Which OEM Roof Rack?

[venture]

I just got a 2006 V70XC.... really looking forward to really using it smile.gif

So, getting ready for summer fun, I need to get a roof rack and have been trying to figure out the pros and cons of the OEM sqaure bars versus the wing rack.... so hopefully you all can help...

I had a Thule rack on my previous car with the fairing - a BMW sedan - so I am set to use the OEM square bar rack, but my issues with it were that they created a lot of noise and reduced fuel economy. And it seems that I can get mounts for my Thule gear for the Wing Rack.

So, here are my questions:

How bad is the wind noise of the square rack versus the wing rack? How about fuel economy? How about if I add a fairing?

If the load bars are placed further back on the roof will the wind noise be reduced significantly? How well does this work with the square bars?

I have the Thule Big Mouth bike rack - will it work with the wing rack?

Thanks for the info....

[Art]

Welcome Venture. :)

There are plenty of past threads discussing the merits of both rack styles. Without getting into a long winded debate, I'll get right to your questions.

The wind noise with respect to the square profile bars is pretty bad IMO. Shifting the bars back will likely help to some degree but I simply remove mine altogether when they’re not in use. I can’t comment on the benefits of the fairing, but I’m certain that others who have installed them will chime in with their thoughts. I have doubts that fuel economy would suffer a great deal with the square bars.

It’s quite possible that any good Thule retailer would be able to adapt your Big Mouth to the wing bars. It might require a slightly longer washer plates and different holes to attach the trays to. That said, it would be less of a hassle to just go with the square bars.

I opted for the 48” Volvo square load bars as they were cheaper, at the time, than the Thule versions.

[babalu87]

Jaffarian Volvo
Wing profile bars
Fit like a glove and look like they were on the car when it left Sweden

[dr.tb.xc]

Hi Venture. Contratulations on your new XC70. [thumbup]

I've got the Volvo square profile bars (made by Thule) on my XC, but unlike Art, I'm far too lazy to remove them when they're not in use. My big concession to reducing drag was to finally remove the Thule Evolution I've been riding around with for nearly a year.

Yes, the bars are noisy and probably do produce a bit of drag, but I love the look and practicality of having the Thule fork-mount bike carriers up there. My front bar is placed just behind the trailing edge of my sun roof, which is as far back as I can get it without the Evolution interfering with the tail gate operation. It's still too noisy for my taste, so I'm currently shopping for a Thule fairing (maybe a 555).

In order to make it all work I believe I'll have to slide the whole assembly forward as far as possible. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to tilt open the sun roof without it making contact with the fairing.

I'll snap a few photos and submit them along with a review as soon as I get it all in place.

-Todd

Oh, and Art, my volvoXC.com decal just arrived in the mail today. Can't wait to get it on the back window!

[Jack]

My 0.02usd:

My Thule bike racks are on Volvo square bars that I remove (quickly) after use. The bars make noise but so do the racks! I use the wing bars for my Evolution ski box. It's on all winter and the combo is much quieter.

I tried the universal Thule square bars and found that they scratched the aluminun roof rails -- the shape wasn't quite right to fit the Volvo rails. They seemed to make more noise than the Volvo square bars too.

Over the years my experience with SAABs and Volvos is that the Thule made factory branded racks work better and are reasonably priced. Can't say the same for the factory boxes and accessories though!

[Low Tide]

Wing are silent if put in the right position. Square are more versatile and easier to get on and off (5 minutes tops). I use wing for bikes/XC skis and square for the kayaks. Two sets are nice if you plan to use the bars for multiple purposes.


Just my opinion though. Go for retail Thule mounts. The volvo ones are sometimes the same, often inferior.

[venture]

Thanks for all the great input....

I went by the Volvo dealer yesterday evening to get a detailed look at the two types of crossbars.... there were three types of bars! The square bar, the aero bar, and the wing bar....

So, appearently, the aero bar is a new style bar from Thule... this is the bar with a rubber strip on top. As such, Thule has a bunch of carriers fitted to this bar - and they have an adaptor for the Big Mouth bike carrier.

Does anyone have experience with the Aero bars?

It seems that they would fall in between the square and wing bars for wind noise....

Thanks again for all the info....

