Noisy Crossbars?

665 Views 16 Replies 9 Participants Last post by RedBaron, 14 h ago

Rkalisek

Discussion Starter · 21 d ago

I installed a set of Mazda roof crossbars -- the silver ones, not the Apex version -- and am surprised at how noisy they are. Has anyone else felt the same? Is there a hack of some kind? Are you just living with it? I suppose I could install them when needed and leave them off the rest of the time, but that's kind of a hassle.

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

Apoc

· #2 · 21 d ago

Crossbars do that. An after market wind faring might help. Idk if the factory bars have multiple mount positions but moving them forward if you can will help. I tend to find after market bars are quieter then factory ones. But my sample size is small.

Rkalisek

Discussion Starter · #3 · 21 d ago

Apoc said:
Crossbars do that. An after market wind faring might help. Idk if the factory bars have multiple mount positions but moving them forward if you can will help. I tend to find after market bars are quieter then factory ones. But my sample size is small.

I can try moving them, but the bar placement was very specific -- right down to the millimeter in fact. I don't suppose you have info on a fairing, do you?

Apoc

· #4 · 21 d ago

Rkalisek said:
I can try moving them, but the bar placement was very specific -- right down to the millimeter in fact. I don't suppose you have info on a fairing, do you?

Yakima and Thule are the two largest after market manufactures. Their fairings are specific to their bars but might fit well enough with some rubber shims.

Looking to get a set up from Thule and it seems that you can place the bars anywhere that’s full thickness on the flush rails. So you could potentially put aftermarket ones farther forward than you could factory ones.

But there’s no telling if it will help at all. As a side note I would NOT deviate from factory defined placement. If them come off it will all be on you.

Rkalisek

Discussion Starter · #5 · 21 d ago

Apoc said:
Yakima and Thule are the two largest after market manufactures. Their fairings are specific to their bars but might fit well enough with some rubber shims.

Looking to get a set up from Thule and it seems that you can place the bars anywhere that’s full thickness on the flush rails. So you could potentially put aftermarket ones farther forward than you could factory ones.

But there’s no telling if it will help at all. As a side note I would NOT deviate from factory defined placement. If them come off it will all be on you.

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll just leave well enough alone -- why spend my loot on something that may or may not work or risk catastrophic failure.

Trickster

· #6 · 21 d ago

Rkalisek said:
I installed a set of Mazda roof crossbars -- the silver ones, not the Apex version -- and am surprised at how noisy they are. Has anyone else felt the same? Is there a hack of some kind? Are you just living with it? I suppose I could install them when needed and leave them off the rest of the time, but that's kind of a hassle.

There are many threads here on the forum about crossbars. Noise is a very common complaint.
There is as I recall some crossbar accessories gizmo/gadgets/vortices/thingies that can be attached to help reduce the noise. Apparently some aftermarket crossbars are not much quieter, I suggest a search here to get the name of the simple attachments.

Jackie

· #7 · 21 d ago

I bought my CX50 in October and had the same issue. This forum had a thread that talked about it and they suggested buying these. I believe you will need 6 of them total. Etrailer.com sells them. I installed them and it lessen the noise, but it didn’t remove it entirely. My end solution is to turn up the radio.

Handwriting Font Circle Parallel Slope

See less See more

Reactions: 2

RedBaron

· #8 · 21 d ago

I have the Bouge RV crossbars. Not noisy, work well, cheap. (20) 1000miles from MD to FL, with BougeRV crossbars and a kayak! | Mazda CX-50 Forum (cx50forums.com)

Lampshade221

· #9 · 21 d ago

They are quite noisy. I installed the Rhino strips Jackie posted above. They certainly help. This thread has a lot of conversation about the issue:

www.cx50forums.com

Howling Crossbars

Hello all: After two months I finally picked up my Pearl Wind Chill CX 50 a few days ago. I had read a couple of posts about the crossbars making a lot of noise. It starts around 38 mph and at 70 mph and higher it is HOWLING LOUD! So bad even with the Little Feat playing at a very high volume...

www.cx50forums.com

www.cx50forums.com

Reactions: 1

ipritchy

· #10 · 16 d ago

Rkalisek said:
I installed a set of Mazda roof crossbars -- the silver ones, not the Apex version -- and am surprised at how noisy they are. Has anyone else felt the same? Is there a hack of some kind? Are you just living with it? I suppose I could install them when needed and leave them off the rest of the time, but that's kind of a hassle.

I have a set of Rhino Racks-- they produce a high pitch whistle above 30mph. I pinpointed it to gaps on the underside of each bar where you make the width adjustment to fit your car. I cut some black duct tape to size and covered the gaps and the whistle is gone. Multiple 85mph trips and holding up great!

