Rear dampers leaking again after 10K miles. Inadequate part for this vehicle?

[rodbrock]

Rivian replaced my rear dampers in May of 2024 due to excessive fluid seeping. Mileage was 15, 899.
I noticed the issue in November of 2023, but that was the soonest appt. I could get.

It's now been 8 months since the replacement and only 9, 981 miles and they are seeping again.

For me, it begs the question: Are these dampers inadequate for this vehicle? Another member posted recently that they had their dampers replaced just out of warranty, for $4000.

I urge all of you to raise your vehicles to the highest setting and give them a look. It's quite possible that my situation is unique given that I live in the desert on unpaved, washboard roads and those 4 miles are the culprit. Still, it doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence. My previous vehicle handled these roads just fine (2018 Colorado), albeit, it wasn't 7200 lbs.

For those wondering my driving style. I pretty much baby this thing. I take it easy on the unpaved roads and almost always put it in Rally because that seems to be the smoothest. I haven't hauled anything of significant weight since replacement, either.

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[riv-e-in]

Seems to be a faulty part.
Could be that the fluid is overheating and squeezing past the seal (bad design) or you received a set of faulty parts to replace the previous set of faulty parts?!?
A vehicle & part that is meant to travel off-road, regardless of the road surface, should be able to withstand significantly more use before requiring replacement.

What happens if you don’t baby it?? Nevada washboard roads feel smoother as velocity increases.

We drove a 19k pound f550 about 12k miles to Alaska last summer on king front shocks, and stock rear shocks, and never experienced leakage.

 

[rodbrock]

Seems to be a faulty part.
Could be that the fluid is overheating and squeezing past the seal (bad design) or you received a set of faulty parts to replace the previous set of faulty parts?!?
A vehicle & part that is meant to travel off-road, regardless of the road surface, should be able to withstand significantly more use before requiring replacement.

What happens if you don’t baby it?? Nevada washboard roads feel smoother as velocity increases.

We drove a 19k pound f550 about 12k miles to Alaska last summer on king front shocks, and stock rear shocks, and never experienced leakage.

Thanks. It is seepage and never leakage, so your theory on the fluid heating up sounds likely, but that also seems like bad design. I'll get them replaced again and see what happens. I'm really curious how other Gen 1 owners dampers are holding up. At this rate, I'm looking at a replacement every year!

I go just fast enough to smooth out the washboard roads, which is usually 20-30mph. Too slow is too harsh and too fast sand blasts the heck out of the vehicle.

 

[Singletracker]

I’m going to check mine for leakage. I’m sitting at about 15,000 miles. I do hit washboard and rutted roads some times. I am also a fan of Rally mode in the soft setting on these types of roads. The faster you go (40-50 mph) on those washboards the smoooother it gets. I will say, my R1T is very confidence inspiring under these conditions. It likes to roll ?

 

[GeezFullSleeve]

I brought mine in to the SC for a different issue, and upon courtesy inspection, they found both rear dampers leaking. 22 R1T, 51K miles, I do a little bit off roading (probably about 10 half day excursions), the rest of the time babying it.

 

[AYAYRON]

Brought mine in for ac plug recall they found front right damper leaking, my question is what is the damper, it looks like a shock to me so just curious

 

[rodbrock]

Brought mine in for ac plug recall they found front right damper leaking, my question is what is the damper, it looks like a shock to me so just curious

Yeah, it's a shock but Rivian's are super fancy and are interlinked, sharing hydraulic fluid. Not gonna be fun when we have to pay to have them replaced. I think they drained the entirety of the fluid and replaced it. when they worked on mine. I have another appointment to have my rears replaced.

 

[AYAYRON]

Yeah, it's a shock but Rivian's are super fancy and are interlinked, sharing hydraulic fluid. Not gonna be fun when we have to pay to have them replaced. I think they drained the entirety of the fluid and replaced it. when they worked on mine. I have another appointment to have my rears replaced.

Ohhh I didn’t realize they were connected.

initially they said the strut was leaking, so now they say damper, we don’t have both a strut and a damper do we???

 

[Dark-Fx]

Ohhh I didn’t realize they were connected.

initially they said the strut was leaking, so now they say damper, we don’t have both a strut and a damper do we???

Front is a strut (damper and spring are integral), rear is just a shock/damper and a separate air spring.

 

[rodbrock]

Ohhh I didn’t realize they were connected.

initially they said the strut was leaking, so now they say damper, we don’t have both a strut and a damper do we???

I think most people use strut, damper and shock interchangeably even though the tech differs.

 

[onesoil]

Rivian replaced my rear dampers in May of 2024 due to excessive fluid seeping. Mileage was 15, 899.
I noticed the issue in November of 2023, but that was the soonest appt. I could get.

It's now been 8 months since the replacement and only 9, 981 miles and they are seeping again.

For me, it begs the question: Are these dampers inadequate for this vehicle? Another member posted recently that they had their dampers replaced just out of warranty, for $4000.

I urge all of you to raise your vehicles to the highest setting and give them a look. It's quite possible that my situation is unique given that I live in the desert on unpaved, washboard roads and those 4 miles are the culprit. Still, it doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence. My previous vehicle handled these roads just fine (2018 Colorado), albeit, it wasn't 7200 lbs.

