Bonobojones
Active Member
- First Name
- Jason
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2022
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 39
- Reaction score
- 271
- Location
- Paso Robles, CA
- Vehicles
- 2022 Rivian R1T Adventure, 1989 Isuzu Trooper
- Occupation
- Winemaker
- Thread starter
- #1
I'm 16 months, 32,000 miles and 2 wine harvests into my R1T being my work truck, and still can't believe how good this thing has been. Now I'm a bit atypical when it comes to a being a Rivian owner, as this is only my 4th vehicle ever. A 68' Beetle , 89' Trooper, 14' F-250, and now this. I carried a Thomas Guide in all my previous vehicles, so if you're here for panel gaps, ceramic coatings, UI critiques, AA/Carplay discussions, I'm not that guy. If someone ripped out my screen and replaced it with a tape deck so I could listen to the collection of Dead bootlegs I scored at Goodwill a couple years back, I'd be just as happy.
What I am here for though is just the pure joy I still get from driving my truck. I still have the "Holy Shit, I can't believe they actually built this thing" feeling when I drive it. This may not be the Jetson's future I was promised as a child, but its pretty fucking good! The power in the purest sense of how heavy and solid it is, but still feels nimble and easily accelerates me out of any merge/passing situations that arise is just such a good feeling. The towing performance is so beyond what I'm used to.
I'm in Ag, so just towing from grow site to processing, max 30 miles, for my use case unbelievably perfect. If your tow expectation is a 40ft travel trailer, well, look eleswhere unless you are a patient traveller. But the thing I can't get over is that I decided, with something like the 5,000th vehicle this company ever built, to just beat the shit out it. And (knocks on wood) it is going so strong.
I routinely haul 10,000+ lbs loads over rough ass terrain. I fully expected it to die, but now I just expect to get where I'm going. I got a family of 5 over 30 days on the mountain during the snowiest winter in the Sierra I can remember. This truck was like a Husky in the snow, and if you know a better feeling than sitting on the gear tunnel door, drinking a solid tall boy and taking off ski boots, well, you are living a finer life than the vast majority of humans in history. It supplied me fire road camp outs during Sand Dollar surf trips, a camp pad in the bed with the gate down is about as solid a sleep set up as I've found. I pulled multiple vehicles out of mudslides and had the favor returned to me a few times as I just wanted to know what the limits were during the wettest winter in recent memory here on the Central Coast. Newsflash, Kramer would not be impressed as this thing is not a mudder. It is so heavy and tires not wide enough so just sinks in real mud.
As a side note, I would recommend the heavier duty under guard. I buckled a couple panels trying to forge deep mud and getting pulled out. And the aerodynamic hit you take with flaps hanging is noticeable. Hopefully a SC visit will help me out, but I knew very well I was taking vehicle 250+ miles away from any SC, so patiently waiting to get things fixed.
I've got at least 7 solid dings already, but when you load with forklifts daily, and use it as an actual work truck, well that's the breaks. But to me, a truck without dings and scratches isn't truck. I only hope it lives long enough to earn a nice patina of worn paint as any well loved truck gets. So just plain kudos to all the engineers, designers, assembly workers, and beta testers who helped pull this thing off. Job fucking well done. And all of you that liked my first post a year ago, I'll be reaching out to you in February after I bottle that Pinot Noir that were the first wine grapes every towed in an electric truck. I'll send a bottle for you to enjoy, hopefully sitting on your Gear Tunnel door at the favorite place your Rivian can take you.
What I am here for though is just the pure joy I still get from driving my truck. I still have the "Holy Shit, I can't believe they actually built this thing" feeling when I drive it. This may not be the Jetson's future I was promised as a child, but its pretty fucking good! The power in the purest sense of how heavy and solid it is, but still feels nimble and easily accelerates me out of any merge/passing situations that arise is just such a good feeling. The towing performance is so beyond what I'm used to.
I'm in Ag, so just towing from grow site to processing, max 30 miles, for my use case unbelievably perfect. If your tow expectation is a 40ft travel trailer, well, look eleswhere unless you are a patient traveller. But the thing I can't get over is that I decided, with something like the 5,000th vehicle this company ever built, to just beat the shit out it. And (knocks on wood) it is going so strong.
I routinely haul 10,000+ lbs loads over rough ass terrain. I fully expected it to die, but now I just expect to get where I'm going. I got a family of 5 over 30 days on the mountain during the snowiest winter in the Sierra I can remember. This truck was like a Husky in the snow, and if you know a better feeling than sitting on the gear tunnel door, drinking a solid tall boy and taking off ski boots, well, you are living a finer life than the vast majority of humans in history. It supplied me fire road camp outs during Sand Dollar surf trips, a camp pad in the bed with the gate down is about as solid a sleep set up as I've found. I pulled multiple vehicles out of mudslides and had the favor returned to me a few times as I just wanted to know what the limits were during the wettest winter in recent memory here on the Central Coast. Newsflash, Kramer would not be impressed as this thing is not a mudder. It is so heavy and tires not wide enough so just sinks in real mud.
As a side note, I would recommend the heavier duty under guard. I buckled a couple panels trying to forge deep mud and getting pulled out. And the aerodynamic hit you take with flaps hanging is noticeable. Hopefully a SC visit will help me out, but I knew very well I was taking vehicle 250+ miles away from any SC, so patiently waiting to get things fixed.
I've got at least 7 solid dings already, but when you load with forklifts daily, and use it as an actual work truck, well that's the breaks. But to me, a truck without dings and scratches isn't truck. I only hope it lives long enough to earn a nice patina of worn paint as any well loved truck gets. So just plain kudos to all the engineers, designers, assembly workers, and beta testers who helped pull this thing off. Job fucking well done. And all of you that liked my first post a year ago, I'll be reaching out to you in February after I bottle that Pinot Noir that were the first wine grapes every towed in an electric truck. I'll send a bottle for you to enjoy, hopefully sitting on your Gear Tunnel door at the favorite place your Rivian can take you.
Sponsored
