Rhino Rack (Pioneer Platform with Backbone rails) and Wind Noise Solution(s)
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HUGE, HUGE thanks for putting this together. I've got the same rack on my GX460/Prado 150 and have been converging on a similar fairing solution. I'm glad I did not reinvent the wheel!
I do have 1 question (ok 2...), What angle did you bend the aluminum brackets to? 45 degrees? I measured a comparable sherpa rack, and it's a 40* downward angle from horizontal.
Second question - what was your method for creating the fairing curve where it met the roof line?
Thank you again for solving this problem. Eager to follow your footsteps!
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- #23
Thanks for asking Chewyeti, happy to help. Once yours is done please share some pictures, just curious.
Angle - I do not remember the exact angle. I used a protractor which may wife happened to have for her hobby work. Then I eye balled it so it would have a) a good angle to guide the wind over and b) have the fairing touch the roof somewhere midway between sunroof and windshield edges. On the GX you have to look how your rack is aligned. In the end you could get closer to the window to ensure a good angle which should deflect things better, short of wind tunnel testing trying to optimize noise. Alternatively, you could use a thin strip and bend and measure and bend some more until you are happy. There maybe a few more ways to figure this out with using some carton board material.
Fairing Curve - Once I had all strips bended to the same angle (this is the difficult part, you have to bend a bit further to get enough plastic and then release to match the first one you make - also used a heating torch per youtube vids of folk bending aluminum) and fitted to the roof rack, I measured the largest distance at each side of the roof rack/fairing and shortest distance at the middle to the car roof. Then used carton box material (from the roof rack packaging material
) to mark it and continued measuring between the middle and the sides and marked some additional points as well. Then I used one of these curve drawing tools to connect the dots. This worked out close enough for me. Another way could be to use a pencil and some thin rope nailed down allowing you to draw large radius curves. I think this would still be involved to get right. So I took the short cut connecting and once marked the curve looked pretty neat. Then checked the fit of the carton template. Since it is cartoon you would always be able to redo. It was perfect first time, so I marked it to the ABS plate and got on with cutting it. Worked out very well and hard to distinguish from a professional made one.General Update - As of today the wind fairing has held up great. Noise from roof rack is hardly noticeable up to 70 mph and starts coming in a bit more above 70. Still I would say it is at least a 60 to 70% improvement if not better yet from no fairing. Amazing this is not part of the standard setup, although some roof racks do. I chose Rhino because the roof rack edges are smooth allowing me to get our Hobbie Tandem Island on and off without scratching it to much. Also fairing ABS material and thickness chosen and number of brackets has worked out well. No bending or issues with sun so far. Happy camper, looks the deal, well worth the effort!
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Well - I successfully made a fairing for my Pioneer/GX setup following your lead. It works surprisingly well. Like you mention, probably 80% reduction in wind noise.Thanks for asking Chewyeti, happy to help. Once yours is done please share some pictures, just curious.
Angle - I do not remember the exact angle. I used a protractor which may wife happened to have for her hobby work. Then I eye balled it so it would have a) a good angle to guide the wind over and b) have the fairing touch the roof somewhere midway between sunroof and windshield edges. On the GX you have to look how your rack is aligned. In the end you could get closer to the window to ensure a good angle which should deflect things better, short of wind tunnel testing trying to optimize noise. Alternatively, you could use a thin strip and bend and measure and bend some more until you are happy. There maybe a few more ways to figure this out with using some carton board material.
View attachment 3407627
Fairing Curve - Once I had all strips bended to the same angle (this is the difficult part, you have to bend a bit further to get enough plastic and then release to match the first one you make - also used a heating torch per youtube vids of folk bending aluminum) and fitted to the roof rack, I measured the largest distance at each side of the roof rack/fairing and shortest distance at the middle to the car roof. Then used carton box material (from the roof rack packaging material
General Update - As of today the wind fairing has held up great. Noise from roof rack is hardly noticeable up to 70 mph and starts coming in a bit more above 70. Still I would say it is at least a 60 to 70% improvement if not better yet from no fairing. Amazing this is not part of the standard setup, although some roof racks do. I chose Rhino because the roof rack edges are smooth allowing me to get our Hobbie Tandem Island on and off without scratching it to much. Also fairing ABS material and thickness chosen and number of brackets has worked out well. No bending or issues with sun so far. Happy camper, looks the deal, well worth the effort!
I utilized "2020" aluminum extrusion strut materials, and only fabricated a few parts.
Off the shelf rhino rack M8 channel nut and hardware (spares that came with my platform), and 2020 series 135* gusseted aluminum extrusion. I used my mill and enlarged the m5 hole to an m8 hole to acomodate.
I bought 2 x 4 packs of these brackets, but figured 6 was plenty for a ~48" fairing.
I picked up 2" wide, 3/16" thick aluminum bar stock to fabricate small spacers to clear the lip on the front, and large enough to help distribute the load to the whole rack member.
Ended up making the spacers an inch wide so they'd tuck up as outboard as possible on the ends.
Repeat 6 times.....
Obtain 20mmx100 5 section aluminum extrusion. This is 1200mm long (just under 48").
Attached using 2020 m5 x 12mm hardware and t nuts.
Grab a mate, attempt cardboard template....
Test fit....
Make a few more tweaks.... and commit.
This iteration is 1/4" Black Lexan
Obtain 20mmx100 5 section aluminum extrusion. This is 1200mm long (just under 48").
Attached using 2020 m5 x 12mm hardware and t nuts.
Grab a mate, attempt cardboard template....
Test fit....
Make a few more tweaks.... and commit.
This iteration is 1/4" Black Lexan
Cut....drill holes
Install using 6 sets of 3 m5x12mm and t slot nuts.
aaaand the 95% finished product.
A few things needed still - weatherseal/edging the bottom of the fairing and 3d printing a strut end cap to finsih off the 20x100 struts nicely.
Might make a second iteration out of laser cut aluminum.
Install using 6 sets of 3 m5x12mm and t slot nuts.
aaaand the 95% finished product.
A few things needed still - weatherseal/edging the bottom of the fairing and 3d printing a strut end cap to finsih off the 20x100 struts nicely.
Might make a second iteration out of laser cut aluminum.
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- #27
Ended up improving the edge with bigger and softer material to improve protection of the paint + add 3M film in that area.
Still looks good from a distance...
Still looks good from a distance...
