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diranged

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Ok, writing this up on my phone - so forgive the brevity. Short story.. we took a snowy drive in South Lake Tahoe to Lower Echo Lake. I stopped short of driving down the last section of the trail because it seemed like a bad idea. Then while walking down to the lake, we found a stuck Subaru with the family (and small child). Against my better judgement, I drove down the last section of the hill and we got them out. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that while trying to make it up the hill to leave we slid a little off track and bashed into a rock probably 2’ in diameter. Because we were trying to maintain upward momentum, we were moving pretty quick when we hit it, so it was not a light tap. We backed up, took a different line, and made it out.

Ok! So it’s obviously driver error.. but we did learn a few things.

1. No matter how much snow-experience you have, 7000+ Lbs is really hard to handle in the snow. There really isn’t much I think Rivian can do here.. other than lighten the car over the years as battery tech improves.

2. I hit that rock HARD. I did damage the wheel and front corner bumper… but surprisingly everything is solid still. I’m really surprised the damage isn’t worse.

3. I’m not going to repair the wheel for now - just going to swap it with my full sized spare. If I did replace it, it’s apparently a $500-$600 wheel. That’s a very reasonable price for how solid it is. My wife’s Infinity wheels are $1100 each!!

4. Rivian is going to replace the corner bumper piece, and the wheel well liner. They’ll come to my house to do it. The cost of parts and labor is $750, which seems like a deal. Sure, I might be able to do It cheaper myself - but honestly it’s still like $500 in parts, so spending $250 more for them to do the work is a no brainer.

Rivian R1T R1S Bumper/Wheel Damage while recovering a stuck Subaru. Rivian replacing R1T bumper for $750 10BCAB20-D8F0-4707-8B90-2A2B8B45B482


Rivian R1T R1S Bumper/Wheel Damage while recovering a stuck Subaru. Rivian replacing R1T bumper for $750 F797BCB5-F8FD-4659-9555-51999C430B95


Rivian R1T R1S Bumper/Wheel Damage while recovering a stuck Subaru. Rivian replacing R1T bumper for $750 EA78528F-90D3-4D46-9FF7-65E527BBFB2C


Rivian R1T R1S Bumper/Wheel Damage while recovering a stuck Subaru. Rivian replacing R1T bumper for $750 ACB45A50-3D49-4613-96E3-60F9FE2E3028


Rivian R1T R1S Bumper/Wheel Damage while recovering a stuck Subaru. Rivian replacing R1T bumper for $750 2AD78183-6D38-433C-A67D-A9451E3CE99A
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COdogman

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Good on you for helping. What’s the saying? No good deed…..

Too bad you can’t pay for your repairs with good karma.
 
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diranged

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Good on you for helping. What’s the saying? No good deed…..

Too bad you can’t pay for your repairs with good karma.
Those were my exact words… I was frustrated for a while, but they got out of the entire situation and got home safe… and that’s what matters. To their credit, they sent me some money as well as a thank you - which they really didn’t have to do. So it’s all good.
 

Donald Stanfield

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Yeah that sucks. I wonder if something like those snow traction socks would be beneficial for situations like this. I live in a place where I don't really have to deal with snow anymore thankfully but I have too much myself.
 

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COdogman

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Yeah that sucks. I wonder if something like those snow traction socks would be beneficial for situations like this. I live in a place where I don't really have to deal with snow anymore thankfully but I have too much myself.
I’ve never tried those socks but I thought they could only be used on the road? I could be wrong about that.
 

Donald Stanfield

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I’ve never tried those socks but I thought they could only be used on the road? I could be wrong about that.
Could be. I've only ever seen them here TBH. I would think with that amount of snow packed surface it wouldn't really matter though. Hopefully someone who has used one can chime in because I'm certainly no expert either.
 

Daily22ssv

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Ok, writing this up on my phone - so forgive the brevity. Short story.. we took a snowy drive in South Lake Tahoe to Lower Echo Lake. I stopped short of driving down the last section of the trail because it seemed like a bad idea. Then while walking down to the lake, we found a stuck Subaru with the family (and small child). Against my better judgement, I drove down the last section of the hill and we got them out. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that while trying to make it up the hill to leave we slid a little off track and bashed into a rock probably 2’ in diameter. Because we were trying to maintain upward momentum, we were moving pretty quick when we hit it, so it was not a light tap. We backed up, took a different line, and made it out.

Ok! So it’s obviously driver error.. but we did learn a few things.

1. No matter how much snow-experience you have, 7000+ Lbs is really hard to handle in the snow. There really isn’t much I think Rivian can do here.. other than lighten the car over the years as battery tech improves.

2. I hit that rock HARD. I did damage the wheel and front corner bumper… but surprisingly everything is solid still. I’m really surprised the damage isn’t worse.

3. I’m not going to repair the wheel for now - just going to swap it with my full sized spare. If I did replace it, it’s apparently a $500-$600 wheel. That’s a very reasonable price for how solid it is. My wife’s Infinity wheels are $1100 each!!

4. Rivian is going to replace the corner bumper piece, and the wheel well liner. They’ll come to my house to do it. The cost of parts and labor is $750, which seems like a deal. Sure, I might be able to do It cheaper myself - but honestly it’s still like $500 in parts, so spending $250 more for them to do the work is a no brainer.

10BCAB20-D8F0-4707-8B90-2A2B8B45B482.jpeg


F797BCB5-F8FD-4659-9555-51999C430B95.jpeg


EA78528F-90D3-4D46-9FF7-65E527BBFB2C.jpeg


ACB45A50-3D49-4613-96E3-60F9FE2E3028.jpeg


2AD78183-6D38-433C-A67D-A9451E3CE99A.jpeg
 

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moosehead

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+3, goodonya for helping others. It’ll come back to you in spades. It also looks like it could have been worse and that wheel still makes a perfectly good spare.

Interesting takeaway, is that it is not really unusual for a rescue vehicle to take on extra risk or exposure when helping others. This is true both offroad or say even a slick road where someone slid off the side and looks like an easy assist out. There is risk given the conditions usually put the stuck vehicle there for a reason and it can do the same to the rescue rig, or someone else travelling along and adding to the mess.

Regardless, we always carry a basic heavy capacity static tow strap, shackles, avy shovel, and run a hitch mount D shackle all winter in CO. If it aint others, it’s just as easily you being helped out.
 

Riviot

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I had way worse damage after hotwheeling in the wrong place one day. Some wet sanding and patience, and the bumper will clean up. Same with the rim, then cover the damage with some black @twraps vinyl. I honestly love the look with the silver muted. I also had a tree hit my front bumper (HE CAME OUT OF NOWHERE) and I used a heat gun to get most of it to go back to normal.
 

SeaGeo

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No matter how much snow-experience you have, 7000+ Lbs is really hard to handle in the snow. There really isn’t much I think Rivian can do here.. other than lighten the car over the years as battery tech improves.
Personal opinion is I don't think the stock tires at 48psi help the situation.
 

screamingkarts

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That's Awesome what you did! A local rim repair shop should be able to repair that rim. Our local shop in Houston we use is around $80 to $100 for repair and paint.
Hi. I live in Houston too. Do you mind sharing the details of the local shop?Thanks
 
 




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