• Welcome to H4O! For a reduced ad experience, please login or register with the forum.

Whistling roof light bar fix

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Hey guys, (Sorry for the large pictures/ long post...)

Recently installed a 50" light bar over my windshield and drove it to college this morning and my god... the light bar was screaming in the wind like a banshee... wait, scratch that, more like a banshee from hell... Soo I sat down and did a little searching on the subject and found that a bunch of heep (Jeep) guys were using automotive door edge trim to quiet the wind noise down on their bars... Soo went to Advance Auto and picked up 36' worth of the trim... (It's a flexible black rubber with a groove down the center with some adhesive inside.) Soo I pulled my light bar off and started fitting the adhesive along the bottom fins of the bar. Going all the way across, then cutting the excess off with scissors. It was actually a really good fit. Covered all the lower fins to the middle, then just took what was left, cut it into 6 pieces and covered the rest of the fins as far as the trim would reach, starting from the outer edge. I'm happy to report that the banshee from hell screeching/screaming of my bar is 95% gone... Now all you can hear if you really listen closely is a slight whistle, kinda the sound I'd expect from a roof rack, but if you have music playing,a louder exhaust, or are having a conversation with someone, you can't even hear it... Just thought that I'd post up a fairly cheap fix for the light bar whistling that some of us have been dealing with recently. (Apologies in advance if this has already been mentioned/discussed on the forum.)

**** If you plan on using your light bar often or for extended periods of time this may not be the best fix because you'd be partly covering where the heat comes out, I don't plan on ever wiring mine up (More for looks).

attachment.php
These are the fins that caused the loud whistling.

attachment.php
This is what the edge trim looks like, $25 for a quieter light bar = worth it to me. :thumbs:

attachment.php
Picture of the groove.

attachment.php
This is what they look like once they "bite" around the heat fins.

attachment.php
Not the prettiest but it does get the job done.

attachment.php
Bottom view where most of the noise was coming from... (Has the trim on it)
 

Attachments

  • 20150414_105856.jpg
    20150414_105856.jpg
    348.9 KB · Views: 3,276
  • 20150414_105849.jpg
    20150414_105849.jpg
    390 KB · Views: 4,513
  • 20150414_104943.jpg
    20150414_104943.jpg
    420.3 KB · Views: 4,396
  • 20150414_104457.jpg
    20150414_104457.jpg
    378.2 KB · Views: 4,153
  • 20150414_102900.jpg
    20150414_102900.jpg
    367.4 KB · Views: 4,423
  • 20150414_102745.jpg
    20150414_102745.jpg
    399.7 KB · Views: 3,557
Messages
1,248
Location
New Jersey
Good idea, i might need to do it to mine, is there any worry that that bar might get to hot and not be able to cool down as well if the cooling channels are covered up like that?
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Yeah that's what I thought about... I'm wondering if you just put the trim on the sides of the fins, maybe 8-10" in from the outside... maybe that would quiet the sound down/ disrupt the harmonic, resonating whistle as well as allow enough opening for the heat to escape... (I've read some jeeps putting a few strips of electrical tape vertically on the fins and that quieted the sound?) But mine isn't gunna be wired/ever turned on soo I went all out... :wink:
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Lol @ buying a 50" light bar for looks and not wiring it up. Wtf..

Yeah, it was a cheap ching chong $120 bar... body is metal/aluminum... reason for not wiring was/is the incredibly sketchy wiring... was a fire hazard waiting to happen, with all the meltable plastic.
 

RamRod

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,914
Location
AB, Canada
Yeah, it was a cheap ching chong $120 bar... body is metal/aluminum... reason for not wiring was/is the incredibly sketchy wiring... was a fire hazard waiting to happen, with all the meltable plastic.

huh? your light bar isn't ever going to be hooked up!?!
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
change the angle of your light.... it solves most of the whistle problem. Mine still whistles, but, believe it or not the amount of moisture in the air and temperature is what causes the whistle the most.

the underlying issue is sharp, leading edges - if the air moves across a 90* bar, it will whistle. I also found it's only the leading edge that causes the issues
 

derian06

Red Rockett
Messages
1,866
Location
Madison, AL
Yeah, it was a cheap ching chong $120 bar... body is metal/aluminum... reason for not wiring was/is the incredibly sketchy wiring... was a fire hazard waiting to happen, with all the meltable plastic.

I have two of those ching chong bars as they're bright as **** you should spend the 15$ and buy the wiring kit. It's worth it. Never had a problem with either of mine. Had them on for hours at a time.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
huh? your light bar isn't ever going to be hooked up!?!

As of right now, nope... maybe later, but I'm happy just with the look of it right now. (Plus my KC's give off more light then my brights and fogs combined, soo I can depend on them if I'm ever out in the dirt at night.) I honestly just wanted something for the roof b/c it looked soo barren up top and I couldn't afford a roof rack... soo the next best option was a cheap bar, plus I'd bought the brackets from Solidus soo I was obligated to put em' to use. :giggle:
 

Graham2990

Well-Known Member
Messages
132
Location
TN
I have two of those ching chong bars as they're bright as **** you should spend the 15$ and buy the wiring kit. It's worth it. Never had a problem with either of mine. Had them on for hours at a time.

^ What he said.

You're already several hundred dollars into the setup, what's another $15 to actually make it functional?

Function > Fashion
 

taylorblake831

Well-Known Member
Messages
323
Location
western washington
Yea idk kinda seems like the guy the sticks comp cams sticker on the window of a bone stock mustang looks like it might do something but in the end all show and no go, I'd rather be functional than flashy but that me, the light looks good you should wire it up and if your skeptical about the wires you got with it get better stuff but don't buy to light gauge wire because that'll over heat it and start your fires


-TEXAS FOREVER-
 
Last edited:

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
I threw all the wiring that came with all my LEDs in the trash. Ran all my own wiring with relays and the switches I wanted. I think you'll have issues with the light head going out before you'd have wiring issues...
 

USMC_315

Well-Known Member
Messages
590
Location
Northern VA
Is this a common problem with these LED lights, I wanna get a 50" Rigid Industries bar to put in the stealth rack once I'm gonna get. Also would you guys recommend the spot or the flood LED bars from Rigid Industries? I understand the difference, but which one do you prefer and why?
 

USMC_315

Well-Known Member
Messages
590
Location
Northern VA
the rigid industries has three different kinds of bars: flood, spot, and a hybrid of the two. I guess the hybrid may be the way to go, didn't realize they had that
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
I'll take a picture, but part of my whistle is gone - I put black silicone in the corners of the light bar... of course, that still leaves what might be one from a pulley on the motor and the one from the radio...
 
Top