Pimp my Rack: Ditch the 'Yakima Howl'

About a year ago I caved in and sold the '94 Ford Ranger I'd bought from my dad in high school. After a short-lived and ill-fated stint with a battered Jeep Cherokee, I picked up a Subaru WRX hatchback with a backseat and twice the horsepower of my old Ford. I love the power and handling of my new 'rex, but it couldn't quite compare to the utility of the Ranger until I added a set of Yakima cross bars.

Trips to the lumber yard (or the lake with my homemade kayak) are now possible again, but I'm not a fan of the constant howling the new bars added to my new ride.

It was so bad I considered dropping the 75 bucks REI asks for a fairing to redirect the wind silently up and over. But then I remembered a tip from an old friend and former co-worker (thanks, Jason).

To get rid of wind noise from a Yakima (or Thule) roof rack for cheap:

Wrap surveyor's twine around both bars in a spiral pattern. 

That's it. Surprisingly enough, that is enough to break up the air flow across the round bars and get rid of that awful howling.

Although there is still a slight hint of wind noise at highway speeds, I figure a new Flowmaster cat-back exhaust and bigger sub-woofers oughta take care of that just fine ;)


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