[venture]

Wing are silent if put in the right position. Square are more versatile and easier to get on and off (5 minutes tops). I use wing for bikes/XC skis and square for the kayaks. Two sets are nice if you plan to use the bars for multiple purposes.


Just my opinion though. Go for retail Thule mounts. The volvo ones are sometimes the same, often inferior.

Thanks Low Tide...

What do you use to mount the bike/ski carrier to the wing bars?

[littlewaywelt]

One thing to keep in mind is rack space. If you do the aero/wing option you are limited to what you can fit between the factory rails. If you go thule bars, you can always get longer/wider bars, and load them outside the rails. If you plan on using a box, it will take up about 70% of the space between the rails in most cases. That translates to a box and two bikes being very tight.

[Low Tide]

Thule makes fit kits for both the aero and the wing bar setups. The newest bike carriers come with both types of bolts- or they did the first year anyway. If not, all you need it the "T" bolts- call Thule if they don't come in the kit, and they will send them to you for no charge if you ask nicely.

[Art]

I went by the Volvo dealer yesterday evening to get a detailed look at the two types of crossbars.... there were three types of bars! The square bar, the aero bar, and the wing bar....

So, appearently, the aero bar is a new style bar from Thule... this is the bar with a rubber strip on top. As such, Thule has a bunch of carriers fitted to this bar - and they have an adaptor for the Big Mouth bike carrier.

Actually, the Thule aero/rapid load bars have been around for a while. It’s just that the other two styles have more or less been targeted as the primary choice of bars for the XC and therefore tend to dominate the forum discussions. Just to add to LWW’s comments, I believe the Thule brand rapid aluminum aero bars are offered in three different lengths. I’m merely guessing that the Volvo oval bars are only available in the 48” size.

The overall appearance of the either the Thule or Volvo aero bar install kit is much cleaner and no plastic accessory knobs are visible as in the case with the mounting hardware for the square profile bars. The aluminum look would also tie in with the newer roof rails of the XC.

The adapter kit and instructions can be viewed on Thule’s website here. (http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/instructions/501518502,%20xadapt2%20vwadapt.pdf)

The Volvo aero bars can also be purchased online in the link below:

http://vparts.autowebaccessories.com/store/volvo-xc70-v70-cross-bars-prod126_172_1135.php

[Low Tide]

Oh, and on the aero bars.... these are the European standard x-bar. They never have launched them in the US market (formally). I tried to get them, but ended up with the wings instead. My preference was originally for the Aero- since you can carry more on those than on the wings. The wings are also more difficult to remove- and the standard locking cores do NOT fit the wing.

[venture]

Oh, and on the aero bars.... these are the European standard x-bar. They never have launched them in the US. I tried to get them, but ended up with the wings instead. My preference was originally for the Aero- since you can carry more on those than on the wings. The wings are also more difficult to remove- and the standard locking cores do NOT fit the wing.


That's wierd - I went by one of the local Volvo dealers and saw all three types of bars - they even had an XC70 with the Aeros already installed.

[Low Tide]

No, not weird.... Volvo stocks them, that's the point. (sic). ;)

The Aero bars are what Thule sell to retail stores in Europe. If you go to a US Thule dealer, you will ONLY see SQUARE bars...... ie: North America gets SQUARE. Europe gets AERO.

IMO, the AERO bars are much more versatile and certainly better looking than the plain ol' black chunk commonly avail. The only caveat is the need for T bolts in order to get the aero to work with US market accessories.

Now that XC rails are aluminum, the Aero bars would look pretty damn sharp(e), as in BARRY SHARPE! :p

Is that more clear?

[budrichard]

Yakima, the only way to go! Best designs, best features and made in the USA. I have three Yakima racks. Each iteration has been better than the last. The current fits on my 03XC and carries canoes and kayaks. I have a Yakima rear for bikes to avoid lifting. In most cases, a single bike goes inside the vehicle anyway. -Dick

[airprakken]

Yakima for me. Going to buy Low-rider towers today which attach directly to the side rails, plus 48" round bars and gunwhale braces. The purpose is carrying a canoe. I plan to remove the bars when we are not carrying, so noise is not an issue (i.e. canoe makes noise too).

So, this is another approach: Buy towers which are extremely easy to get on and off and run with side rails only under normal conditions.

