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Old 12-22-2011, 06:01 PM   #8 (permalink)
aerohead
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rack

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sentraguy View Post
How heavy of a hit do roof racks make on a vehicle if they have an air dam to divert the air over the bars? Is there any impact if the only thing on the vehicle is the side rails, until the rest is needed?
If you had a ScanGauge you might alter the rack as your were thinking about,then attach it temporarily,test it,then decide.
I'm not sure how to think about the air dam itself.It would mean quite a frontal area increase.And that would be permanent.
I've seen many racks in which the crossbars were the lowest drag item on the vehicle.They're operating in the fastest air around the body due to the way the windshield divides the airstream,so their local drag is deceptively high,but might be lower than with the airdam.Maybe you can get 'results' without setting anything into cement.
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