Hard top wind noise

[sm16]

This is something people need to get used to if they decide on any form of a Wrangler. It is a brick on wheels and a specific lifestyle. When one can flip down the windshield, take off all doors, and remove every aspect of the roof....I mean....that speaks for itself. The amount of seals and lack of traditional aerodynamic considerations goes out the window. Figuratively and literally.

I agree, I'm not complaining about the wind noise, but again, I don't think I have the issue others are describing. The purpose of my post was to just add a couple of more data points for comparison purposes. As of now, I'm loving the Jeep (my first).

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[WranglerMan]

Well my noise sounds like an air leak where the freedom panel meets the windshield but can’t feel any air it just sounds like a window is very slightly cracked open and I mean very little, sometimes it comes from the driver side but generally it comes from the passenger side, I am pretty deaf at my age and the DB app on my phone says it averages about 75 DB and I even moved my phone around while holding in my hand and it seems to hover around 73-77.

I will have to remove the screws that hold my windshield to the frame to install my Spiderweb shade and this will give me a chance to inspect the gasket, I have no water leaks but have noticed that with the passenger door closed the gap at the top on the passenger side is almost non existant, it does not rub or bind up but it’s almost no gap but looks even on the handle side, I figure once I inspect the window seal gasket and use some 303 on all the seals I will tighten the windshield back down and see if the air noise is still present but like I said it’s pretty much not terrible compared to what some are reporting

 

[Wfd1244]

I agree with you for the most part, however if you have viewed this thread and watched the videos there are some noises thatare not normal Jeep noises. What I now call the Door seal whistle is not a normal Jeep noise. It comes at around 70 mphs and usuualy in combination with some level of cross wind. This is why I stated, many pages ago, that before posting on this generically titled thread, please describe your particular noise I.E. 1.wooshing/rushing, 2.buffering/like a window is cracked, 3.windshield seal high pitch whistle/ rpm whistle and or mine 4. The door seal cross wind/70MPH's low pitch beep like sound. And for the record this is not my first Jeep.

I agree with you. I think there is still an issue with maybe some of the door seals/ corners, but for those of us that are just experiencing the sound of wind as new wrangler owners and we are coming from quiet cars and trucks, I’m thinking we might just be more hypersensitive to the noise.

I’m wondering if the gorilla glass upgrade might help with the noise. Maybe the acoustic windshield from the Alpine radio helps to deaden the wind noise as well.

 

[Skye]

I agree with you. I think there is still an issue with maybe some of the door seals/ corners, but for those of us that are just experiencing the sound of wind as new wrangler owners and we are coming from quiet cars and trucks, I’m thinking we might just be more hypersensitive to the noise.

I’m wondering if the gorilla glass upgrade might help with the noise. Maybe the acoustic windshield from the Alpine radio helps to deaden the wind noise as well.

I can say that my Rubi with the acoustic glass has a noticeable wind noise the moment I hit 40mph. Sounds like the top of the windshield near freedom panels.

 

[Wfd1244]

I can say that my Rubi with the acoustic glass has a noticeable wind noise the moment I hit 40mph. Sounds like the top of the windshield near freedom panels.

That’s where I notice the bulk of my noise as well. But even when I taped all the seams off (which should have muted the wind if there was an ISSUE with the seal) there was little reduction in noise.

Maybe jeep could produce a beefier seal where the freedom panels intersect with the windshield frame. There seems to be some excessive “dead space” where the water trough is, and they could potentially put a bigger seal there to maybe seal things up a little tighter.

 

[WranglerMan]

I can say that my Rubi with the acoustic glass has a noticeable wind noise the moment I hit 40mph. Sounds like the top of the windshield near freedom panels.

This is where my noise comes from as well and I don’t have the acoustic glass, I still have to install my sunshade so I can inspect the seal then, so far ( knock on wood ) my issues have been minimal compared to some and I have 1600 miles, I am hoping I can put 150k plus on it

 

[jlroman2]

It's definitely not a normal Jeep thing noise. I mean even when I had the freedom top and panels off, it felt quieter than when everything is on :cwl:

 

[BumpyTrail]

This might sound stupid but for those who have wind noise issues you might want to try a trick my old man taught me. Take a spray bottle with a heavy concentration or car wash soap to water. Spray the seals really well on an especially windy day and hop on the freeway with someone else in the jeep to look for bubbles. I was taught the trick to look for very small leaks on tires around the rim but it may work out for someone. Just trying to think outside the box.

 

[Devsfan3]

I can say that my Rubi with the acoustic glass has a noticeable wind noise the moment I hit 40mph. Sounds like the top of the windshield near freedom panels.

