I blew $260 on a knockoff roof rack for my Civic, and it howled at 45 mph

Tried to save cash and skipped the OEM crossbars, so last weekend on I-70 the wind noise got so bad I had to shout to my buddy in the passenger seat. Anyone got a brand that actually stays quiet, or do I just eat the loss and buy the real thing?

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fisher.faith3h ago

Did you check if it's the rack itself or just how it's mounted? In my experience most of that howling comes from the bars sitting at a bad angle or the fairing being too small, not the brand. I ran a cheap Amazon rack on my old Corolla for two years and it stayed pretty quiet once I slid the crossbars back a few inches and added a $30 wind fairing. Not saying the OEM stuff isn't better, but dropping another few hundred might not fix it if the setup is the real problem.

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