Alignment woes

[Defiance]

I'm confused since they are telling you can get alignment done from local shop and don't need to do the sensor calibrations. It makes sense to me but not sure why they are telling me it has to be done.

Your guess is as good as mine. The local SC is near my work and I was gonna stop by tomorrow and ask if they knew of anywhere else local. I’ll report back.

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[crussell]

Your guess is as good as mine. The local SC is near my work and I was gonna stop by tomorrow and ask if they knew of anywhere else local. I’ll report back.

Interested to hear back

 

[VHRivian]

NOT AN ALIGNMENT EXPERT, but I believe that toe-in causes a vehicle to want to track straight and makes it more difficult to steer off that line.

I have had a high-performance vehicle that was mis-aligned from the factory. It had high negative camber caused it to be VERY sensitive to changes in pavement. The car darted all over the road unless the pavement was perfect - especially once the inside of the tires started to wear at a much faster rate than the outside.

Unless I am missing something, the lower the vehicle goes, the more negative camber you would end up with to cause road sensitivity. I think lowering would also increase toe-in which would help you track straight.

If they are aligning for all-purpose, the dynamics would change slightly as you raise or lower the vehicle, correct? Does this fit with what people are experiencing?

 

[Defiance]

NOT AN ALIGNMENT EXPERT, but I believe that toe-in causes a vehicle to want to track straight and makes it more difficult to steer off that line.

I have had a high-performance vehicle that was mis-aligned from the factory. It had high negative camber caused it to be VERY sensitive to changes in pavement. The car darted all over the road unless the pavement was perfect - especially once the inside of the tires started to wear at a much faster rate than the outside.

Unless I am missing something, the lower the vehicle goes, the more negative camber you would end up with to cause road sensitivity. I think lowering would also increase toe-in which would help you track straight.

If they are aligning for all-purpose, the dynamics would change slightly as you raise or lower the vehicle, correct? Does this fit with what people are experiencing?

Nope, irrespective of height from lowest to highest, all are resulting in vehicle going right pretty aggressively with wheel dead straight. So after talking to the rep at the Bellevue SC, he mentioned that they are prioritizing alignments, and that I should call back to see if I can reschedule earlier (a change they apparently instigated days after my initial call). Sure enough I talked to a rep on the phone today, and they have me now booked for Tuesday, which is a lot better than June! Rep in Bellevue also confirmed they are “working with 3rd party vendors to provide more options, but he’s been being told that since he started working there so it remains to be seen when those options will be available.” I admittedly have done very little off-road time with the R1T. Few forestry roads/gravel with washboarding and potholes, snow romps to ski areas, etc but not anything i would expect an “adventure vehicle” to completely lose alignment over. Was never driving crazy.

 

[the long way downunder]

I found this on another thread, but I don't know if this is what you recall seeing as well?

thanks for those numbers. I was just looking for these.
three day weekend coming up. time for some home alignment tinkering.
I noticed someone posted about loose bolts holding the steering box, so I'm going to check mine.

those specs suggest there's nothing unusual about this suspension geometry
if you want a little more lively steering a tad less drag, get zero toe front and rear
if you want the truck to be quick "pointy" and responsive and active, err on a little toe out
if you want stability keep the front toe in
if you want responsive steering, zero toe in front, keep the smidge of rear toe-in
set ride height low for hard surfaces and handling
set ride height middle for soft surfaces and cornering grip
there's not a lot of caster, so it doesn't have any bad habits they're suppressing
I'd leave that exactly where they want it (if it's even adjustable)
disclaimer: of course my opinion is from the perspective of someone that wants to drive the vehicle
as far as I know, the R1 doesn't have any bad habits (it's not prone to lift-off oversteer into over-rotation, it's not prone to terminal understeer, it doesn't have torque steer and it tend to slice or hook at 100% power.) I assume if you're not familiar with suspension setup and don't have an interest in handling and performance, you won't want to tinker with these numbers … "that's how accidents happen."

 

[JMazz]

just had my car aligned at the Brooklyn SC - no difference - car still pulls to the right - seems like every time I back into a parking space the car is always on an angle - I can't explain it. I will sending the car back to service center as soon as they reach back out to me. Rear passenger tire is inverted ( bent inward)

 

[crussell]

Nope, irrespective of height from lowest to highest, all are resulting in vehicle going right pretty aggressively with wheel dead straight. So after talking to the rep at the Bellevue SC, he mentioned that they are prioritizing alignments, and that I should call back to see if I can reschedule earlier (a change they apparently instigated days after my initial call). Sure enough I talked to a rep on the phone today, and they have me now booked for Tuesday, which is a lot better than June! Rep in Bellevue also confirmed they are “working with 3rd party vendors to provide more options, but he’s been being told that since he started working there so it remains to be seen when those options will be available.” I admittedly have done very little off-road time with the R1T. Few forestry roads/gravel with washboarding and potholes, snow romps to ski areas, etc but not anything i would expect an “adventure vehicle” to completely lose alignment over. Was never driving crazy.

