Hard top wind noise

[Sftdyna0326$]

I've believe I've been able to confirm, that it's not the hard top. (the cross wind beep)( or 70+MPH beep) It's something with the drivers door trim. Namely the top left corner, those seals. There's a lot going on there. As an experiment I added some seal material there to try and flatten out a noticeable pucker on the door seal trim and I made the noise more frequent. I took it out and it's back the way it was (only @high MPH 70+ or cross winds). I'm not done experimenting, but me thinks that's where the problem is.
I just do not have time for the dealer right now, but am keeping track of this thread waiting for the fix to be found..

I completely believe you are 100% correct!!! That’s where the wind noise is loudest and I also put come flat weather stripping there just to see if there is a difference. I believe there actually was but wasn’t really able to test it on the highway as my wife and I were driving locally and I didn’t want to leave the the material on to long because it would have been a bitch to get off. I’m not done playing with it so I may try again when we will be on the highway.

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[smithrd65]

I have the hard top liner on my JL Rubicon (YES they help with the HEAT and sound) but again I also must be lucky no wind noise like everyone is saying. I did remove the front freedom Top and let the front window down and made sure gasket was no pinched it was rolled a little but not major and ZERO leaks. Its even better now.

Just what I did to help myself.

 

[nola22]

I have a '16 JK hardtop (with the mopar headliners) and mine is lightyears quieter than any of the 4 JLs I have test driven as of late.

But here is a sad comparison:

Brought my JK in for service and did another test-drive (JL Sahara), rushing wind-noise (not whistle) was prevalent starting at around 35/40 mph and unable to hold a conversation at regular interstate speeds, again much louder than my JK. Immediately after this test drive I jump in the loaner they provided while my car is in for service ('17 JK base model, hardtop no headliners). We do the damage walk around, the passenger side exterior sail panel (black triangle trim piece right above the sideview mirrors) is missing. That leaves 3 open holes (mounting areas) that basically have the door cavity open to the elements, largest of which is about a square inch. Driving around at interstate speeds with this you could absolutely hear the wind noise coming from the exposed areas, but it was still on par, if not a tad quieter, than the JL was (mind you the JL had alpine and thus acoustic windshield).

 

[Dynomite1371]

I have the hard top liner on my JL Rubicon (YES they help with the HEAT and sound) but again I also must be lucky no wind noise like everyone is saying. I did remove the front freedom Top and let the front window down and made sure gasket was no pinched it was rolled a little but not major and ZERO leaks. Its even better now.

Just what I did to help myself.

The sound that was filmed by myself and another member and exists somewhere in this thread has nothing to do with the hard top much less the liner, IMHO.

 

[smithrd65]

At this point I have no issue with my JL Rubicon and I hope all goes well with others. My only idea is check the gasket seals. The passenger side is just as quiet as the driver side. The only issue I see is the very back glass gasket looks as if its melting but after looking into it its black glue and is very tacky I fixed that.

Last make sure all floor plugs are in if air comes in it has to get out some where as in water it will take the path of least resistance IE windows, doors were ever. Last adjust your side mirrors so they want cause noise that will resonate that side of the vehicle. I'm just pointing out the obvious spots but again if I am wrong just thinking out loud.

Go through a BRUSHLESS car wash have someone sit in the backseat and when it goes into dry mode listen and feel for air may help you find it. My

Neighbor used an electric leaf blower to find his air leak.

Best of luck

 

[mtnsurfer]

I haven’t had a Wrangler in many years but this bitch is dam loud! I’ve got no whistles or buffeting but honestly it all seems to be next to the doors. I may play around with taping off sections just to see! I can easily deal with it as is but I love to tinker with things so I may start adding thin sections of door sealing strips just to see if the sound changes.

Around the door is where I'm hearing the wind noise as well. It mainly starts when I go above 40. I have tried it with the hard top and the softtop and I get the same noise.

