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Wind deflector for the Sky One-Touch Roof?

JimSa

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Thanks! I sent them a note effectively adding a +1 and some more details. I believe that just about anyone with a light bar will experience this to some degree.
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MarkyMark

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Thanks! I sent them a note effectively adding a +1 and some more details. I believe that just about anyone with a light bar will experience this to some degree.
Thanks JimSa!!!! Hopefully the nudge works. question: What light bar are you using? Have you considered trying to make a wind deflector to mount behind it?
 

JimSa

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I have a rigid 50" dual row. I have a few things I am going to experiment with, but getting a piece of that rubberized floor molding that has a curved tail (where it would typically meet the floor) is on my list. I've heard it can be pretty effective creating a little wing to redirect the airflow when inserted into the trailing edge fin blades. Alternatively, if I knew if the Westin JK windvisor would even fit the JL, I might shell out the $70 to give it a go.

Regarding soft top adjustments, I have the new Bestop TrekTop Ultra. For the older NX style, folks talk about tightening springs and having some luck but there are no such adjustments on the latest model that I can find. It's all shock/strut.
 
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MarkyMark

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I have a rigid 50" dual row. I have a few things I am going to experiment with, but getting a piece of that rubberized floor molding that has a curved tail (where it would typically meet the floor) is on my list. I've heard it can be pretty effective creating a little wing to redirect the airflow when inserted into the trailing edge fin blades. Alternatively, if I knew if the Westin JK windvisor would even fit the JL, I might shell out the $70 to give it a go.

Regarding soft top adjustments, I have the new Bestop TrekTop Ultra. For the older NX style, folks talk about tightening springs and having some luck but there are no such adjustments on the latest model that I can find. It's all shock/strut.
Hoping you'll post some pictures when you're done so I can see what you did. I was looking at the Westin JK windvisor. . . but couldn't find anyone who had done it on the JL. Plus some of the reviews were pretty bad that it came off after a month. If it would stay on and fit the JL, I think it might do the trick. . . .
 

Data23

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I have a JLU with Sky one-touch as well, I didn’t had any noise issues until I installed the KC Hilites 50“ Pro6 LED light bar. The noise is noticeable at above 55MPH. Any deflector for JL out there? Any help will be greatly appreciated
 

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JimSa

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Hoping you'll post some pictures when you're done so I can see what you did. I was looking at the Westin JK windvisor. . . but couldn't find anyone who had done it on the JL. Plus some of the reviews were pretty bad that it came off after a month. If it would stay on and fit the JL, I think it might do the trick. . . .
I saw that this thread was touched for the KC round lights. While I don't have any answers there, I thought I would provide an update on my effort to limit soft top flapping noise with dual row rectangular light bar. First off, I feel like I need a wind tunnel, because there is a lot of trial and error for sure.

I tried the rubberized baseboard trick. I cut it down to two inches in width and inserted it as a wing into the top lightbar heat sink fin with the tail curved upward. That definitely helped some and raised the speed at which the soft top starts flapping to about 60 mph.

Next I tried blocking the airflow that comes under the lightbar with some foam pipe tubing. This made the flapping and noise unbearable. It started at about 40 mph. Thinking about it, it suspect the air that comes up from under the lightbar creates some interference for the air that is going over it. Blocking the underside probably creates a low pressure area which draws the air going over the top downward to the soft top. Just a guess... Anyway, because of how the Westin attaches in this same area, I concluded it probably wasn't going to help me.

Next, I added using some rubberized baseboard inserted into the lowest fin, but once again with the tail curved upward. This mostly covered the lower fins with a smoother contour. I was guessing that this might approximate the lower half of an aerolidz solution This only gave me slightly better results and the flapping started about 63 mph. I may try a slightly wider rubber baseboard wing on the bottom and a shorter (more rigid) wing on the top. I'm not that hopeful about this, but I was thinking that a more rigid wing on top would keep the air going up rather than being possibly flattened by higher speed wind.

In just about all cases, angling the lightbar slightly downward so the rear point of the natural contour points slightly upward, seemed to help. Anyway, I'm still not happy with it, but it has improved some. I'd like to try an aerolidz, but I don't want to shell out $150 only to find out it didn't work...

If I ever find anything better, I will post back.
 
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MarkyMark

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Really appreciate the details. Plz keep us informed. If you have any pictures of what you’ve done that would be great.
 

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Really appreciate the details. Plz keep us informed. If you have any pictures of what you’ve done that would be great.
I experimented a little more. A double wing on the top had *slightly* better results. The top still flaps above 60, so the threshold hasn't changed, but it reduced the amount of rattling I get in the soft top frame/tracks a little more. So I guess it's a little less violent. (See Picture Below) The top most rubber baseboard was cut to about 1" wide while the next one down was cut to 2" wide. Also, the back of each fin has black plastic car door edge molding on it. That was done to remove any tonal resonance on the blades.

