or not ?? I have the side steps, for muddy friends to stand on them it would be handy to have roof rails as well. and they look kind of expedition cool... but do they whistle and/or make noises on the motorway daily grind runs ?? thanks for the comments guys !

I think you will find that any noise is caused by cross bars that may be fitted to the rails, these have been known to cause a whistle or buffeting depending on the make.

You mention that "muddy friends" use the side steps? coupled with the fact that you posted in the green laning section originally and want the rails for them to hang onto, I think its an accident waiting to happen, personally.

thanks - so roof rails (without side bars) do not make noise ?

I did not know I was accidentally posting in the greenlaning section, have never done that but would be interested to try. No, I am not irresponsible, guys hanging on is purely for quick transport across flat fields. I don't want accidents. If you could repost to general forums rather than greenlaning, thanks.

Mine always whistled, especially at about 40mph. Got really loud when cross bars added.

I have the rails and Thule aero crossbars and can't hear any noise at all. I used to have the same crossbars on pedestal footings before I had rails and they were noisy then.

All roof bars will give some increase in wind or vibration noise IMHO.
Obviously there is an Australian company and a few others with some aerodynamic ones but for everyday driving unless the roof bars are essential I would not fit them, they will have some noise effect and also a drag factor which increases fuel consumption.

Not driven a single vehicle irrespective of make that had totally silent roof bars

Regard
Ben (GONE) FL2 2008 SE (manual) Santorini Black, the expensive one
(LEFT WITH) 300tdi Defender 90 the cold, reliable & sensible one

Thule is a world wide brand. Probably one of the biggest companies that sell such products.

I inherited LR roof rails when I bought my car. Thankfully I get no whistling or vibration at all.

I wouldn't have bought roof rails myself, but they have come in handy. Especially when transporting the family Christmas tree each year!

Thule (pronounced toolay) are Swedish I think? I had the square shape on first and they were horrible. The aero shape is much quieter. The Thule ones also sit a lot higher off the roof than the Land Rover ones so don't seem to set up a resonance with the roof area that makes the noise louder in the car. I don't hear mine at all now.

I have Prorack Whisbars - and they just "whisb"  10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

I fitted some LR rails and cross brace about 4 weeks ago and only notice a slight hummm at over 65mph but nothing serious.
Can't comment on the noise from cross bars as I only fit them when carrying a load and so don't go too fast but I would imagine the hummm would be a lot louder at speed.

Are they worth fitting - yes if you are a DIY man and need to carry timber, fence panels etc and don't want to dirty the interior.

If you are a family then yes as when combined with a roof box they will double your load space. The small boot space is about the only thing I can fault with my FL2.

Purely for cosmetic purposes - then no. Tattoos - Why would you choose to look like the wall of a public toilet?