[joe_pinehill]

Subaru replaced my roof rack with flaking paint on good will, yay!.

But I notice the new rack makes wind noise that I never noticed. Is there a front a rear cross member that they might have switched, or an optimal location for them?

Im thinking of removing both since i dont use the rack.

 

[serotta]

I remove both of the crossbars and the noise is gone.

I also heard that changing the distance between the bars will make the noise go away or minimize it.

 

[ScoobyRu]

I recently removed mine and put them in the spare tire area to see if my mpg goes up. No sense in keeping them on all the time when I will only use them one season of the year.

I had the front bar right behind the sunroof, and the rear bar right in front of the rear rail mounting bracket. No noises, even with the sunroof open.

 

[plain OM]

Is there a front a rear cross member that they might have switched

Yes, they are different lengths; the longer one goes toward the rear. On my cross members there's a small rectangular label at one end with wording to read the instructions, but also a small diagram of a car with an arrow pointing down to the roof. The arrow position is different on each, showing which is the forward and which the rear cross member.

Did you have the cross members on the roof rails before the rails were replaced?

 

[joe_pinehill]

Looked at the rack, the cross rails were backwards. Front facing Rear. First I looked, it was obvious, the rail is shaped like an airfoil. Plus the arrow with FRONT it.

Switch the rails, no more noise.