R1 Strut Damper Assembly - Teardown Video

[vinniehobart]

Our Students at Heartland Community Colleges Electric Vehicle Energy Storage program got to play around with the Rivian R1 Dampers today to see what are some possible failures with Air Leaks and how the seals operate and function. Pretty neat to see how simple an Airbag could be replaced if failed or a seal leaked instead of spending big $$ for the part IF you could parts for it. I believe Monroe makes the assembly so I wonder if you could get O-rings and Seals for it.

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[Fmc]

@vinniehobart what do you expect the average life of the current air suspension to be? 10 years? Yes i know the real answer is until it breaks..

 

[marbro67]

My air suspension lasted 4 years and 70,000 miles.

 

[freshpow]

My air suspension lasted 4 years and 70,000 miles.

Hope you picked up an extended warranty! Do you recall the total cost to replace?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

@vinniehobart what do you expect the average life of the current air suspension to be? 10 years? Yes i know the real answer is until it breaks..

I have less than 10k miles. Front dampers being replaced Friday.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

@vinniehobart what do you expect the average life of the current air suspension to be? 10 years? Yes i know the real answer is until it breaks..

As a co-worker would say. "It's not the years, it's the milage"
It really comes down to how much abuse and how many times the suspension is cycled

 

[SwampNut]

how much abuse

I do wonder if the truck will rat me out on how many times I’ve had it in the air in rally mode.

 

[rodbrock]

I've had the rear dampers replaced twice by 25K miles. Most recent repair, all 4 dampers, hydroaulic lines and the hydraulic pump. Catastrophic failure. I live on an unpaved desert road. Total of 5 miles out and back to my home. This suspension system cannot handle it.

 

[SwampNut]

I've had the rear dampers replaced twice by 25K miles. Most recent repair, all 4 dampers, hydroaulic lines and the hydraulic pump. Catastrophic failure. I live on an unpaved desert road. Total of 5 miles out and back to my home. This suspension system cannot handle it.

Which mode do you run this in, and what settings for height/damping?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I've had the rear dampers replaced twice by 25K miles. Most recent repair, all 4 dampers, hydroaulic lines and the hydraulic pump. Catastrophic failure. I live on an unpaved desert road. Total of 5 miles out and back to my home. This suspension system cannot handle it.

It’s got nothing to do with it not handling the load. Everything to do with poor QC by supplier: Monroe/Tenneco. Especially with units produced during COVID. During which all manufacturing suffered supply and labor problems.

 

[rodbrock]

Which mode do you run this in, and what settings for height/damping?

Almost always change to Rally/High/Soft when on the unpaved then back to All Purpose/Standard/Soft on paved.

 

[rodbrock]

It’s got nothing to do with it not handling the load. Everything to do with poor QC by supplier: Monroe/Tenneco. Especially with units produced during COVID. During which all manufacturing suffered supply and labor problems.

Ok sure, but what's the difference at the end of the day? If the quality remains the same, then system cannot handle it and will fail.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Ok sure, but what's the difference at the end of the day? If the quality remains the same, then system cannot handle it and will fail.

There are R1s still on original dampers. Explain that.

 

[SwampNut]

There are R1s still on original dampers. Explain that.

I believe he's saying that daily use of the truck in his home situation is the problem. Which is plausible.

 

[rodbrock]

There are R1s still on original dampers. Explain that.

Wow, so defensive. I'm not bad talking Rivian here but I'm on my 4th set of rear dampers in 3 years of ownership. 40K miles. I'm really happy to hear that most other Rivian owners have never had their dampers replaced. I really hope it doesn't turn into a recall situation. These parts are wear items to begin with anyway. Clearly, subjecting this suspension to unpaved road conditions consistently accelerates the wear, in my case. I simply cannot recommend owning this vehicle without a warranty. That last repair was over $10K and required a tow.

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