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21" to 20" wheels switch -- never-ending drama

CharonPDX

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Well sure people swap wheels all the time. I have done it numerous times on my cars and have never had the opportunity to change the wheel size on the car. I guess I’ve always just had old cars.
Yep, computer controlled electric motors at each wheel mean it tweaks the power delivery based on the wheel/tire size. (And possibly even *type* of tire for all we know.) Not something you'd run in to in your old mid '90s Audi.
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Monkey

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Out of curiosity, what are the tire/wheel options in the UI for the Model Y? I just looked at Tesla's manual and the diameter of the 19 and 20" options are identical at 28" and 720 revs/mile. The 21s are the same for the fronts, but the rears are 2% larger and 706 revs/mile. Where for Rivian the 21 and 22" OE options are the same 33" diameter, but the 20s are 34" diameter tires or I believe closer to 3%.
The Y has options for 19", 20" and 21" wheels -- the sizes Tesla offers and they're all tuned to estimate based on the OEM tires and wheel specs. So range estimates do change based on which wheel option is selected and the odometer/MPH stays consistent with size from what I've seen. I swap between my 20" running Michelin Pilot Sport 4 GT/AS tires and 19" with Scorpion Winter tires. I notice a definite range hit with the winter tires as they're quite grippy. Not only do range estimates change with wheel selection, but the UI updates to show the respective wheel options too.

The first vehicle I owned with user-friendly wheel settings was my 2012 Ford Expedition. IIRC it had a bank of dip-switches adjacent to the fuse box. Since then, most of our Ford and Chevy trucks/ SUVs have had options in the computer/UI to select between different factory spec options. If you put on non-standard sizes or oversized tires, then it usually requires plugging in and reprogramming, which for most people means a trip to the shop to do it. And dealerships won't do any of this for non-standard sizes.
 

emoore

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Yep, computer controlled electric motors at each wheel mean it tweaks the power delivery based on the wheel/tire size. (And possibly even *type* of tire for all we know.) Not something you'd run in to in your old mid '90s Audi.
Do you think that Rivian is tweaking power to each wheel based on tire size? Thats cool if they are but I’m doubtful that they are.
 

mindstormsguy

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Yep, computer controlled electric motors at each wheel mean it tweaks the power delivery based on the wheel/tire size. (And possibly even *type* of tire for all we know.) Not something you'd run in to in your old mid '90s Audi.
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jwardell

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Nope. It's simply that Rivian has not implemented the ability for the user to select a change in wheel size. Like in a Tesla, we can choose any of the factory wheel/tire options in our settings. There's really no excuse for this issue at this point... People swap wheel sets for various reasons like to go off-road or for winter.
It took Tesla several years to add the option for the user to pick wheel size. Hopefully rivian is faster, but I know firsthand they have a daunting number of systems that are attached to it so it will be a lot of work to implement
 

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Arky

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It took Tesla several years to add the option for the user to pick wheel size. Hopefully rivian is faster, but I know firsthand they have a daunting number of systems that are attached to it so it will be a lot of work to implement
They only pick OE equivalent wheel sizes - to my knowledge Tesla doesn't let you just input a tire size and there's a lot of variation in tires on a particular wheel.

I'd like to change mine to 275/60/20 or 275/55/20 when I need new ones, but it's the same wheel.
 
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State11

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Quick update. What I assume to be an unrelated suspension issue has me on what I'm hopeful of resolution of the wheel size issue.....with no $$ charged. I started getting a suspension needs service message that eventually escalated to a performance degradation message w/ a 51mph governor (they must be Sammy Hagar fans). This meant I couldn't safely drive it down I-80 to the service center. So after a couple of days of them trying to find a towing service, it is at the W Sacramento service center and apparently in addition to the suspension issue, will recalibrate the wheel size. They also provided a Nissan Armada via Enterprise. Btw, it is scary driving an ICE vehicle now....I almost crashed approaching a red light. I lifted my foot from the accelerator and nothing happened!!! "Wait, I have to use the brakes to stop?"
 

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Hello all! Any new developments for east 20’s to 21’s swap back and forth? Mine came with 20’s AT and I picked up a set of 21” takeoffs for summer range. I plan to sway back and forth twice a year. Still no easy reconfiguration solution, like request an OtA update twice a year?
 

