How come I've never heard of this complaint until today when I entered the title of this thread into google after popping down the shops for the first time since installing my shiny new rack?? - sounds like a frigging singing Mogwai on the roof!?
Annoying- Make sure the are zero gaps in the rails top and bottom
Ran 591's on the roof of the car for 7 years, just left them on, never heard anything from them. Even in extreme winds nothing, only issues i had and tbh wasnt really an issue was when the car was standing and it rained used to get a river of water down the windscreen when i moved the car, other than that nothing they did the job perfectly.
Really terrible whistle with x3 591's on a mk5 Golf. Anything over 30mph and it whistles. Badly.
I bought the new Thule wingbars to go with the carriers which are actually excellent. Uber quiet and return good mpg however thats thrown out the window when the Pro-rides are on.
Apologies to mr Thule. I just took it off and went for a drive - it's definitely the bars humming amazing grace rather than the bike rack!
Have two Thule 591s on a Suzuki Jimny and I never experienced that whistle.
Well you can't expect to have stuff on the roof and for not to hear anything. Wing bars on their own are pretty quiet, but the bike racks are not aerodynamically shaped so you're going to get some noise from them, whether it's a whistle or a roar. Just depends if its articulately noticeable in the car cabin. I don't notice it in my SMax with wing bars and three 591's unless I listen specifically for it.
Thule aero and a 591 on 3 series saloon and never had the whistling you describe and tbh don't notice any difference in fuel economy whether the 591 is mounted or not. As above, make sure you set the bars up properly with no gaps on the underside.
Got the rubber strips in?
Second the rubber strips - I left a couple of inches out when I fitted mine a while back, just being lazy, and it whistled like crazy until I sorted it out.
I had em in up to the Thule, but empty on the other ends, have patched up now, will report back...
I didn't want to cut my rubber strips so used insulation tape to cover up the gaps.
Sealed all holes, including small slots on the u/s if the bars, whistles no more! Doh
When I had two on the roof they were silent. When I moved to four, they whistle. Nothing changed except the spacing. All rubber strips installed correctly. Doesn't bother me.
sounds like a frigging singing Mogwai on the roof!?
Actually laughed for about 5 minutes at that 😆 Best description i have ever heard for rack whistle. My roof rack on my Connect whistles like buggery, i'm gonna be laughing my ass off on the motorway when i think of that.