 

[jamotn]

This should be easy to quantify, get a noise (dB) meter and collect data on your Wrangler and borrow one of the dealer lot and take the same measurements. I hate it when dealers say something clearly unacceptable is “normal”, it’s like there telling me I’m either stupid or lying.

If you go to the Harley dealer with any problem that might be a bit difficult to fix ,the standard reply is:"they all do that".

 

[Wfd1244]

So just a little update:

I posted in the forums about a month an a half ago. At the time, I was a two week old brand new JLU sport S owner with 864 miles on the vehicle. I had no whistling or high pitched whines, just an excessive amount of wind noise at 40 mph and above. It would be louder at higher speeds and in cross winds. The noise seemed to be coming directly in the middle of the windshield near the top bar of the windshield frame.

I personally taped off where the windshield met the windshield frame; no reduction in noise. So you can theoretically rule out that the windshield itself was installed improperly.

I then took the Jeep into the dealer thinking they had more time, and thus would be more likely to isolate the origin of the wind noise and fix it. I sure thought wrong.

For the first two weeks I’m pretty sure they didn’t do anything. I finally began making dealership visits every other day, just to get them to keep working on the issue.

They supposedly contacted Jeep engineering and began a Star Case on it; having the engineer tell them to tape off certain sections at a time to locate the “air leak” and find the source. But to no avail.

Finally, after having my Jeep in the shop while driving a rental car, I went in today and just picked it up. They were unable to fix the noise; the normal technician was gone and I was told supposedly they have another foam piece on order.

I told them just to let me know when the parts come in and I would bring it back. I believe their next move should just be beginning to replace any and every seal that has to do with the front windshield frame, door surrounds, or freedom top seals.

There has to be a solution to this wind noise promblem. One of my friends had a JLUR with hardtop and has no wind noise. How can half the Jeeps on the lots have excessive wind noise and half don’t. There has to be some windshield seal somewhere that either was properly or improperly installed. Simple as that.

The hardest part is getting the dealership to proactively look into this issue and replace things until it fixes it. The technician did tell me that once he taped the entire Jeep front off, the noise went away. So that’s the only positive thing I can take away from this.

Jeep cares said there won’t be a recall because it doesn’t effect the “safety” of the vehicle. I’m now left with a loud Jeep and adhesive residue all over the front and windshield. Maybe I’ll just endure it for a while and let Jeep figure out the problem; who hopefully offers a solution soon.

 

[Devsfan3]

Jeep missed a fantastic marketing opportunity here...

BRAND NEW for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL, Jeep is proud to introduce the Automatic Passenger Mute function!! Are you tired of listening to your wife/husband/child/dog drone on and on while driving your Jeep?! Are you always getting in trouble for "not listening" to your significant other?! The All-New Wrangler JL solves your problem! And the best part? It requires absolutely NO input from the driver to function! All you have to do is drive your new JL Wrangler at normal highway speeds, and you'll be completely unable to hear anyone else in the vehicle! It works like magic!! No more getting yelled at for not listening - you can now honestly respond with "Honey/child/dog, I just can't hear you!" Available NOW at a Jeep Dealership near you!

*Note - not every Jeep has this exciting new feature, so make sure you test drive every vehicle on the Dealer's lot to find the one that works best for you!

 

[muskynut]

I have the JLU SportS, and fortunately I do not experience any of what I have been reading above. In my JK I had all kinds of wind noise coming from around the window, How the front windshield is designed for the JL there should be no wind coming in around it. As for the cross wind it has to be the door seals.

 

[klhjeep2018]

I wish you all luck in getting this problem FIXED!!!
I must be lucky, No wind noises at all, I have had the jeep for 2 1/2 weeks and drove through 3 bad down pours with no leaks as well. I've had 2 JK'S in the past and my JL is a lot quieter at all speeds, even at 85 mph. I have a hard top with the factory headliner. Makes no sense why some have issues and others do not. Again Best of Luck to anyone with this problem.

 

[Wfd1244]

Jeep missed a fantastic marketing opportunity here...

