Flat tire. No spare.

[R1Sky Business]

Went out to the garage Sun am and found R1S with right front tire flat. Really flat.
Since the compressed spare was removed from my build and is not yet available in the gear shop, I have no spare.
I called roadside assistance and they said to have it Towed to a Discount Tire, and they could fix it or replace it.
They could arrange towing for $50 and $.35 per mile…

Discount Tire closed on Sunday.
Reinflated tire with garage compressor and drove it to Discount Tire on Monday. They do not have jack pucks for it, so they can’t help until they or I get Jack pucks.
So- ordered some.
Will take 2-3 days for them to arrive.

Very annoying- but what if I was out on the road somewhere?

When I learned to drive my father said never leave home without a good spare, a jack and a lug wrench.
Technically, I didn’t leave home, but…
Ugh!

Dad would be proud

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[R1Sky Business]

If you did have the compact spare you're still in for hurt. It's only rated for 50 mph and it'll wear out quick.

Part of the adventure

 

[R1Sky Business]

Didn’t try it because luckily the tire held pressure long enough to get to Discount Tire.
That was next option though.

How can discount tire be the OFFICIAL RIVIAN PARTNER and NOT have pucks???

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

How can discount tire be the OFFICIAL RIVIAN PARTNER and NOT have pucks???

Discount has worked with Rivian to have their own variation of pucks made that will work with their low-lift floor jacks. Cheaper to buy some variant of a puck, than to purchase thousands of new floor jacks.

Any DIY person should immediately purchase the HF Dayton 3T unit with the 24 1/2" lift height. It is the best overall option out there. Robust, affordable and readily available to most of America. It will lift the front or rear wheels off the ground without a struggle.

FYI: The rear on the R1's has more suspension droop, so it requires more lift than the front wheels to get the tires off the ground.

 

[NineElectrics]

My rate of flat tires is in BEVs over 11 years is about one per year. Something about the efficiency optimizations they do to the tires combined with the heavy weight of the car just attracts nails.

 

[R1Sky Business]

I understand people are really attached to spares, but I don't actually want one. Unless I'm in the real back country off roading (where I would bring a spare and all kinds of gear) I would rather have the space in the vehicle..I also don't want me or anyone I love jacking up this heavy of a vehicle.on a small jack and trying to wrestle the heavy wheel around to change.

Even more... I don't want anyone I love on the side of the road doing this. "Never leave the house without a jack and spare" should be replaced with "never leave the house without a cell phone"

I'm curious why more people aren't using the sealant? This isn't the fix a flat out grandparents has. These sealants stay liquid and have clotting media in them. They are used on tubeless bicycles, watercraft hulls, vehicles etc. Other than a complete blowout and debeading you can seal any leak long enough to limp to a shop given enough sealant.

Can we coin the term "spare tire anxiety"?

It's coined!!!

 

[ryanpei]

We should start an "I have a Rivian spare and could help in an emergency" database.
I have a set of 4 winters on 20's and would be happy to loan one to anyone who gets a non-repairable flat near Boston.
I got a flat in my Model Y last year in Canada. What a nightmare. Same deal with pucks (which I luckily had precisely one of), could not get a replacement tire for 5 days, but some kind soul was willing to patch it for me.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Thanks to this post I ordered a set of jack pucks from @Mark_AZR1T earlier today. That’s before taking delivery of our R1S for the record. I have a terrible track record with getting punctures from road debris so I am 100% sure I’ll end up using them at some point.

 

[thedole]

I have near 20K miles now and have had multiple tire rotations and one flat. I don't have any pucks. The tire shop uses the lower control arms to raise the vehicle and I have done the same in my garage using my harbor freight jack to remove a flat tire and take it to the shop. No need for the pucks IMO.

Added bonus: your floor jack doesn't need to go as high if you lift with the lower control arms.

 

[LL75]

The fact that Rivian ships without a spare is very disturbing. I too ordered the spare but they dropped it just days before delivery. very sad.

I don't understand the disturbing? Tons of vehicles nowaday don't come with a spare including tesla. At least rivian has the spare option. They will not delay shipping just bcz they are short in spare production

 

[brancky3]

I don't understand the disturbing? Tons of vehicles nowaday don't come with a spare including tesla. At least rivian has the spare option. They will not delay shipping just bcz they are short in spare production

lol I agree - getting a flat is not Rivian's problem and not their responsibility to help you repair it. The last several vehicles I've owned did not come with a spare. Am I expected to blame the OEM if I get a flat on my motorcycle?