This is where my noise comes from as well and I don’t have the acoustic glass, I still have to install my sunshade so I can inspect the seal then, so far ( knock on wood ) my issues have been minimal compared to some and I have 1600 miles, I am hoping I can put 150k plus on it

I have the exact same noise. I'm not an engineer so I'm sure my terminology won't be correct, but I'm throwing this out there... If you remove your Freedom Panels (or fold your soft top back) you'll see there's a "channel" in the seal on the top of your windshield. At each outer corner, there's a hole that connects to a tube that runs down the frame of the windshield (I'm assuming for water drainage... Although I'm not sure how water would get in there in the first place with the top installed? Anyways..) When I fold down my windshield, I can see the bottom of the tubes. They're curved so that they point towards the front of the Jeep when the windshield is installed upright. Is it possible that at high speeds (40mph+) air is being forced into those tubes and up into that channel in the header seal? I won't have a chance to tape off the tubes to test until this weekend. Has anyone tried this? Thoughts on whether or not it's even feasible?

 

[PavementWarrior]

I wonder if the whistle is outside and not even going past gasket.

 

[WranglerMan]

Seems like my wind noise is now more evenly distributed across the whole windshield since I installed my SpiderWebShade, not sure how that’s possible since the gasket is at the top of the windshield, when I raised my windshield back up it’s pretty much a compression fit of metal to metal across the top as far as I can tell and there really no way to pinch the gasket as it’s above that area and I tightened all 4 screws evenly until tight

 

[NextStep9]

Seems like my wind noise is now more evenly distributed across the whole windshield since I installed my SpiderWebShade, not sure how that’s possible since the gasket is at the top of the windshield, when I raised my windshield back up it’s pretty much a compression fit of metal to metal across the top as far as I can tell and there really no way to pinch the gasket as it’s above that area and I tightened all 4 screws evenly until tight

I just thought I'd join this thread because I'm experiencing noticeable wind noise as well. The wind noise is more pronounced in my new, 2018 JLU ( just 300 miles now) than in my old, 2008 JKU! The wind noise seems to be coming from the front of the Freedom panels where they meet the top of the windshield frame. It becomes noticeable at 30MPH and quite noticeable at 60MPH. Initially, I thought that air might be passing through the surprisingly soft gasket that runs the length of the top of the windshield frame in front of the panels. However, as Devsfan3 points out, it could be a result of the new water drainage tubes for the Freedom panel channels. Hello quality control...are you out there!?

 

[WranglerMan]

I had installed my JLKini from SpiderWebShade and thought I maybe did not have the windshield fastened back correctly so I removed the freedom panels and wanted to make sure there was no pinched gasket and to my surprise there was not, there are two gaskets that run along the top of the windshield that has a channel in the middle and at each end the is hard tubing that I can only assume that the engineers put there to allow any water that agents by the first gasket a place to drain to and the second gasket is I am guessing a backup for the first as the freedom panels lay on both so again I am no engineer but I am assuming that since the gasket material so soft that air is actually getting thru the first gasket and creating some type of wind tunnel noise between the two gaskets, as I go down the road at 60+ mph it can get loud depending on which direction the wind is blowing but I cannot feel any air along the freedom panel edge.

I originally thought that maybe I did not have the windshield fastened back correctly but it’s only 4 bolts and there is a thin clear gasket ring at bolt hole so I cleaned the metal frame that was not dirty then applied a thin layer of synthetic grease over top of the thin clear gaskets at each bolt point then treated both top gaskets with 303 and then evenly tightened each bolt in a left right left pattern going from bolt to bolt to evenly get them tight then once done I treated each freedom panel gasket area with 303 as well and when it was all said and done “ I STILL HAD THE SAME DAM NOISE “ so I am thinking back on what my better half told me and that was if I wanted a luxury vehicle that was bedroom quiet I should have gotten a BMW or Lexus and not one that had a removable roof and folding windshield so unless they come out with a fix or one of you fine gents come up with one I am just gonna turn up my radio and live with the slight annoyance it’s a Jeep thing

 

[Go4aRyd]

It seems to me with very limited visibility that nearly all the “issues” with wind noise are from the freedom top. Anyone with a sun rider finding similar problem with wind noise? If so, please speak up.

 

[mtnsurfer]

I have dual tops. I only get the buffeting like a window is open when I have the hard top on. With the soft top, I don't that at all. I'm assuming it has something to do with the hard top flexing a bit.

The cross wind noise is with either top. It sounds like my windows are only rolled up 98-99%.

the funny thing is the jeep is almost quieter with the softtop down.

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