Dual Motor R1T on a steep slippery boat ramp?

[Dark-Fx]

This ramp is fairly steep... Barely get the tires wet before the boat floats. By stay in front: Do you mean the rear end of the truck?

Rear end can start to float, but you're already way deeper than you'd want to go with any traditional pickup at that point. Not sure what your ramps are like at all, just a warning.

Oh, and you do need to take care about park/the parking brake, which will only lock up the rear wheels on any Rivian. If your ramp is exceptionally snotty I'd flip the truck into drive for a sec before park and try to wipe the spot clean.

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[Cycliste]

Thank you all for making me a better driver!

 

[MColbert]

I pull my Key West 210BR to the lake on a near weekly basis with the ramp I typically use being decently steep. I drive a standard DM R1T and haven’t slipped the first time. It really depends on the conditions of the ramp (clean concrete, algae covered, icy, etc) but you shouldn’t have any trouble and would have increased capability over your previous rig. At 6500lbs you’re nowhere near maxing it out.

I will say on a steep ramp you have to wear your seatbelt otherwise the truck will randomly go into park while you’re trying to back the boat in. Makes solo unloading slightly more tedious but you get used to that rather quickly.

 

[mpfurnari]

I pull my Key West 210BR to the lake on a near weekly basis with the ramp I typically use being decently steep. I drive a standard DM R1T and haven’t slipped the first time. It really depends on the conditions of the ramp (clean concrete, algae covered, icy, etc) but you shouldn’t have any trouble and would have increased capability over your previous rig. At 6500lbs you’re nowhere near maxing it out.

I will say on a steep ramp you have to wear your seatbelt otherwise the truck will randomly go into park while you’re trying to back the boat in. Makes solo unloading slightly more tedious but you get used to that rather quickly.

I'm curious which tires are you running?

 

[MColbert]

I'm curious which tires are you running?

Apologies, I meant to mention that. I’m running the 21” road tires.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I will say on a steep ramp you have to wear your seatbelt otherwise the truck will randomly go into park while you’re trying to back the boat in. Makes solo unloading slightly more tedious but you get used to that rather quickly.

Cover/rest on the brake pedal with your left foot and it'll stop doing that.

 

[MColbert]

Cover/rest on the brake pedal with your left foot and it'll stop doing that.

While reversing?

 

[Dark-Fx]

While reversing?

Yeah, the auto-park is a safety feature to stop people from putting down too much throttle if they get jostled around with the belt off. If you're actively on the brake it won't do it because you should end up pushing the brake down too in that situation.

 

[MColbert]

Yeah, the auto-park is a safety feature to stop people from putting down too much throttle if they get jostled around with the belt off. If you're actively on the brake it won't do it because you should end up pushing the brake down too in that situation.

Gotcha, I’ll give that a try next time I go!

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I am pretty sure if a QM loses all traction on one side it will spontaneously flip over on it's side.

That truck actually had a boat and trailer, which it flung to the next zip code while fishtailing. /s

 

[White Shadow]

This rig is a seriously capable tow machine well beyond the Frontier. No offense.

Maybe, but it depends. For this application, it's not so much towing as it is having the power and traction combined to get a boat out of the water and up a potentially slippery boat ramp. Keep in mind that even though a Rivian may make a lot more power & torque than an average ICE vehicle, the ICE vehicles have the advantage of gearing. Not just in their differentials, but also in their transmissions and in the case of a 4wd vehicle, even in their transfer cases. If you do the math, it's quite easy for a 4wd ICE vehicle in 4LO to be able to put much more torque to the ground where it matters compared to a Rivian QM.

And that all brings up another interesting question---what puts more torque to the ground, a QM or a DM Rivian, considering that the DM makes less power/torque, but has differentials.

 

[mpfurnari]

Maybe, but it depends. For this application, it's not so much towing as it is having the power and traction combined to get a boat out of the water and up a potentially slippery boat ramp. Keep in mind that even though a Rivian may make a lot more power & torque than an average ICE vehicle, the ICE vehicles have the advantage of gearing. Not just in their differentials, but also in their transmissions and in the case of a 4wd vehicle, even in their transfer cases. If you do the math, it's quite easy for a 4wd ICE vehicle in 4LO to be able to put much more torque to the ground where it matters compared to a Rivian QM.

And that all brings up another interesting question---what puts more torque to the ground, a QM or a DM Rivian, considering that the DM makes less power/torque, but has differentials.

Good points. For reference, my Frontier has a 4.0L. I suspect DM power is significantly higher. WRT torque, I use 4WD but don't have to go into low for my use case.

Based on everything I'm reading (most appreciated!!) I'm leading to DM w/street tires. I wish there were a way to test this first... stressing a bit over buying an expensive solution that might not work.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Good points. For reference, my Frontier has a 4.0L. I suspect DM power is significantly higher. WRT torque, I use 4WD but don't have to go into low for my use case.

Based on everything I'm reading (most appreciated!!) I'm leading to DM w/street tires. I wish there were a way to test this first... stressing a bit over buying an expensive solution that might not work.

You will be fine. With DM you get advantages of a system that can selectively and automatically anchor certain tires to provide better traction to others; as explained many times by retired automotive engineer R.I.P.. You'll also get a drivetrain that is more efficient overall. Should the front wheels start to spin on the ramp, the rear axle will engage automatically to provide additional traction. If that particular ramp is so slippery that all four wheels would spin, despite traction management... then chances are nothing else would find traction on said ramp and someone coated the entire ramp with Crisco as a prank.

 

[NY_Rob]

FWIW- I towed our 20' Grady all last summer.... some really slimy ramps by us. My R1T (Quad/20"s) was absolutely fantastic on the road and on the ramp. Not even one tire slip on the ramp from first outing to last. Unfortunately, the Bed View feature came too late for last summer, but it will certainly make backing down steep ramps much, much easier this summer

OP... you will absolutely love towing with your Rivian, I'll go so far to say you'll be looking behind you occasionally to make sure the boat is still attached. Yes, it's that smooth and powerful!

 

[R.I.P.]

Thanks for the explanation @R.I.P. !!

A few follow ups clarifications, please... I'm not a 4WD expert. My use case is mostly getting in and out of the boat ramps without damage to my truck, my boat, other boats, and the ramps LOL . By side-camber, you mean is the ramp tilted left or right in addition to straight back? I've not studied that, but I think it is mostly level right/left.

If I read correctly, you are saying that the dual-motor Enduro should be at least as good as the 4wd on my Frontier (which does not have locking differentials.)? I'm not looking for a guarantee, just an experienced opinion.

You drive the dual motor? For my scenario, would you recommend the dual motor over the quad? Again, just looking for your experienced opinion.

Also, recommendations on tires? I'd like to keep the street tires with the longest range, but not at the expense of damaging stuff .

Yes, I would expect the dual motor Rivian to be quite a step up from the frontier. I'm not sure how advanced the traction control is in the frontier, but Rivian's is quite good. It is also a heavier vehicle which often results in better traction, although that is not a hard and fast rule.

Yes, I actually recommend the dual motor Rivian over the quad for just about anything except drag racing. It is Rivian's latest design, and has improvements over their first one (the quad). It is a very capable off-roader, and the more predictable handling on-roader. Oh, and it has better range too.

Except for heavy off-road stuff, I have had very good experience with the stock 21 inch road tires and wheels, even in snowy/icy conditions.

For off-roading and overlanding I throw on a set of 20-in toyos, which make this rig one of the better pick ups in the fleet for serious overlanding.

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