ARB Base Rack - Destroying my Sunroof

[TNLNDCRZR]

Does anyone who has the full length rack also have the light bar? If so, did it help reduce wind noise and sunroof vibration? Would love a good excuse to buy one if it actually helps by changing the airflow.

I’ve ordered a front runner wind fairing to put on my base rack to try to solve the wind noise and sunroof vibration issue. Will report back on how that goes.

 

[TNLNDCRZR]

Post in thread 'ARB Base Rack - Destroying my Sunroof' ARB Base Rack - Destroying my Sunroof - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/arb-base-rack-destroying-my-sunroof.1297640/post-14824164

Yeah I saw that. Was wondering if anyone had the rack with fairing but no light bar and then installed the light bar. Would like to hear before and after effect on wind and vibration.

 

[jaco11b]

Does anyone who has the full length rack also have the light bar? If so, did it help reduce wind noise and sunroof vibration? Would love a good excuse to buy one if it actually helps by changing the airflow.

I’ve ordered a front runner wind fairing to put on my base rack to try to solve the wind noise and sunroof vibration issue. Will report back on how that goes.

I have a feeling it should have been designed with a style like this

 

[jaco11b]

Mounted up the Tred boards with the proper Base Rack mounts and the subwoofer sensation has completely disappeared

 

[GTCruiser]

I just installed the three-quarter rack that terminates right before the sunroof. I drove around with the air deflector installed and had the same low frequency humming noise at speeds above 50.

So I took the air deflector off and the result was not great. At speeds above 25 the rack began to vibrate and hum such that at 55 I can’t even have a conversation on the phone or in the car. I pulled the rack off entirely, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do next. I believe the feedback here is correct that the wind deflector should be designed to direct the air up and over the rack, not downward towards the roof of the car.
If anyone comes up with a better design for the wind deflector, please let me know! I’ll be working on the same thing.

 

[jaco11b]

I just installed the three-quarter rack that terminates right before the sunroof. I drove around with the air deflector installed and had the same low frequency humming noise at speeds above 50.

So I took the air deflector off and the result was not great. At speeds above 25 the rack began to vibrate and hum such that at 55 I can’t even have a conversation on the phone or in the car. I pulled the rack off entirely, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do next. I believe the feedback here is correct that the wind deflector should be designed to direct the air up and over the rack, not downward towards the roof of the car.
If anyone comes up with a better design for the wind deflector, please let me know! I’ll be working on the same thing.

Do you have a way to briefly strap something to the roof and go for a drive to see if it makes a difference? I have a tech support ticket open with ARB and would be interested to see what they say if the noise goes away with yours like mine did.

 

[bloc]

A method to determine whether it’s the mass of the traction hoards damping some kind of harmonic or the aero would be to find something of similar weight but much more sleek and place it in the same spot. Like small 5# weightlifting plates or something along those lines.

If the sound is absent with the weights, probably some mass damping thing. If the sound persists with the weights.. aero.

Personally I 100% believe this is an aero problem, in spite of some not having the issue. Very small changes in vehicle attitude, front bumper, even humidity conditions can impact whether the phenomenon is present on other vehicles. Arb does a lot of great things but putting these into wind tunnels seems above their level.

 

[jdha777]

A method to determine whether it’s the mass of the traction hoards damping some kind of harmonic or the aero would be to find something of similar weight but much more sleek and place it in the same spot. Like small 5# weightlifting plates or something along those lines.

If the sound is absent with the weights, probably some mass damping thing. If the sound persists with the weights.. aero.

Personally I 100% believe this is an aero problem, in spite of some not having the issue. Very small changes in vehicle attitude, front bumper, even humidity conditions can impact whether the phenomenon is present on other vehicles. Arb does a lot of great things but putting these into wind tunnels seems above their level.

I agree. I haven't had these issues but I also have a Dissent full front bumper replacement and a 1" lift.

 

[TNLNDCRZR]

I have a front runner traditional style wind fairing arriving today, and I’m going to attempt to retrofit to my full length Base Rack. Will report back if it fixes the wind issues I’ve been having. Love the rack. Hope this works or I’ll be going a different route.