[gibbons]

I got they Yak set up and whacked the cross bars flush with the side of the mount. I think it looks nice, and I can carry anything I need to with the narrower bars. The noise was driving me crazy though, it wasn't wind noise, it was a resonance that sounded like a musical instrument. I added a fairing and it absolutely fixed it. I was amazed.

[MD-Daddy]

The noise was driving me crazy though, it wasn't wind noise, it was a resonance that sounded like a musical instrument. I added a fairing and it absolutely fixed it. I was amazed.

To bad you/we could not tune them! Just goes to prove the statement that "You can tune a piano, but not a tunafish." :-) Honestly, if anyone had done it it would had been you Gibbons!

Also, how about some pics of the '68! My cowork is in the final (ok ok, its never over) rebuild of his 68. Total restore down to the frame. He found a a 68 NASCAR engine in a Malibu rusitng in a Nebraska field recently...the numbers don't match, but the RAW power has him more excited than a 4 year old a Christmas. Send pics please.

MDD

[dr.tb.xc]

"You can tune a piano, but not a tunafish."Close, MD-Daddy, very close, but is this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000025C6/qid=1151274975/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8588630-9461555?s=music&v=glance&n=5174) what you were shooting for? In your defense, it was the '80s--a thoroughly forgettable decade. It sounds like you may remember more of it than I probably can. :confused:

Also, how about some pics of the '68!And, yes please, Ken, let us see some photos of that Chevelle SS. It can't all be about our Volvos, can it?

-Todd

[AWD*V70XC]

I have aero's and that little rubber strip saves any load moving. They are just the best.

They are locked on with a torq spanner, and guess what? they even give you that in the box. What a slick bar(s), they somehow make the car look a bit bigger without too much ??????......mmmmmm overkill, that's it, over kill.

If your dollars stretch that far, they are the ones you want.

[dr.tb.xc]

I have aero's and that little rubber strip saves any load moving. They are just the best.Gee, I've been happy with my poor, little, spartan rectangular profile Volvo/Thule bars, but now I'm startig to feel . . . inadequate. :o :( Maybe I should dump them on eBay and start over with a new set of uber-cool aeros. I wanna be cool, too. :cool:

Any bidders out there?

-Todd

[MD-Daddy]

They even had an XC70 with the Aeros already installed.

We bought our aero's when we picked our XC up in Sweden. They were in the back when we picked it up at the US dealership. 15 minute install; I had to fend off a 3 year old with a phillips head!

MDD

[BillAileo]

Hey, that hurts! I just got my "poor, little, spartan rectangular profile Volvo/Thule bars" and I thought that was cool....

Bill

[dr.tb.xc]

Hey, that hurts! I just got my "poor, little, spartan rectangular profile Volvo/Thule bars" and I thought that was cool....Saaaaay, Bill, if two bars look cool on your XC, just imagine how cool four would look. PM me. We'll work something out. :D

Second thought, if they're cool enough for you, they're cool enough for me. Think I'll keep 'em.

-Todd

[venture]

OK, so after reading all the input in this thread and others on line - was still a bit of the fence..... I figured I would stick with Thule style crossbars - as opposed to the Volvo wing profile bars. It would be easier to get gear down the road.

So then it was between the square and oval bars. In either case, buying from Volvo was cheaper then buying from a Thule reseller. Especially the oval crossbars.

I went with the square bars - at first..... I figured I could use the square bars with all the gear I currently have, and not have to buy any adaptor kits. At first everything went extremely well - I drove around with the sunroof open and didn't hear much from the bars. I was quite amazed - on my other car the open sunroof would be way too loud without a fairing. Yeah, I hadn't put the fairing on.... I was quite happy with the setup.

Then I closed the sunroof.... that's when I hear it - an amazingly loud howl. This wasn't going to be any good. It looked like I needed a fairing.

Before I tried the fairing, I went and got the oval profile bars - I figured I'd give them a shot before putting on the fairing... I wasn't too keen on the look of the fairing halfway back on the roof, it looks so much cleaner without the fairing.

OK, the oval profile bars are almost silent - I was up to 80mph and didn't hear anything with the sunroof closed. With the sunroof open there was more wind noise, similar to the square bars, but not loud - and quite tolerable. And the oval bar just look nicer on the car then the square bars...

So that's it, oval cross bars for me.... and no fairing.... now I need to get some adaptors.

Thanks for all the input everyone.