Interesting buffeting story

[jdeastbay]

Long story short, have a 16 Denali with 20k miles since new with no buffeting / vibration issues. About 2 weeks ago I rammed a Qtip off my left eardrum in an overly aggressive hygiene move. Hurt like hell, but faded a in few hours. But the next 4 days of driving were torture, and only when driving. Otherwise my eardrum was fine. Mind you I'm sea level with no elevation changes in my daily commute.

It was similar to being in a plane with pressure issues during the descent. And would leave me groggy post my 1 hour commute each way. Took an hour or so to gather my marbles. Almost set an appt at the dealer but by the 5th day my eardrum must have fully healed and the buffeting went away. And have not had any issues since.

My assumption coming out of this is all our vehicles have it, but it's at a level that is not perceivable by the human body (except those unfortunate folks where it's beyond obvious). And wow do I have empathy for them fighting this issue as it took all the fun out of driving the rig. It sucked.

 

[AngelXL]

So maybe some of those swimming ear plugs or similar might help.
Or just grab some wax and put them on you ears...

 

[fiatdale]

Definitely an interesting story. And you must have terrible ear hygiene. lol

 

[NowZoomer]

My assumption coming out of this is all our vehicles have it, but it's at a level that is not perceivable by the human body (except those unfortunate folks where it's beyond obvious). And wow do I have empathy for them fighting this issue as it took all the fun out of driving the rig. It sucked.

Good story, I've been saying this all along that it's a driver perception issue but that all trucks do have it

 

[ajs800]

^^Ditto^^ and I will add that I think the severity of the buffeting/pressure varies from vehicle to vehicle.

 

[2011SSVHOE]

Yea, but you shouldn't have to wear earplugs in a 70k vehicle. I know when I had my 2012 Impala If I put my rear windows down a little to give the dogs some air, there was a terrible wind noise that nobody could stand. When I was a kid riding around with my parents , we didn't have a/c and drove with the windows down all the time, no terrible wind noise just fresh air. It's got to be something that needs a wind tunnel to check it out completely.

 

[AngelXL]

Yea, but you shouldn't have to wear earplugs in a 70k vehicle. I know when I had my 2012 Impala If I put my rear windows down a little to give the dogs some air, there was a terrible wind noise that nobody could stand. When I was a kid riding around with my parents , we didn't have a/c and drove with the windows down all the time, no terrible wind noise just fresh air. It's got to be something that needs a wind tunnel to check it out completely.

Thats pretty much with every truck or car now a days.
When I take my dog to the park and take my wife's truck is the samething.
You have to crack the other windows just a bit.

 

[SnowBuck]

Doing 70 on the Jersey Turnpike. Cracked the right rear window. WHOA - thought my brain was draining outta my ears!!!!!

 

[jdeastbay]

Doing 70 on the Jersey Turnpike. Cracked the right rear window. WHOA - thought my brain was draining outta my ears!!!!!

I could have cut my original post down to just your last line. That captures it well, mind you with the windows up though!

 

[PG01]

Doing 70 on the Jersey Turnpike. Cracked the right rear window. WHOA - thought my brain was draining outta my ears!!!!!

Thats just because you were in jersey........

 

[Danny3737]

The directions on the Q-Tip box clearly states "Stop pushing when you feel friction"

 

[WillCO]

Yea, but you shouldn't have to wear earplugs in a 70k vehicle. I know when I had my 2012 Impala If I put my rear windows down a little to give the dogs some air, there was a terrible wind noise that nobody could stand. When I was a kid riding around with my parents , we didn't have a/c and drove with the windows down all the time, no terrible wind noise just fresh air. It's got to be something that needs a wind tunnel to check it out completely.

This is physics we're talking about. The rules don't bend. I'd bet a dollar your parents understood the buffeting noise and adjusted your windows so that it didn't happen and you didn't notice they did that as a kid. Else, the geometry of your childhood car happened to avoid it.

Personally I have never ridden in any car where you could not create that buffeting situation by experimenting with different combinations of windows partially open.

 

[Illnasty]

Interesting, sorta like those noise machines that keep mosquitoes away. Young people can hear it but older folks can't.

 

[Nashoba]

I, too, believe all vehicles produce buffeting. The advent of flush window mounting stopped a lot of it, but it is still there and is most noticeable at speeds over 60 mph for me. However, I have learned to tune it out. The only thing that has produced unacceptable buffeting is the addition of hood wind deflectors. I have not had one on my last few vehicles but on the 2003 Suburban we had, the reduction of the wind pressure on the front windshield caused the windshield to make so much noise as it moved around that I took the deflector off and sold it in a garage sale. It was horrible in earlier trucks that had the chrome strips around the windshield. Drove me nuts.

 

[pvtser]

I have a 2016 Yukon XLE. With the front windows open a small bit you will get the buffeting. Open up the rear windows a crack and the pressure balances out. In my old Trailblazer EXT the rear wing windows OPENED UP and this pressure buffeting issue went away!!! If GMC/Chevy would only have the rear wing windows open up again there would be no issues. Its all about saving manufacturing costs.

 

[cardude2000]

I have a 2016 Yukon XLE. With the front windows open a small bit you will get the buffeting. Open up the rear windows a crack and the pressure balances out. In my old Trailblazer EXT the rear wing windows OPENED UP and this pressure buffeting issue went away!!! If GMC/Chevy would only have the rear wing windows open up again there would be no issues. Its all about saving manufacturing costs.

The buffeting issue people here are talking about occurs with all windows closed.