 

[jaco11b]

I have a front runner traditional style wind fairing arriving today, and I’m going to attempt to retrofit to my full length Base Rack. Will report back if it fixes the wind issues I’ve been having. Love the rack. Hope this works or I’ll be going a different route.

I've installed many Front Runner racks but never with their optional fairing. Looks like it should connect via some sort of strap around the front crossbar? I can't imagine if you can make it fit that it won't have a positive outcome. I've never had an issue with racks that have that style deflector.

 

[Comet]

This is an innocent question from a guy who has nothing in the fight but could the rack top be on backwards? Is there a way to flip the top around.

 

[jaco11b]

This is an innocent question from a guy who has nothing in the fight but could the rack top be on backwards? Is there a way to flip the top around.

I don't remember the instruction specifically saying there is a front, but on mine the words "Base Rack" were only on one half which I assume is the front.

 

[chriscosta416]

I still have not got around to installing the adhesive, but it sounds like it is not making a difference anyway!

Now I am debating if I should just go with a Prinsu style rack....

 

[jaco11b]

I have a front runner traditional style wind fairing arriving today, and I’m going to attempt to retrofit to my full length Base Rack. Will report back if it fixes the wind issues I’ve been having. Love the rack. Hope this works or I’ll be going a different route.

Checking in to see if you had luck with this?

 

[TNLNDCRZR]

Checking in to see if you had luck with this?

I ordered the wrong one and finally got the correct one in and mounted. Runs up and down my street are good, only got up to 50 mph. Will get out on highway tonight or tomorrow. But it doesn’t dump and hammer you with sunroof open and seems quieter with is closed, compared to ARB. Highway will be the true test though. There’s definitely a gap on the side between the side rails and the fairing. Not ideal but not the end of the world.

 

[jaco11b]

I ordered the wrong one and finally got the correct one in and mounted. Runs up and down my street are good, only got up to 50 mph. Will get out on highway tonight or tomorrow. But it doesn’t dump and hammer you with sunroof open and seems quieter with is closed, compared to ARB. Highway will be the true test though. There’s definitely a gap on the side between the side rails and the fairing. Not ideal but not the end of the world.

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Actually looks pretty good too! Excited to see your test results. I’d rather not run the recovery boards full time if not needed. Also looks like you used a mix of the base rack hardware and the front runner one?

 

[TNLNDCRZR]

Actually looks pretty good too! Excited to see your test results. I’d rather not run the recovery boards full time if not needed. Also looks like you used a mix of the base rack hardware and the front runner one?

Correct

 

[rmtannerjr]

Just now realizing I also have this problem with my LX570 after driving my moms stock LX570 on a long trip and then getting in mine. Then confirmed it with my brother’s Heritage.

If you have headphones or AirPods cancelling the noise it’s amazing how loud that bass is when you pull them out.

As other have said, it was a surprisingly quiet rack when first installed. Much better than my frontrunner when first installed on my old LX but Frontrunner did get better with the fairing they introduced. I still have it so I may swap it if that’s the best option.

I have an arb pvc cased awning and Tred Pros but the boards are mounted front to back and a bit back toward center.

 

[chriscosta416]

I ordered the wrong one and finally got the correct one in and mounted. Runs up and down my street are good, only got up to 50 mph. Will get out on highway tonight or tomorrow. But it doesn’t dump and hammer you with sunroof open and seems quieter with is closed, compared to ARB. Highway will be the true test though. There’s definitely a gap on the side between the side rails and the fairing. Not ideal but not the end of the world.

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Any update?

 

[vmfire]

I ordered the wrong one and finally got the correct one in and mounted. Runs up and down my street are good, only got up to 50 mph. Will get out on highway tonight or tomorrow. But it doesn’t dump and hammer you with sunroof open and seems quieter with is closed, compared to ARB. Highway will be the true test though. There’s definitely a gap on the side between the side rails and the fairing. Not ideal but not the end of the world.

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Good looking setup. I have a 3/4 Base Rack with no noise and a full one like you have, in my shop for future installation if needed. This was Front Runner? Part number?