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I just had mobile service come out to change the software after I swapped the wheels myself. It took him like an hour, as he had to contact people at HQ to flip switches on their backend. Right now it’s not an efficient process. Rivian wants to charge $180 for this software switch, to boot. Fortunately my local team felt that wasn’t justified and they didn’t charge me this time
 

AltaTruck

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I just swapped from my winter 20"AT tires that I studded myself, due to Nokia's lack of avalability, to the set of 21" I picked up for summer use. I had the mobile service re-calibrate last summer and used the same setting for the winter switch. Other than range calculation, it didn't seem to matter. The AT's gave me great traction in the snow, but the studs really made a difference on hard pack and ice. I just switched back to the 21" now that spring is here, and I have to say, they are so much quieter.
 

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State11

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I just realized I never provided a final update. The SC did quickly fix the suspension fault and recalibrated the wheel size at no charge. With the updates, the massive amount of snow and cold weather, I can't really tell what any of that has done to the range other than.....it has been much lower than the 21's.

A couple of weeks, my stupidity displayed itself yet again and I blew out the right rear Nokian in parking lot of Palisades/Squaw while I was waiting for my kids to get out of ski team. Can you imagine how much attention I got while changing to the spare?

So, I'm back to the AT's. The 21's will remain in storage till my wife's S arrives , which I've got coming with 20's. My plan is to have snow tires on 1 set of 20's and the AT's on the other.....swap them fall/spring myself. Then, hopefully someone will come up with a 21" snow tire solution by the time she gets the S. If not, we will be hoping that this config issue is resolved by then.
 

VermontR1T

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I’ve got a loaner right now with the 22” Sport Brights. What an amazing difference in ride quality from the 20” AT’s (at least on nice smooth roads). It’s definitely making me curious to swap sets for winter/summer though will wait until the software makes it easy to change the calibration. For this who are already doing so, why the switch from 20/21. The 22’s look amazing and really change the handling of the truck so if you go through the effort, the 20/22 swap seems to be the ultimate setup.
 
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State11

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I’ve got a loaner right now with the 22” Sport Brights. What an amazing difference in ride quality from the 20” AT’s (at least on nice smooth roads). It’s definitely making me curious to swap sets for winter/summer though will wait until the software makes it easy to change the calibration. For this who are already doing so, why the switch from 20/21. The 22’s look amazing and really change the handling of the truck so if you go through the effort, the 20/22 swap seems to be the ultimate setup.
I'd be very concerned about potholes with the 22's. This winter has been insane, which has resulted in some insane potholes. We see cars with flats nearly daily. It has finally gotten warm enough for them to begin to repair them. I really like the look of the 22's and the ability to get snow tires for them, but just concerned by the lower profile tire.
 

VermontR1T

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I really like the look of the 22's and the ability to get snow tires for them, but just concerned by the lower profile tire.
Totally. I think the ultimate setup is 22" for summer, 20" for winter once the reprogramming can be done through the UI.
 

TheCaDean

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I took an R1T from Rivian Shop w/ 21" wheels in order to get it sooner. It's been great, but I knew that I needed a winter solution (I live in Tahoe), so when the 20" wheels with the AT's became available, I purchased a set. An appt was set up and the tech delivered them, but couldn't install them for some reason. The tech did what he thought would let the R1T know that it now had 20's.....it didn't work. I installed the wheels myself. I let them know it didn't work and a 2nd tech came out and attempted to update the wheel config. Again it failed. I got a call today from the service center. They want me to bring the truck into the Sacramento SC so that they can update the cameras and charge me $400 to do so. That should enable the vehicle to realize it had 20's vs 21's. Seriously? I told her, no way I'm paying $400...that's insane. She agreed with me, but I'm stuck at the moment with a truck that thinks it has 21" wheels. Aside from it being annoying and affecting the range estimates, what else might it affect? Traction control? The SC rep was very nice and sympathetic, but couldn't do anything. Anyone else have any issues w/ swapping wheel sizes?
Rivian Orphan tire sizes are a real deal braker.. have to buy a Bronco to off road given the total lack of tire options
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