People with Roof Light Bars and Excessive Wind Noise - Expert Opinion(s) Needed

[Deleted User 38384]

So,,, I've wasted several months of my life piecing together parts to mount a curved 42" LED light bar on my roof. I found one that I liked. Fabbed up temporary magnetic mounts / brackets. They hold strong. I changed the aim this morning to horizontal. It was aimed too low when I first put it on. (before & after pics ?) But the wind noise it created at 65 mph was insane. It actually felt like an air brake wing. The turbulence coming off this bar was crazy.

Question:
Has anyone with a Roof Mounted Light Bar experience excessive wind noise & wind resistance at highway speeds ?

Question 2:
How did you resolve it ?

Sponsored

 

[Dereku]

Really no fixing it. A roof rack might help due to the air flow characteristics. Honestly it is like having ladder racks, they hang over the cab and make noise. For your sake I hope someone says I am a moron and there is a fix.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Really no fixing it. A roof rack might help due to the air flow characteristics. Honestly it is like having ladder racks, they hang over the cab and make noise. For your sake I hope someone says I am a moron and there is a fix.

I'm going to try changing the aim again.

If that doesn't show significant improvement,,, I'm done with this setup.

But right now,,, the F'd up aerodynamics are affecting the handling characteristics of the truck.

No bueno...

I'll be selling a lot of new shit - cheap.

At least the new brackets I made for my FU bar came out just right...

 

[ScarzRanger21]

So,,, I've wasted several months of my life piecing together parts to mount a curved 42" LED light bar on my roof. I found one that I liked. Fabbed up temporary magnetic mounts / brackets. They hold strong. I changed the aim this morning to horizontal. It was aimed too low when I first put it on. (before & after pics ?) But the wind noise it created at 65 mph was insane. It actually felt like an air brake wing. The turbulence coming off this bar was crazy.

Question:
Has anyone with a Roof Mounted Light Bar experience excessive wind noise & wind resistance at highway speeds ?

Question 2:
How did you resolve it ?

There really isn’t a fix for this that I’m aware of. One of the reasons I didn’t put a light bar on the ranger. I also noticed with my last truck that I got a lot of reflection on the windshield and it actually hurt more than it helped, especially on dusty roads and job sites.

I have a roof basket on the ranger but it has a wind deflector built in and the noise isn’t too bad. I think any time you put something on the roof, it’s gonna make noise. There’s really no way around that that I’m aware of.

 

[subquark]

This may sound nuts, but can you move them about 6 inches back, to a flatter part of the roof?

I imagine that the buffeting noise at the windshield edge must be tremendous (clearly, since you say the noise is high).

 

[got3fords]

I don't think they make them for the Ranger, but something like this might spoil the air enough.

 

[Glocker]

Try this:
Place tape on the back of the light bar in different locations. Tape a popsicle stick here abs and there. Move the tape around between different test drives and take note in the changes in the noises.

I installed my bed rack with tent and all was good until I took a road trip to NJ from GA. Around VA, I couldn't take the noise anymore. I ended up at a dollar general and bought some duct-tape, and messed around with with taping up stuff on the front of the rack. It gave me an idea of where the airflow was hitting that cause the noise.

In the end, moving the tent back on the rack 1.5" stopped the offending noise.

Hopefully you can use the tape and objects to figure out how to disrupt the airflow to help quiet the noise a little, and then figure out an esthetically pleasing solution to replace the tape and stuff for the long term.

Good luck to you, cause I know it gets annoying!

 

[subquark]

Hmm, look at this thing, I never thought of something like this:

 

[BrianEvens]

I'm going to try changing the aim again.

If that doesn't show significant improvement,,, I'm done with this setup.

But right now,,, the F'd up aerodynamics are affecting the handling characteristics of the truck.

No bueno...

I'll be selling a lot of new shit - cheap.

At least the new brackets I made for my FU bar came out just right...

"FU bar"?? That's a new one. Is that something that's happening these days?

 

[Chris M]

"FU bar"?? That's a new one. Is that something that's happening these days?

Sadly, probably so.

 

[Dereku]

"FU bar"?? That's a new one. Is that something that's happening these days?

I called mine asshole lights in the early 2000s. 2 hid driving lights under the bumper. Like 1x4 bits of sunshine. People in big cities suck and will turn their brights on just to F with you. Hello asshole lights.

 

[bmidd]

How many lumens do you really need? Unless you're mounting spots on the roof, all you're doing is lighting up the foreground, your hood and your windshield, which is horrible for your night vision.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Hmm, look at this thing, I never thought of something like this:

Where did you find that ?

 

[Deleted User 38384]

"FU bar"?? That's a new one. Is that something that's happening these days?

If needed...

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I called mine asshole lights in the early 2000s. 2 hid driving lights under the bumper. Like 1x4 bits of sunshine. People in big cities suck and will turn their brights on just to F with you. Hello asshole lights.

Same idea.

Play nice and nobody gets hurt.

Sponsored