Side Mirror Wind Noise Fix

[Mach-Lee]

I've developed a fix for the wind noise coming from the side mirrors. Previous testing reveled a reduction in noise when these areas are covered:

Others have reported some success caulking the gaps with Dynaflex, but personally I find that a bit sloppy. If the caulk doesn't go well or cracks later on, it's a pain to remove and redo.

So instead I decided to try 3mm window screen retainer spline:

The end result looks okay and does reduce the wind noise somewhat to 62-65 dB @ 70 MPH:

We'll see if it comes loose in time, but I wind tested it to 90 MPH and it stayed put. There is still a small horizontal gap at the front of the door trim (small tape triangle in first photo), I'll need to do some additional testing to see if that's worthwhile to cover or not. The gap is not constant there, so the spline won't stay put. I may try a small piece of PPF to cover that gap.

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[Neil4Real]

Did you notice a difference between the caulking and spline or same performance just hopefully more longevity and cosmetics?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

So … in the past 27 months … I’ve apparently had the solution in the garage with my car the whole time. Figures.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Did you notice a difference between the caulking and spline or same performance just hopefully more longevity and cosmetics?

I personally didn't do the caulk, I think it would have the same performance though.

 

[MustangBarry]

I use a piece of black plastic electrical tape to cover the gap. It is virtually invisible and pretty much stopped the wind noise on the drivers side. I haven‘t heard similar wind noise from the passenger side.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

I wind tested it to 90 MPH

“But officer, it was for science!”

 

[GatorJ_MME]

The end result looks okay and does reduce the wind noise somewhat to 62-65 dB @ 70 MPH:

What was the noise measurement before the fix?

 

[DevSecOps]

Did you notice a difference between the caulking and spline or same performance just hopefully more longevity and cosmetics?

Although a spline tool has a similar appearance to a caulk, I wouldn't think the performance would be equal. The spline tool has a wheel on the end that could cause internal or cosmetic damage. Use with caution! /s

 

[doogie63]

Ford needs to come up with a fix, so we don't have to jerry-rig our 60k luxury car.

 

[Kmp14]

I used RTV, it looks ok. No one has noticed it or asked.

 

[Neil4Real]

Although a spline tool has a similar appearance to a caulk, I wouldn't think the performance would be equal. The spline tool has a wheel on the end that could cause internal or cosmetic damage. Use with caution! /s

Good point. My wife and I, more my wife, did an amazing job caulking the gap on both sides, looks factory. Some caulking got on the paint at the bottom to properly fill it (couldn't really fill the horizontal part though). Only 2 weeks in, but hopefully it holds up well!

 

[azerik]

Interesting. I might do this just to do it. I'm almost fully deaf in my left so it's no real wonder I havn't noticed.

 

[mkhuffman]

There is wind noise coming from the mirror?

 

[stealthytolkien]

Ford needs to come up with a fix, so we don't have to jerry-rig our 60k luxury car.

Tesla owners have entered the chat, carrying foam, double sided tape, splines, cardboard, and maybe even a hammer to finally fix that damn rattle in their Tesla by giving it what it deserves. . Lol.

 

[markboris]

There is wind noise coming from the mirror?

Must only be on some cars like the windshield/glass roof noise that's only on some cars. I had that one and added the rubber strip between the two pieces of glass but I have absolutely no noise coming from the mirrors on either side.

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