Roof rack noise

I have plywood on mine which is ARB style, with the surrounds all the way around.

No Noise at all, but the thing is like a parachute. Only have it on there when you need it.

If you want Custom Built to your specs, and are in Melb, call Andrew Williams, (awill4x4 from this list!) he makes them... I've seen many of his racks on cars at the club, and yet to see one faulter on a trip to Cape, or across simpson etc... I'll be gettin one when I sell the one I have now.

Andrew
Wk. 03 9775 0558

Simon,

Think carefully about what you are going to carry and how often. I used to have Rhino racks and a basket that were a bit noisy at 70kph but once you got moving were fairly quiet. Got rid of them for ARB no mesh because I thought I would need to carry more weight. They are certainly strong but weigh a lot. This rack won't be coming on and off like the old Rhino racks did! I have found them to be noisy at anything over about 60KPH and that annoys me and now I have a permanent clearence problem whereas the old racks were light and I could take them off in 20 mins.
My advice is get the easiset to remove and lightweight rack you can find then make sure you rethink what you carry and where you carry it. ie. try to locate heavy items inside the car and put lightweight ones up top, which is probably what should be done with any rack to lowere the centre of gravity.We have so little time to enjoy our land

Simon,

Tradesman in Bayswater do a good rack. I have one on my 100 series, but it is an open end one as I am a builder and need it that way. Mine is quite long and uses the mountings at the front that are not normally used in Australia. I had a steel deflector fitted at the bottom of the rack which cut the noise down considerably.
I bought the oval type. (Oval tubing) Looks good and should be quieter.
They do closed end ones with deflectors also. Speak to Andy(Not me), he is very helpful. (better still go out to see him). They actually make alot of racks for the retailers.

cheers

Simon
I have almost finished building my own. Being a tight a--, I couldn't justify forking out nearly $1000 for a bit of aloy. I believe my rack will be stronger anyway. Its 2m x1200mm and making it out of 25mm box aloy and running a 50x6 aloy flat bar the full length of the rack along the gutter.
Mind you, I'm pretty peeved because there's nothing thats straight or flat on a gu patrol.
Relaxed

Hi Simon

I use a steel rack with a mesh and it is noisy when empty.I only use it on trips and remove it when I return. It takes about half an hour. You can also fit into city carparks with the rack removed witch keeps the wife happy ! The positives for the steel racks are:
strength (especially on rough roads )
mesh ( you can walk on top of the rack to fit and tie down equipment. )
canvas bag will fit flat a easy to tie down.
When the rack is loaded the noise is minimal.
We purchased it from Roof rack city.
Hope this helps

Robbo

Simon,I have just fitted an alloy rack to my 100 series from Formula Off Road at St Marys in Sydney .it is a six foot alloy rack with stainless steel brackets and a wind deflector and full alloy cage.This is the first roof rack I have ever had and was expecting wind noise but was amazed at how quiet it is.As an added bonus it was exactly $400 cheaper than the equivalent TJM rack.