RTT Whistle!

[GLOCKer]

I installed my Xtrusion Overland rack on my truck at a buddy's house, and then we hopped in the truck to drive up to my office, about a 30 minute drive on the interstate, to get my tent installed on the truck. That drive was the last time my truck didn't whistle while driving interstate speeds. On the drive back to drop my friend off at his house, I picked up a whistling sound with the RTT installed.

I have a 26 hour round trip drive coming up towards the end of the week, and I'm thinking I want to get rid of the whistle, if possible, to help maintain my sanity on my long drive. I'm looking for any ideas you guys may be able to offer to help abate the whistling! Here are some things to consider:

• The truck did not make the whistling noise with just the rack installed.
• The tent was installed and the whistling started at highway speeds.
• My traction boards and Rotopax were installed after the whistling noise had started, and are not the cause of said annoyance. :D

The only idea I have right now is to try to affix something to the bottom of the cross bars to maybe break up the airflow under the tent. Any other ideas!?!?

 

[Anak]

Carry dog treats so you can hand them out every time you stop?

On the hopefully slightly more helpful front: Get yourself some 2" wide blue painter's tape (this is preferred because it will adhere well, but will also come back off gracefully) and use it to cover gaps or other probable causes of the whistle. This would be a game of trial and error. Once you find the source of the whistle you can then decide on a more permanent solution. Might be as simple as Gorilla tape (being black it should blend in) or even just tightening something down, or re-orienting something.

 

[Boostpowered]

You sure it isn't the snorkel under full throttle?
Especially if you have a turbo they will scream like a sob under full throttle.
Other than that ditch the rtt, lower the bed rack or just live with it. Same things happen with roof lights, ditch lights and anything else you attach in the Windstream.

 

[GLOCKer]

You sure it isn't the snorkel under full throttle?
Especially if you have a turbo they will scream like a sob under full throttle.
Other than that ditch the rtt, lower the bed rack or just live with it. Same things happen with roof lights, ditch lights and anything else you attach in the Windstream.

Yeah, it's not the snorkel. I had that on their for months of high speed use prior to the rack and tent.

 

[GLOCKer]

Carry dog treats so you can hand them out every time you stop?

On the hopefully slightly more helpful front: Get yourself some 2" wide blue painter's tape (this is preferred because it will adhere well, but will also come back off gracefully) and use it to cover gaps or other probable causes of the whistle. This would be a game of trial and error. Once you find the source of the whistle you can then decide on a more permanent solution. Might be as simple as Gorilla tape (being black it should blend in) or even just tightening something down, or re-orienting something.

Thanks! Good suggestion with the tape!

 

[grubworm]

I picked up a whistling sound with the RTT installed.
Any other ideas!?!?

i have a noise cancelling system installed in the passenger seat...it drowns out ALL inside/outside sound.

what @Anak said makes sense. i have a cargo basket on top of my cap and it has a small plexiglas piece screwed to the front to eliminate the whistle...you can probably mount something easy like that to break the airflow

 

[MMc]

I think you first idea is spot on. I had to wrap my overhead rack with rope to drive without the noise. Maybe a webbing around the crossmember with a twist as it goes under the crossmember. We twist webbing to prevent the dreaded hum.

 

[Road]

I've found with the two roof bars on my van roof that I can adjust their position just a bit and eliminate the wind noise.

If you can adjust the position of either the RTT or the rack itself with RTT installed, a tad back or forward, you may find the noise abated, or increased. Then it's a matter of finding the sweet spot. Looks like your rack may be adjustable along the length of those rails?

 

[LostWoods]

Extruded T-slot frequently has whistling issues with air flowing perpendicular to the slot... 80/20 makes some rubber inserts you can cut-to-length that should fill the slots if the tape test shows that's the issue. It's often fine when there's space for airflow but when you force air between another surface (tent) and the slot, they get noisy.

 

[smritte]

This was one of my jobs in the shop, isolating wind noise. You would be surprised with what ive seen. Tape off whole areas then driving to see if the noise is gone. If it is, peeling off the tape a little at a time to find the offending item. If not, keep tapeing.
Don't discount anything including your items on the side including brackets. You will notice how many aftermarket racks have an air deflector. If you add a large deflector in front of your rtt you may even pick up a bit of mileage (got sent to aerodynamics classes for that stuff). If I remove my roof spoiler, my rack whistles like crazy.
Good luck.

 

[GLOCKer]

I ended up not having time to mess with it before I left. Halfway to my destination it started driving me crazy so I stopped and bought tape. It didn't help. Hahahaha

It's going to take some more time and attention to isolate the cause.

 

[grubworm]

I ended up not having time to mess with it before I left. Halfway to my destination it started driving me crazy so I stopped and bought tape. It didn't help. Hahahaha

It's going to take some more time and attention to isolate the cause.

youre in georgia...it should be "whistling dixie"...

 

[smritte]

Looking at your pictures, I would tape everything with a slot, all sides. Your Tent will cause a slight low pressure area below it. What that will do is pull air inward slightly from the sides. That could make inside seams, noisy as well as anything mounted on the sides.
I would use 2 inch tape to seal the leading, upper and lower edges of the items on the side. Don't rule out any sharp edge between the tent and the tent mount, as well as bolts being too long hanging into the airstream (least likely cause but don't discount them).

My shop would buy me case's of 1 and 2 inch blue tape. GM went through a 10 year learning curve on air noise.
Gawd I hate diagnosing that crap.

 

[Loose Nutts off road]

I installed my Xtrusion Overland rack on my truck at a buddy's house, and then we hopped in the truck to drive up to my office, about a 30 minute drive on the interstate, to get my tent installed on the truck. That drive was the last time my truck didn't whistle while driving interstate speeds. On the drive back to drop my friend off at his house, I picked up a whistling sound with the RTT installed.

I have a 26 hour round trip drive coming up towards the end of the week, and I'm thinking I want to get rid of the whistle, if possible, to help maintain my sanity on my long drive. I'm looking for any ideas you guys may be able to offer to help abate the whistling! Here are some things to consider:

• The truck did not make the whistling noise with just the rack installed.
• The tent was installed and the whistling started at highway speeds.
• My traction boards and Rotopax were installed after the whistling noise had started, and are not the cause of said annoyance. :D

The only idea I have right now is to try to affix something to the bottom of the cross bars to maybe break up the airflow under the tent. Any other ideas!?!?
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Did you ever find a solution to this ? Going through it on my fj . When I had my smity bilt I had no issues , just went with a clam shell tent and it screams at high way speeds .

 

[GLOCKer]

Did you ever find a solution to this ? Going through it on my fj . When I had my smity bilt I had no issues , just went with a clam shell tent and it screams at high way speeds .

Yes! In the end, I moved the tent rearward roughly 1" to 2" and the whistle stopped!

 

[Loose Nutts off road]

Tha k you gonna give this a shot

 

[GLOCKer]

Tha k you gonna give this a shot

Good luck!