 

[Gassious]

@Mark_AZR1T
FYI: The rear on the R1's has more suspension droop, so it requires more lift than the front wheels to get the tires off the ground.

With the suspension droop, how high does the jack stand need to be? When placing the vehicle in Off road All-terrain and the highest ride height, the ground clearance should be 15 inches. Some jack stands that I've found only go up to 16.5 inches.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwabe...Ujm2IBDrtFtE33Ulx6aTPZoHrbonTa4RoCpm0QAvD_BwE

https://shop.teslarati.com/products...urw81kTxnMKqFCK-H1BBAt57PPSVEKdRoCJBIQAvD_BwE

While expensive, the Rennstand looks really nice since it can be placed directly under the lift point with the bottle jack in place, and it looks like the tESLA specific pad (0.75" diameter) would accept the MagJaxx puck (1.3" diamater).

There are some that do go over 20", though.

https://www.grainger.com/product/33...6aG0kMav7g5NOcS2OoBoCqBMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.grainger.com/product/AME-Jack-Stand-Pin-33W486?opr=PLADS&analytics=FMLA&a2c_sku_original=33W485

https://www.amazon.com/BESTOOL-Stan...22-b445-b65037083fba&pd_rd_i=B09KN15PB8&psc=1

So what is the ideal height?

 

[jb0063]

Went out to the garage Sun am and found R1S with right front tire flat. Really flat.
Since the compressed spare was removed from my build and is not yet available in the gear shop, I have no spare.
I called roadside assistance and they said to have it Towed to a Discount Tire, and they could fix it or replace it.
They could arrange towing for $50 and $.35 per mile…

Discount Tire closed on Sunday.
Reinflated tire with garage compressor and drove it to Discount Tire on Monday. They do not have jack pucks for it, so they can’t help until they or I get Jack pucks.
So- ordered some.
Will take 2-3 days for them to arrive.

Very annoying- but what if I was out on the road somewhere?

When I learned to drive my father said never leave home without a good spare, a jack and a lug wrench.
Technically, I didn’t leave home, but…
Ugh!

Happened to me out on the road. No spare, tire completely flat, tear in tire and it wouldn't hold pressure for more than 20 seconds. It ended up being a 6 hours wait for a flatbed tow truck capable of handling the vehicle weight, then two days to get a spare and arrange Tire Rack mobile service to mount the new tire. It's kind of insane that the spare was an expensive option and one that many did not buy due to the EV tax credit total purchase price limitations.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

@Mark_AZR1T
FYI: The rear on the R1's has more suspension droop, so it requires more lift than the front wheels to get the tires off the ground.

With the suspension droop, how high does the jack stand need to be? When placing the vehicle in Off road All-terrain and the highest ride height, the ground clearance should be 15 inches. Some jack stands that I've found only go up to 16.5 inches.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwabe...Ujm2IBDrtFtE33Ulx6aTPZoHrbonTa4RoCpm0QAvD_BwE

https://shop.teslarati.com/products...urw81kTxnMKqFCK-H1BBAt57PPSVEKdRoCJBIQAvD_BwE

While expensive, the Rennstand looks really nice since it can be placed directly under the lift point with the bottle jack in place, and it looks like the tESLA specific pad (0.75" diameter) would accept the MagJaxx puck (1.3" diamater).

There are some that do go over 20", though.

https://www.grainger.com/product/33...6aG0kMav7g5NOcS2OoBoCqBMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.grainger.com/product/AME-Jack-Stand-Pin-33W486?opr=PLADS&analytics=FMLA&a2c_sku_original=33W485

https://www.amazon.com/BESTOOL-Stan...22-b445-b65037083fba&pd_rd_i=B09KN15PB8&psc=1

So what is the ideal height?

I'll measure this sometime today for you on the rear. As noted previously I use the 4T jack stands below, because of four main factors. Robust weight rating, flat top for use with our magnetic jack pucks and lift height. The front takes approximately 18" to get the tire off the ground and the rear approx. 21", affordability. They are sold in pairs (not by me).

 

[Yossarian]

Curious if anyone has successfully used a combination bottle jack + stand like this one:
Powerbuilt 3 Ton, Bottle Jack and Jack Stands in One, 6000 Pound All-in-One Car Lift, Heavy Duty Vehicle Unijack, 640912

It's relatively inexpensive, and eliminates the need for an additional stand. One drawback is its size; I think it may be a bit too bulky to travel with you, so it may be limited to garage use.

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