Just had mine aligned by local shop that’s very good. They didn’t indicate anything drastic just had to update most of the rear spec settings.

As for the tracking, the wheel is a little straighter when driving straight (it was cocked 8 degrees left) but still wants to dive right when I let go.

 

[ATL_Canes]

I got mine done at the ATL service center and it's noticeably better. Note that there was a charge for this alignment (~$300), which they ended up waiving because this has been an on-going issue since delivery (and I have it noted in my file several times, and have even been in for service prior for it). But I'm not sure how much more of these they're going to do "gratis."

 

[Defiance]

So got the truck back. Bellevue SC was great (spoke with Michael the rep there). Car is tracking straight as an arrow now, covered second alignment under warranty even though over 8k miles now on the vehicle, so only paid for tire rotation. Only minor thing was they said they were gonna wash the car but didn't, but totally understandable as it was under 20 degrees and apparently their water pipes froze that morning so they weren't doing washes :/

Hopefully alignment will hold. Michael mentioned they now are getting quick service items in with a turn around in under 3 days in most cases (things like alignments, tire rotations, etc.) so that made me feel better. I mentioned my axel squeak up front and they lubed the CVs too under warranty so that's now gone (mentioned that should cover the issue for a good while but they're still getting a feel for how long the lubrication lasts as they don't have the data yet. Also mentioned its not a safety or vehicle wear issue, more annoyance due to rust build-up).

 

[crussell]

Just had mine aligned by local shop that’s very good. They didn’t indicate anything drastic just had to update most of the rear spec settings.

As for the tracking, the wheel is a little straighter when driving straight (it was cocked 8 degrees left) but still wants to dive right when I let go.

Here are my alignment results

 

[uthatch]

Anyone in the Los Angeles area struggling with aligning their truck, I know a shop that can do it and the truck will track straight, I'm 100% certain. And he'll make the steering wheel straight as well, of course. There is nothing special about the alignment of a Rivian, aside from possibly a sensor reset, but I have my doubts about that too.
DM me if you want the info.

 

[240vPlug]

Didn't read the whole thread but this sounds like its not a problem with the truck but a problem with how the alignment is being performed. The truck can be perfectly aligned but if they don't lock the steering wheel it will be off. Also to do the alignment correctly they need to place ballasts in the driver seat to mimic the driver being in the vehicle.

Tesla is known for having alignment issues from the factory...only difference is Tesla charges almost $300 to correct.

 

[AYAYRON]

I dropped off my truck for the 5th appt, after the 4th appt in November when I started this thread, they said give it some time/ miles, so I'm now just over 10k miles, and the truck has been driving pretty straight since the last attempt but the steering wheel is off to the left, they again test drove and agreed.

This trip they're doing the alignment, there's no visible wear to the tires so I'm doing a rotation not out of necessity but preventative maintenance, they're fixing a paint chip that I got on the gear tunnel door of course its on the 3 mm edge where there's no PPF and I have no idea when / how it happened so it got hit in my absence. They are fixing the all weather mat that broke the day I got it removing the clip. They're doing 2 recalls with the C pillar clips and the safety belt that got emailed today.

And I got a loaner, I would be happy with a loaner or rental, I live 30 miles south and we're rural to the point that having an Uber credit doesn't help much so I'm thankful to see they had a loaner for me.

Hopefully it's done tomorrow

 

[AYAYRON]

The truck is back! The steering wheel is straight, he was able to leave the alignment angles alone and just adjust the tie rods to straighten the wheel.

They also performed the 2 recalls, fixed my hood flutter (panel bond had let go in some spots which is somewhat common) replaced the clip that broke the first time I put the all weather mats in, fixed a paint chip on the gear guard tunnel....somehow someone managed to hit it in the 3 mm of space on the lip where there is no PPF, rotated the tires, and washed it off (including removing a lot of tar I had picked up on the passenger side.

I rode with the lead tech, he stressed over and over he will do whatever I want with the wheel but it was perfect, they did not charge me for the paint chip repair nor the wash / remove tar which I consider going above and beyond.

 

[goldburger]

My alignment was ever so slightly off and I asked that they check it while it was in for some body panel issues and they said they performed an alignment but as I drove out of the lot it was obvious that it’s so much worse. Not sure how this could go unnoticed. I’m shocked how bad it is now. I regret bringing it up.

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