A_E
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- And
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2025
- Threads
- 3
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- Location
- Indianapolis, IN
- Vehicles
- R1S Tri, R1T DMP Gen1
- Thread starter
- #1
I was surprised to see a section labeled "Armor" here but I'm not seeing actually armored Rivians. We have one in the process of being outfitted with ballistic glass & armor panels to the entire thing will be rated to withstand 5.56/308/7.62x39 etc.
Will update with more photos once it's complete. Likely a one of a kind project here.
Update #2 They are putting in the door "overlaps" that will provide overlap coverage between the ballistic windows and the ballistic resistant door pillars should a round be fired in between the door and the pillar. There's a pink foam that covers the steel and then a nice interior stitched naugahyde is put in over that. Some armor has been installed in the rear doors seen in the last photo here, but the rest will not be installed until the ballistic glass has been installed/placed. More updates to come!
Update #3
Custom ballistic glass arrived this week and is currently being fitted & installed. Rear "gate" was also installed to add ballistic protection to the rear without compromising the original rear liftgate. Soft/lightweight ballistic panels were also installed in the door panels & pillars as you can see in the photos where the cutouts are in the doors.
Final Update 8/13/25
She's done! Overall I'm impressed with the work done. It took about 5.5 months in total but about 2 weeks of that was waiting on Rivian to get the vehicle in to replace a rear lift gate latch as it either was broken in the process or it just happened to stop working.
What was done?
How does the vehicle look vs stock?
Will update with more photos once it's complete. Likely a one of a kind project here.
Update #2 They are putting in the door "overlaps" that will provide overlap coverage between the ballistic windows and the ballistic resistant door pillars should a round be fired in between the door and the pillar. There's a pink foam that covers the steel and then a nice interior stitched naugahyde is put in over that. Some armor has been installed in the rear doors seen in the last photo here, but the rest will not be installed until the ballistic glass has been installed/placed. More updates to come!
Update #3
Custom ballistic glass arrived this week and is currently being fitted & installed. Rear "gate" was also installed to add ballistic protection to the rear without compromising the original rear liftgate. Soft/lightweight ballistic panels were also installed in the door panels & pillars as you can see in the photos where the cutouts are in the doors.
Final Update 8/13/25
She's done! Overall I'm impressed with the work done. It took about 5.5 months in total but about 2 weeks of that was waiting on Rivian to get the vehicle in to replace a rear lift gate latch as it either was broken in the process or it just happened to stop working.
What was done?
- All the glass was replaced with ballistic glass that can stop up to 308 caliber ammunition.
- The only glass that wasn't replaced was the rear liftgate glass. The opted for installing a ballistic door in the back as the heavy glass would make the liftgate non-operable with the automatic lift.
- Steel "overlaps" were installed in the door frames to help "catch" a bullet in the unlikely event one was fired directly in the crease of the door. These are wrapped in a leather-like material so they don't look terrible and won't cut/scratch any passengers.
- All the door panels have a mixture of ballistic steel and composite/light weight armor installed behind the door panels.
- All the pillars had ballistic steel or composite armor installed with overlapping technology.
- Run flat discs were installed on the rotors which enable the vehicle to drive up to 60 miles in the even of a blown out tire.
How does the vehicle look vs stock?
- The vehicle looks almost identical. You can tell it's not stock where the thicker glass was installed (the weather sealant) as it doesn't look quite as clean as the stock glass/weatherstripping.
- The glass is very thick and the driver's door glass will only lower about 4-5 inches. All the rest of the glass is stationary.
- The window "overlaps" do make the door entry a little tighter as they are about 1.5 inches all around the window.
- The doors are very heavy and have extra support on them. The glass is the heaviest part. These doors would put a huge smile on anyone's face who is complaining about gen 2 doors feeling super light/cheap.
- Overall I'm very impressed.
- All the ballistic glass and armor add some weight, just over 1000 lbs so the vehicle definitely feels a bit bloated at high speeds. I took the vehicle on a trip to Chicago which is about 180 miles / 3 hours and at 75-80 mph it definitely feels like the center of gravity has shifted up a bit. I did not feel unsafe except for when a Semi truck just randomly veered into my lane and I had to jerk the steering wheel abruptly which led to a little bit of a fishtail effect but I was able to maintain control of the vehicle. I would say this type of vehicle with this weight is more suited for city driving, not necessarily the most stable at speeds exceeding 70 mph.
- Acceleration and braking do not seem to be compromised despite the added weight. I did not have any issues braking, even at unexpected/abrupt halts.
- I was surprised with the efficiency despite the added weight. This R1S is a Tri Max with AT tires so it's already one of the lowest efficiency setups you can buy, but I was getting 2.25 - 2.5 mi/kwh on the trip to Chicago going anywhere from 60 - 80 mph with the AC on the whole time. I left at 100% and arrived in Chicago at around 35%.
- Driver assist and advanced driver assist still function despite the very thick tinted glass.
- We will see how the vehicle holds up over time, but so far it's doing very well.
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