Hi I am new to the forum and have already looked at the posts regarding wind noise from the expedition roof rack and see its a recognised problem among those with one fitted. I had bought front runner deflector but it was only made for a Discovery which wasn't really a problem on size, its just not really well suited to expedition for fitment. I am still considering fitment options but I am also considering cutting off the front flat steel plate and then wrapping a bungee cord along each runner to help deflect the wind.

I realise the flat steel plate is for strength but I dont intend putting anything heavy up front anyway.

If anyone has tried this, did it help? Or do you have any other suggestions?

Many thanks in advance.

 

Are you talking about the flat steel piece that is on the bottom of the rack, perpindicular to the rack itself? If so I think that is supposed to be a wind deflector. Personally, I don't mind the wind noise so much, but at highway speeds in any kind of cross wind it begins to act like a sail! Good luck on getting the noise down.

 

I guess, you'll never know till you try. I would only add that cutting off the OEM (wind-tunnel-tested out the wazoo) faring to attach a different faring with bungees sounds, at least to my untrained ear, less than ideal.

I just had a very scientific test-bang on mine. Looks and sounds to be Aluminium like the rest of the rack, so easier to cut I guess. Maybe not.



I have the rack and it carries stuff that make wind noise. Doesn't bother me enough to mod.

I think with roof racks there's a certain truth to not being able to have your cake and eat it too. Wind noise is just par for the course.

 

Thanks for the replies. Now I have it off the roof I think I will try to somehow mount the frontrunner to it first before proceeding to cut it off.

To be honest I thought it would be there for strength rather than aerodynamics based on it being flat resistance. When driving if you put your hand on the headliner at 50mph you can feel the downward force which would fall correctly from where the front flat plat is.

I dont often use the rack so might just leave it off until I need it if the front runner doesn't fit or work as desired!

 

I have concluded that roof racks on these trucks are suitable only if the Defender is a dedicated camping/overlanding/adventure rig. On a daily driver that is regularly driven on the highway it is a bother. Good luck getting it sorted.

 

We attached a Colorado Fairing Company fairing to our expedition rack. To make it fit well, we did cut 2 slots in the steel piece of factory fairing you're speaking of. It didn't completely eliminate wind noise, but certainly brought it down to a tolerable amount.

 

thanks for the reply and image, the one I have looks very similar to yours, I will see how best to make it fit.

Will update the post if I manage to succeed!

 

This is awesome and am on their website this morning poking around. What size did you buy ?

 

I join the group that would recommend avoiding a bungie as part of the solution. Keep working on other fasteners as that one may not last. I applaud the "alternative engineering", but I'd reserve that for a temporary fix.

Here's another plug for the Colorado Fairing Company. I met a guy at SCARR who had one and swore by it. He was the "real deal" with off-roading his Defender and has put miles on his 2020. Sorry, that I forgot the size, worse - can't find the e-mail! But I wrote them asking the size and got a quick response. It's on my "list" but I'm saving my pennies for some BajaDesigns lights. Might be a project down the line. Here's some pics I took of it:

 

Hi Grousek,

Can you confirm if the roof rack is the OEM expedition rack or a different make? I can't quite tell.

Kind regards