mwiener2 Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I got a yakima roof rack the other day andI love it cept for two things. With the ski carrier on the crossbars, i go from 21.4 mpg to 18 mpg. If I take the ski carrier off the crossbars or tilt it down, the noise becomes unbareable. But for some reason, when they are in the normal position, no noise. I'm gonna get a fairing and see if that helps with noise / areodynamics. This is turning into one $$$$ roof rack. The fairing brings it up to $400. My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT Ski Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Yeah, roof racks will kill your mileage. No way around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad21 Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Why don't you skip the fairing and get a box for the top? More aero and more secure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 What good is a box on my roof gonna do me? My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_hunter Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I got a yakima roof rack the other day andI love it cept for two things. With the ski carrier on the crossbars, i go from 21.4 mpg to 18 mpg. If I take the ski carrier off the crossbars or tilt it down, the noise becomes unbareable. But for some reason, when they are in the normal position, no noise. I'm gonna get a fairing and see if that helps with noise / areodynamics. This is turning into one $$$$ roof rack. The fairing brings it up to $400. Do this: http://members.cox.net/craig.hunter/rack-wrap-01.jpg That's black bungie cord. The spiral wrapping eliminates a vortex shedding phenomena that causes the humming noise (and associated aerodynamic drag). Don't get a fairing, it's the wrong fix (and too much $$). I think I spent $3 on the bungie material at a local kayak shop. CRaig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChruiSSer Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Yup Craig is right. They need to make aftermarket crossbars that resemble more of an airplane wing like the OEM crossbars. That's a great idea to use the bungee chord! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted January 13, 2005 Author Share Posted January 13, 2005 too late, i went and got the fairing. It def cut down on noise with th ski rack on...havn't checked with the ski rak off yet. I also havn't done any significan't highway driving yet either, so i dunno if it helped my overall areodynamics. My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REM87O Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 I have the Yakima fairing and it fits nicely between the rails and it did it's job, solved the howling problem. I like the bungee idea as well, but wonder if the fairing would be better for me since I have bike mount vs. just the cross bar. I might remove the fairing and try it since it really doesn't cost much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_hunter Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 A rack fairing will typically reduce noise/drag over the roof rack but it will increase the overall vehicle drag. So I would use it as a last resort. To be honest, rack fairings are mostly bought for looks (I used to sell Yakima racks at a canoe shop). Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted January 15, 2005 Author Share Posted January 15, 2005 well i've driven about 200 highway miles now with the fairing on. I'm back up to 20.4 MPG. Without the fairing, i was at 18 MPG over 350 miles. Before the roof rack, I was at 21.4 MPG over 3000 miles. My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad21 Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 What good is a box on my roof gonna do me? Ski box. More aero and more secure than ski racks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggya Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Ski box. More aero and more secure than ski racks. do snowboards fit in a ski box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockinblue Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Snowboards fit easily. You can even throw boots in there as well. Keeps the mess out of the car. A former co-worker, a snowboarding instructor, had one and swears by it. I have a hard time believing how expensive the Yakima system is. I priced it out at a couple of online vendors for a rack system and a LiftTicket6 and the lowest price was about $380. Anyone know if these systems go on sale during a specific time of year? Know any good online vendors? Best price I found was from orsracksdirect.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggya Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Snowboards fit easily. You can even throw boots in there as well. Keeps the mess out of the car. A former co-worker, a snowboarding instructor, had one and swears by it. I have a hard time believing how expensive the Yakima system is. I priced it out at a couple of online vendors for a rack system and a LiftTicket6 and the lowest price was about $380. Anyone know if these systems go on sale during a specific time of year? Know any good online vendors? Best price I found was from orsracksdirect.com. aren't those boxes reaaaaally expensive. like $700 range expensive... well luckily my 2 boards fit through the sedan ski pass, so i may not even get a rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockinblue Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 I was at a local ski shop this weekend that had a couple of boxes for sale. Yep, about $700 for just the box. Outrageous. Think I'm going to stick with the ski pass thru for my snowboards. I might go with one of those trunk mounted carriers for transporting my bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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