ColaBroSC

· #11 · 13 d ago

Being an old aircraft mechanic I looked at the design in general. The racks are airfoils and like many aero features they are biased to provide downforce which makes sense. You don't want them to provide lift and pull themselves off as you go faster. That airfoil shape is causing low pressure on the bottom of the rail, between the roof and rail and a buffet. My Meridian rails came with little spoilers attached to the bottom of the front rail. They are stick on, so somebody at Mazda knows the rails are noisy. Look for the little spoilers on the bottom of the front rail on your car. I have ordered some rubber spoilers like those posted above. I will report if they help. One thing I noticed is I get almost 3mpg better with my platform off. The platform is noisy also, really noisy.

ColaBroSC

· #12 · 12 d ago

I got some of the stick on type and installed them on the top leading edge of both bars. I will report how they do if anything at all. Used alcohol etc as directed in the instructions.

Trickster

· #13 · 12 d ago

ColaBroSC said:
Used alcohol etc as directed in the instructions.

Pretty much mandatory when tinkering in the garage on a Saturday afternoon.🤣

Reactions: 3

ColaBroSC

· #14 · 11 d ago

Highway test completed. The stick on strip whistled at 35-55MPH and then was no different than the bare Apex crossbars. So, don't waste your money there. I put two strips of the spoiler tape stuff on the front edges of my Apex platform and put that back on with sections of the strips still on the cross bars. That WORKS. Yes, the platform is always going to be louder than a bare roof but with the strips on it and the cross bars it isn't noticeably louder than the bare bars. I also looked closely at the cross bars. the are not interchangeable, nor should they be reversed. The front is wider than the back and as noted the mounts are different. In fact, each rail mount is specific to a corner of the car. The aerodynamic covers are specific to the mounts also. If you remove the covers, look closely on the inside and you will see the location molded into the plastic. Don't reverse mount. During the bare crossbar test I hit a Cardinal with both bars and the bird completely exploded. The mess forced me to wash the car even though we have had rain all weekend. The bloody mess on the glass roof was pretty disgusting.

See less See more

Reactions: 2

Dlcx

· #15 · 3 d ago

ColaBroSC said:
Highway test completed. The stick on strip whistled at 35-55MPH and then was no different than the bare Apex crossbars. So, don't waste your money there. I put two strips of the spoiler tape stuff on the front edges of my Apex platform and put that back on with sections of the strips still on the cross bars. That WORKS. Yes, the platform is always going to be louder than a bare roof but with the strips on it and the cross bars it isn't noticeably louder than the bare bars. I also looked closely at the cross bars. the are not interchangeable, nor should they be reversed. The front is wider than the back and as noted the mounts are different. In fact, each rail mount is specific to a corner of the car. The aerodynamic covers are specific to the mounts also. If you remove the covers, look closely on the inside and you will see the location molded into the plastic. Don't reverse mount. During the bare crossbar test I hit a Cardinal with both bars and the bird completely exploded. The mess forced me to wash the car even though we have had rain all weekend. The bloody mess on the glass roof was pretty disgusting.

Would be you able to provide the link the product you used to help with the noise? I'm sure a lot of people here would appreciate it! Thank you in advance.

ColaBroSC

· #16 · 2 d ago

Dlcx said:
Would be you able to provide the link the product you used to help with the noise? I'm sure a lot of people here would appreciate it! Thank you in advance.

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: NXTGEN AUTOMOTIVE Stop Crossbar Whistle | Add Premium Functionality | Universal Fit Crossbar and Roof Rack Accessory - NXTGEN AeroGrips (2 Pack) : Automotive

Buy NXTGEN AUTOMOTIVE Stop Crossbar Whistle | Add Premium Functionality | Universal Fit Crossbar and Roof Rack Accessory - NXTGEN AeroGrips (2 Pack): Cargo Bars - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

See less See more

Reactions: 2

RedBaron

· #17 · 14 h ago

ColaBroSC said:
Amazon.com: NXTGEN AUTOMOTIVE Stop Crossbar Whistle | Add Premium Functionality | Universal Fit Crossbar and Roof Rack Accessory - NXTGEN AeroGrips (2 Pack) : Automotive

Buy NXTGEN AUTOMOTIVE Stop Crossbar Whistle | Add Premium Functionality | Universal Fit Crossbar and Roof Rack Accessory - NXTGEN AeroGrips (2 Pack): Cargo Bars - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Cool! I hadn't seen these stick-on ones before, only the slide-in ones, but this looks like a great alternative to those.

(I have the BougeRV bars that have similar ribbing already, so don't need these, but good to know anyway!)

1 - 17 of 17 Posts