BRAND NEW for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL, Jeep is proud to introduce the Automatic Passenger Mute function!! Are you tired of listening to your wife/husband/child/dog drone on and on while driving your Jeep?! Are you always getting in trouble for "not listening" to your significant other?! The All-New Wrangler JL solves your problem! And the best part? It requires absolutely NO input from the driver to function! All you have to do is drive your new JL Wrangler at normal highway speeds, and you'll be completely unable to hear anyone else in the vehicle! It works like magic!! No more getting yelled at for not listening - you can now honestly respond with "Honey/child/dog, I just can't hear you!" Available NOW at a Jeep Dealership near you!

*Note - not every Jeep has this exciting new feature, so make sure you test drive every vehicle on the Dealer's lot to find the one that works best for you!

This is hilarious! I feel like all I can do at this point is laugh. If the JL wasn’t leaps and bounds better in almost every area (except for cabin wind noise) than the JK, if I had to buy another Jeep, a quiet JK would be tempting.

I plan to start taping mine of and try to find the source myself. I’ll update on my findings.

 

[Devsfan3]

On a more serious note, I've created a Google Form to start trying to collect some data about our wind noise... PLEASE fill out the survey here: https://goo.gl/forms/NMQlmtEIve70CDeL2. I'll post both raw data and analysis as people start responding.

Also please let me know if you have any suggestions for questions to include!

 

[Ict_JL]

This is hilarious! I feel like all I can do at this point is laugh. If the JL wasn’t leaps and bounds better in almost every area (except for cabin wind noise) than the JK, if I had to buy another Jeep, a quiet JK would be tempting.

I plan to start taping mine of and try to find the source myself. I’ll update on my findings.

How about meeting up and comparing our jeeps and see if we can find a difference

 

[Kenc]

So just a little update:

I posted in the forums about a month an a half ago. At the time, I was a two week old brand new JLU sport S owner with 864 miles on the vehicle. I had no whistling or high pitched whines, just an excessive amount of wind noise at 40 mph and above. It would be louder at higher speeds and in cross winds. The noise seemed to be coming directly in the middle of the windshield near the top bar of the windshield frame.

I personally taped off where the windshield met the windshield frame; no reduction in noise. So you can theoretically rule out that the windshield itself was installed improperly.

I then took the Jeep into the dealer thinking they had more time, and thus would be more likely to isolate the origin of the wind noise and fix it. I sure thought wrong.

For the first two weeks I’m pretty sure they didn’t do anything. I finally began making dealership visits every other day, just to get them to keep working on the issue.

They supposedly contacted Jeep engineering and began a Star Case on it; having the engineer tell them to tape off certain sections at a time to locate the “air leak” and find the source. But to no avail.

Finally, after having my Jeep in the shop while driving a rental car, I went in today and just picked it up. They were unable to fix the noise; the normal technician was gone and I was told supposedly they have another foam piece on order.

I told them just to let me know when the parts come in and I would bring it back. I believe their next move should just be beginning to replace any and every seal that has to do with the front windshield frame, door surrounds, or freedom top seals.

There has to be a solution to this wind noise promblem. One of my friends had a JLUR with hardtop and has no wind noise. How can half the Jeeps on the lots have excessive wind noise and half don’t. There has to be some windshield seal somewhere that either was properly or improperly installed. Simple as that.

The hardest part is getting the dealership to proactively look into this issue and replace things until it fixes it. The technician did tell me that once he taped the entire Jeep front off, the noise went away. So that’s the only positive thing I can take away from this.

Jeep cares said there won’t be a recall because it doesn’t effect the “safety” of the vehicle. I’m now left with a loud Jeep and adhesive residue all over the front and windshield. Maybe I’ll just endure it for a while and let Jeep figure out the problem; who hopefully offers a solution soon.

You described my situation and the way I feel 100%. It really is a shame because I absolutely love my JL over my JK except for this crazy wind noise and I just feel that they have no intentions of doing anything about it..... “because they all sound that way” which is not true.

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