[buick_jay]

Hi again everyone -

We have recently installed the factory cross bars on our 2020 Buick Enclave. The wind noise is extremely loud, not always, but most times. The sound becomes quite pronounce at about 40 MPH and grows a bit louder to about 50 or 60, where it remains very noticeable. There are times when the sound isn't quite as bad, I assume it must have to do with cross winds or wind direction. When I place our Thule on cross bars, the wind sound is very quiet and is the volume I would expect with just the cross bars.

I did a search on the forum and I can't find too many people commenting on this. I double checked my installation and it looks correct. Any ideas?

 

[Trimcarp]

Hi again everyone -

We have recently installed the factory cross bars on our 2020 Buick Enclave. The wind noise is extremely loud, not always, but most times. The sound becomes quite pronounce at about 40 MPH and grows a bit louder to about 50 or 60, where it remains very noticeable. There are times when the sound isn't quite as bad, I assume it must have to do with cross winds or wind direction. When I place our Thule on cross bars, the wind sound is very quiet and is the volume I would expect with just the cross bars.

I did a search on the forum and I can't find too many people commenting on this. I double checked my installation and it looks correct. Any ideas?

Hi, I have a 2021 Acadia and I bought the roof rails as well. I have the same wind noise problem. I went to the dealer today and told them about the noise and they were no help whatsoever. They said that I could probably return them. I need the rails for my kayak, I’m not sure what to do except remove them in the fall and winter when I’m not kayaking. I traded in a 2013 Equinox with roof rails and they never made a sound. The dealer suggested that it may have something to do with the design and trying to get better gas mileage. That makes no sense at all. I’m having the same problem trying to find others that are having the noise issue.

 

[rbarrios]

on the 1st generartion. there was an ideal position to place the rails at for least noise. sliding them to this position is where Ive left mine at.
to tell you the truth- Ive never heard my rails make noise.
Also- on my crossrails- (my Traverse) the the rails actually had a little raised bump that was to face FORWARD.
Im pretty sure this was to disrupt airflow/noise.

Could your 2021 have similar setting/bumps.

look for something similar on yours.

note the bump on the leading edge- that is to face FRONT

 

[Trimcarp]

on the 1st generartion. there was an ideal position to place the rails at for least noise. sliding them to this position is where Ive left mine at.
to tell you the truth- Ive never heard my rails make noise.
Also- on my crossrails- (my Traverse) the the rails actually had a little raised bump that was to face FORWARD.
Im pretty sure this was to disrupt airflow/noise.

Could your 2021 have similar setting/bumps.

look for something similar on yours.

note the bump on the leading edge- that is to face FRONT

That’s how mine is, the bump is in front. The aerodynamic part faces the back. Since they screw into the rails they can’t slide, they have a set location. Unfortunately they’re not adjustable whatsoever.

 

[rbarrios]

bummer they went to non slideable.

 

[90AllTrac]

I have the roof rack bars on my 2018 Avenir - don't hear a thing up there regarding road noise. I would think mine are the same as those used on 2020 / 2021 models - I don't think they would have changed the design.

 

[alb]

I had a 2017 Enclave with the racks. They made a bit of noise when at highway speeds, especially on windy days. Wasn't terrible, but noticeable.

 

[buick_jay]

I was the OP, and as it turns out, I have a friend in town with a 2018 Enclave and cross bars, who had far less wind noise. Upon closer inspection, my rear cross bar was facing backwards (the little ridge was in the back, not the front)! I'm going to be testing it out at highway speeds soon, but this was clearly my own fault. I'm (hopefully) glad it was that easy.

Now, when I had the Buick DEALERSHIP review the issue and confirm the excessive wind noise, I would have really appreciated them actually looking at the installation and flagging this. I'm a little disappointed they didn't see this rather obvious miss. I got into a huge debate with the dealership over the noise, spoke with a manager, etc.. They never even looked at the cross bars.

I'd like to thank the posters here (rbarrios) for making me double check the installation. Call this case closed!