For those wondering my driving style. I pretty much baby this thing. I take it easy on the unpaved roads and almost always put it in Rally because that seems to be the smoothest. I haven't hauled anything of significant weight since replacement, either.

Wow! I have a very similar situation. My dampers were replaced 5/16/24 @ ~11k miles on a Demo truck that was delivered the month before (with just under 10k miles) due to leaky and clunky rear dampers.

I was swapping my wheels this weekend and noticed my left rear damper is leaking. I now have ~24k miles. I'm just getting over the surprise/irritation of having to have brake pads and rotors replaced at ~23.5k miles (a surprise that came when my truck was at the SC to diagnose a wheel speed sensor issue). I just got the truck back a couple weeks ago, and have less than 500 miles since it was returned. I would be very surprised if it just started leaking within 500 miles, but it's hard to say... I assume they would have noticed while doing the brake job? They certainly should have if it was leaking like it is now.

I wonder if we got a bad batch of dampers? 13k miles for me, and under 10k miles for you from dampers replaced near the same time makes me wonder...

I'm pretty sure my father's R1T has also had rear dampers replaced, and he has under 20k miles, but it may have been rear air springs and front airspring/dampers (which are combined) due to leaks in his air system.

Our roads in VT are very harsh—lot's of washboard, potholes, frost heaves, etc. That being said, these trucks sure have a lot of suspension component failure for how few miles they have! We lease two other R1Ts for employees, and one likely needs front dampers with a little under 9k miles (still waiting to be brought in to confirm, but it sure sounds like they're blown).

 

[rodbrock]

Wow! I have a very similar situation. My dampers were replaced 5/16/24 @ ~11k miles on a Demo truck that was delivered the month before (with just under 10k miles) due to leaky and clunky rear dampers.

I was swapping my wheels this weekend and noticed my left rear damper is leaking. I now have ~24k miles. I'm just getting over the shock/irritation of having to have brake pads and rotors (a surprise that came when my truck was at the SC to diagnose a wheel speed sensor problem). I just got the truck back a couple weeks ago, and have less than 500 miles since it was returned. I would be very surprised if it just started leaking within 500 miles, but it's hard to say... I assume they would have noticed while doing the brake job? They certainly should have if it was leaking like it is now.

I wonder if we got a bad batch of dampers? 13k miles for me, and under 10k miles for you from dampers replaced near the same time makes me wonder...

Bad batch at the very least but possibly a bad part recall situation. No way I should need my dampers replaced every year.
You picture looks like you drove through some mud. I'd wash is all off and check in the on the dampers after 1000k miles. All you need to do is raise to its highest to take a look for leakage. No need to remove the wheel.

 

[onesoil]

Bad batch at the very least but possibly a bad part recall situation. No way I should need my dampers replaced every year.
You picture looks like you drove through some mud. I'd wash is all off and check in the on the dampers after 1000k miles. All you need to do is raise to its highest to take a look for leakage. No need to remove the wheel.

Haha, "drove though some mud" basically describes driving on Vermont roads for a at least 4 months out of every year, combined. And we are in a particularly deep/intense mud season right now, so there's basically no point in washing my truck for the next couple weeks at least (that photo was a day after washing my suspension components down).

But I will probably keep tabs on it over the next couple months, if nothing else because as long as it isn't making tons of clunking noises, I'd rather not have to deal with yet another trip to the Chelsea SC (which is 3+ hours away).

I'm actually hoping my front struts blow before warranty is up so that I can get the current revision of that assembly, which is said to be much quieter.

3 days after washing thoroughly:

 

[onesoil]

Bad batch at the very least but possibly a bad part recall situation. No way I should need my dampers replaced every year.
You picture looks like you drove through some mud. I'd wash is all off and check in the on the dampers after 1000k miles. All you need to do is raise to its highest to take a look for leakage. No need to remove the wheel.

Bad batch at the very least but possibly a bad part recall situation. No way I should need my dampers replaced every year.
You picture looks like you drove through some mud. I'd wash is all off and check in the on the dampers after 1000k miles. All you need to do is raise to its highest to take a look for leakage. No need to remove the wheel.

I am inclined to agree that it may be a bad part (design or manufacturing spec), rather than just a bad batch, but I would think more people would be complaining if it was a widespread issue.

I didn't take my wheel off to look at my damper, but happened to notice it when I was swapping my winter wheels/tires out for my summer set.

I will probably get in the habbit of checking more often now though... And am hoping that it was a bad revision/batch of the part, not something that needs to be replaced every year!

 

[woodcan]

I am inclined to agree that it may be a bad part (design or manufacturing spec), rather than just a bad batch, but I would think more people would be complaining if it was a widespread issue.

I didn't take my wheel off to look at my damper, but happened to notice it when I was swapping my winter wheels/tires out for my summer set.

I will probably get in the habbit of checking more often now though... And am hoping that it was a bad revision/batch of the part, not something that needs to be replaced every year!

I wonder how much of it is people have seeping dampers but the issue does not present itself in driving or noise so they are none the wiser.

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