If I had it do over again, I wouldn't buy a rectangular light bar. Since this was a pretty expensive Rigid bar, I should have used the money on a KC or BD bar with round lights. While a previous poster still had troubles with KC, the round lights disperse the air better. Also, the mount and where it lines up with regard to the brow of windshield is a pretty big deal as well. The amount of gap also has an effect. I've though about drilling another mount hole slightly further out, giving a little more gap between the bar and the brow.

Hope this helps someone...

Jeep Wrangler JL Wind deflector for the Sky One-Touch Roof? IMG_5484.JPG
 
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MarkyMark

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Very helpful. Thanks for the pictures. I am curious, did you try a "substantial" air foil/damn in place of those two? Something which stuck up 3-4 inches? If so, what were the results. Thanks again for being the test pilot. I was looking at a light bar and now think I'll stay away from a roof mounted one.
 

JimSa

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Very helpful. Thanks for the pictures. I am curious, did you try a "substantial" air foil/damn in place of those two? Something which stuck up 3-4 inches? If so, what were the results. Thanks again for being the test pilot. I was looking at a light bar and now think I'll stay away from a roof mounted one.
I did (sort of) in my first attempt, by not cutting as much of the 4" baseboard off. I started with a 3" wide strip. It didn't help as much, and I believe it was because at that length the rubberized baseboard material would flex and flatten more (not as rigid), as it got further away from the fins/blades it was inserted into that support it. I hope that makes sense. I think a bigger wing/foil would probably work better if it was rigid. I'm just out of ideas on what material to use. But for this reason, I think the Aerolidz is interesting. It's not a lip, but rather more of a standard teardrop wing that encases the bar in clear plastic, but I think the leading edge curve in front of the bar would help a lot as well. Thing is, it would be a spendy experiment. I need to check with them and see if I could return it...
 

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I saw that this thread was touched for the KC round lights. While I don't have any answers there, I thought I would provide an update on my effort to limit soft top flapping noise with dual row rectangular light bar. First off, I feel like I need a wind tunnel, because there is a lot of trial and error for sure.

I tried the rubberized baseboard trick. I cut it down to two inches in width and inserted it as a wing into the top lightbar heat sink fin with the tail curved upward. That definitely helped some and raised the speed at which the soft top starts flapping to about 60 mph.

Next I tried blocking the airflow that comes under the lightbar with some foam pipe tubing. This made the flapping and noise unbearable. It started at about 40 mph. Thinking about it, it suspect the air that comes up from under the lightbar creates some interference for the air that is going over it. Blocking the underside probably creates a low pressure area which draws the air going over the top downward to the soft top. Just a guess... Anyway, because of how the Westin attaches in this same area, I concluded it probably wasn't going to help me.

Next, I added using some rubberized baseboard inserted into the lowest fin, but once again with the tail curved upward. This mostly covered the lower fins with a smoother contour. I was guessing that this might approximate the lower half of an aerolidz solution This only gave me slightly better results and the flapping started about 63 mph. I may try a slightly wider rubber baseboard wing on the bottom and a shorter (more rigid) wing on the top. I'm not that hopeful about this, but I was thinking that a more rigid wing on top would keep the air going up rather than being possibly flattened by higher speed wind.

In just about all cases, angling the lightbar slightly downward so the rear point of the natural contour points slightly upward, seemed to help. Anyway, I'm still not happy with it, but it has improved some. I'd like to try an aerolidz, but I don't want to shell out $150 only to find out it didn't work...

If I ever find anything better, I will post back.
 

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Very helpful. Thanks for the pictures. I am curious, did you try a "substantial" air foil/damn in place of those two? Something which stuck up 3-4 inches? If so, what were the results. Thanks again for being the test pilot. I was looking at a light bar and now think I'll stay away from a roof mounted one.
Im not sure if you found a solution, my Rubicon is on order, but I had started thinking about this very subject. I did find these from Gobi that go with their racks, but are also sold separately. Has anyone tried with success?

https://www.gobiracks.com/product/jeep-wrangler-jk-2-4-doorwind-deflector/
Thanks
 

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Very helpful. Thanks for the pictures. I am curious, did you try a "substantial" air foil/damn in place of those two? Something which stuck up 3-4 inches? If so, what were the results. Thanks again for being the test pilot. I was looking at a light bar and now think I'll stay away from a roof mounted one.
B9BB39E5-82E9-49E3-A4BA-376D26D3B045.png
 

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Just picked up mine yesterday and didn’t think it was loud at all on the highway. It’s a soft top. Not going to be as quiet as a hardtop. I did order the hot heads liner. More for heat dispersion and to help keep the cold out in the winter. As long as it’s not raining or below 30 I’ll have mine open!! Sky touch was the main option I had to have when I ordered mine!
 

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I love my sky-one touch!
That said, if there was a simple solution for noise reduction... then why not?

Looks like this thread died without a solution.

Did anyone find anything?
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