install, I didn't detect any movement that would make me think to place foam shims or dampeners. I think it's correct to assume that this is affecting both owners with and without the sharkfin antenna.
7000ft
SILVER Star
It does the job quite well with little or any hood glare.
I ran the optional wiring harnesses thru the BASERACK to rear of the vehicle and came thru tailgate into the roof and down into drivera side sill plate to dash. Maybe the long way, but it's as clean as a factory installation.
I think these are separate issues. I don’t have any vibrations coming from the rack itself, at least not that I can tell. My vibration issues are centered around the sunroof. I can’t imagine that putting tape on the rails will have any impact on my sunroof issue. It seems to be related to the aerodynamics of the wind deflector.
It’s interesting that some with the light bar and deflector combo are saying that they have no sunroof vibration issues; as well as folks who have something mounted toward the front of the rack.
Either way, I need to figure this out. The sunroof is definitely not designed to take this beating. It’s not moving in a significant way right now, but I can see how it will progressively get worse over time.
Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
I have a hard time believing it's an aero issue, as there are many that aren't experiencing any hint of this issue... Is there a chance that the top of the deflector is rattling on the underside of the front-most cross bar? Maybe add some of the foam tape to the top of the deflector where it meets the crossbar?
How would that lead to the sunroof pulsing? Not trying to be smart or difficult. I’m just not connecting the dots.
I strapped a set of Maxtrax I had laying around to the front crossbar and the sound went away. Maybe the Maxtrax acted as a dampener and vibration went away? Or maybe they somehow redirected air. Going to permanently mount them with the proper Base Rack mounts and see how it goes. Wonder how it would go if we remove the air deflector all together which would stop air being forced directly onto the sunroof?
The wind deflector is right above the sunroof and instead of being angled forward like a lot of racks, it is angled towards the rear.
Could the deflector be bouncing/buffeting and transferring all of the vibration (via the air passing between it and the sunroof) to the sunroof itself?
Right. I think it’s a design flaw. Makes me wonder if R&D overlooked that US models have sunroofs while many, if not most, foreign cruisers do not. Similar to R&D not accommodating the shark fin early on.
Seems they know they have a design issue. They have changed the design on newer models. Below is a pic of the base rack for the new Ford Ranger with a conventional (outward) wind fairing. Pic is off the ARB site.
Is anyone running without the deflector?
I guess it’s possible. I’ll check it out. It definitely feels solid. I don’t hear any clicking or metal in metal sounds. Everything’s is tight. Seems to be an air turbulence issue.
That looks like the air deflector is resting right against the paint on the roof lol
I went through the other day and checked tightness on everything too and all was well
I sure like the way the Rangers fairing is facing forward. Would be nice if they would just re-work that wind fairing. I had the front runner before this and it had wind fairings that pushed the wind into the sun roof so I purchased their forward facing one which I liked much better.
Wanted to see if you’ve tinkerer at all and found a solution? It seemed to go away for the most part when I strapped some recovery boards to the front bars last week
No solution yet. Tried adjusting the fairing, but there’s not much adjustability to it. Seems like a common problem and poor design for vehicles with sunroof.
If I can’t figure something out, I will go to another rack.
Curious if you have something that you can strap to the top and see if that makes a difference? Going to use the TRED mounts and attach some recovery boards to the top at some point this week and I'll report back.
