Wind Noise from A-pillar - solved!!!!

[JTTexAM]

I wanted to post my solution to this as it's been driving me insane. I haven't seen anyone else post about this (but admittedly haven't read every thread on the forums). Hopefully this is helpful to someone else.

I've been having a wind noise from the passenger side a-pillar that sounded like I had a window open slightly. Around 70 it would even whistle a bit, so I knew it was an air leak somewhere.

I spent hours chasing this down with painters tape and finally found the solution. Unfortunately it comes down to poor design...

The windshield outer frame is attached to an inner support structure that is welded to the outer frame using stitch welds. However, between those stitch welds there is enough of a gap for air to wrap around the a-pillar, come back forward and through the gap into the interior.

The solution is easy enough - fold the windshield down and apply RTV sealant to the seam underneath both of the drain spouts that run along both sides (you'll see the seam where the outer reinforcement is welded to the outer frame). Allow time to cure, and problem was solved.

Hope this helps someone else.

Edited - added pics. You can see the seam just on the inside of the window frame that air gets into. That seam wraps around to a weld joint just underneath the drain tube. Next to that you can see the RTV that I added to solve this problem.

Bump. This worked. Thank you!!! I folded the windshield down and taped all those stitch seams with hvac tape and not only is that horribly loud whistle gone, but nearly all the wind noise the Jeep had is now gone. Even if you're not experiencing the "whistle," this is still a mod you want to do.

Sponsored

 

[jc99]

Bump. This worked. Thank you!!! I folded the windshield down and taped all those stitch seams with hvac tape and not only is that horribly loud whistle gone, but nearly all the wind noise the Jeep had is now gone. Even if you're not experiencing the "whistle," this is still a mod you want to do.

@ JTTexAM Did you take any pics of the tape job?

 

[JTTexAM]

I somehow did not. I know, Busch League…

I grabbed this windshield frame photo off the web. Look at the body seam with stitch welds on it that I circled in red. Those seams go across the top and sides of the frame. I can’t remember if there’s any on the bottom. The foil hvac tape worked perfectly, but now that I know it works, if I had to do it over, I’d use RTV to seal them. Hope that helps.

 

[azwjowner]

If you're doing this, RTV isn't really the proper substance here. Strip caulk is a better choice: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_LB/p/d/v000074302/

Sponsored