Reinforced Underbody Protection is Visible! With & Without: How to tell if your Rivian has it

[Alex D]

Is anyone else concerned about this?

If Rivian won’t sell an individual wheel then that means R1S buyers who need a full size spare to go off road cannot go off road. Much worse, however, is that an R1T without a full size spare and all R1S owners cannot drive their vehicle if they damage a wheel to the point that it is unusable until Rivian changes their policy or there is an aftermarket wheel available.

Either the statement made by @Alex D ’s guide was incorrect or this seems like a significant problem for anyone who could damage a wheel off road, damage a wheel in an area with bad potholes, or end up in a crash that damages one or more wheels. That is potentially everyone so I’m hoping the guide didn’t explain this policy quite right.

Keep in mind this is probably a temporary thing. I bet if you really needed one your guide or service would find a way. They have a can do attitude toward problems. I just don’t think you’ll be able to go to your local centerand grab one off the shelf or Order it in the online store for a bit.

Sponsored

 

[SoCal Rob]

Keep in mind this is probably a temporary thing. I bet if you really needed one your guide or service would find a way. They have a can do attitude toward problems. I just don’t think you’ll be able to go to your local centerand grab one off the shelf or Order it in the online store for a bit.

That would be great and I really hope they have a way for me to buy one by the time I get my R1S.

If I can’t buy a full-size spare then our off road adventures will be very limited. The inflatable compact spare for the R1S is good enough for an on-pavement issue but probably not good enough for off-road use and a definite no-go for events which require participants to carry a full size spare.

 

[Dirty_B]

I want to clear up a long standing debated topic: Can you see the reinforced underbody protection?

Short answer: you can tell by looking under the truck!

I took delivery today and I had the delivery friends show me and explain. It’s clear once you know what you’re looking for.


With reinforced underbody
View attachment 22541
You can see your plating is fully smooth and a metal composite. It’s got a shine to it. There’s no grooved channels in the center, just rivet holes. To the very left (going off frame) is the all carbon fiber piece. It’s hard to tell from this angle but in person you can see the carbon fiber texture. There’s another on the back as well.


Without underbody Protection:

The center panel is visibly plastic and have grooved channels running down it. Everything is pretty much plastic.

it’s hard to tell materials in these photos sometimes but in person it’s very clear. However the dead give away is the grooves.

I hope this helps clear this up for everyone!

Big assumption since I don't have one yet: Left is front, right is rear?

 

[Dirty_B]

...over the battery?

"under" the battery...

One last observation based on reality of aftermarket and why I did NOT get the underbody protection option from OEM: Aftermarket kits for body protection are going to be built, and I'm willing to bet based on shielding prices for Tacos and such, it'll be less than $2,000 and cover the same if not more. Also, since I mainly drive on sand not sure I want it, sand, all held up there by shielding.

 

[Dirty_B]

Now a request: Post you payload capacity sticker since you may be the first confirmed underbody protection package - helps understand how much weight that shielding is.

 

[Lmirafuente]

I want to clear up a long standing debated topic: Can you see the reinforced underbody protection?

Short answer: you can tell by looking under the truck!

I took delivery today and I had the delivery friends show me and explain. It’s clear once you know what you’re looking for.


With reinforced underbody
View attachment 22541
You can see your plating is fully smooth and a metal composite. It’s got a shine to it. There’s no grooved channels in the center, just rivet holes. To the very left (going off frame) is the all carbon fiber piece. It’s hard to tell from this angle but in person you can see the carbon fiber texture. There’s another on the back as well.


Without underbody Protection:

The center panel is visibly plastic and have grooved channels running down it. Everything is pretty much plastic.

it’s hard to tell materials in these photos sometimes but in person it’s very clear. However the dead give away is the grooves.

I hope this helps clear this up for everyone!

Very helpful! Thank you for sharing this!

 

[Alex D]

Big assumption since I don't have one yet: Left is front, right is rear?

Correct! I’m happy to shoot more photos as soon as I get my truck back from PPF install they will hopefully make this clearer.

 

[Alex D]

Now a request: Post you payload capacity sticker since you may be the first confirmed underbody protection package - helps understand how much weight that shielding is.

Happy to as soon as I have it back in my hands!

I had it for 15 minutes for the drive from SC to my PPF installer and I think that I was just in shock that actually had the truck. ? it doesn’t even feel real yet.

 

[Alex D]

Now a request: Post you payload capacity sticker since you may be the first confirmed underbody protection package - helps understand how much weight that shielding is.

So one other note on this - a lot of the trucks at the denver SC right now do have the shielding. We had to look under about 10 trucks to find on that didnt have it for that photos. They told me that early on there were a lot of being delivered that were supposed to have it but didn’t and it was an issue, but now most coming through have it.

 

[crashmtb]

That would be great and I really hope they have a way for me to buy one by the time I get my R1S.

If I can’t buy a full-size spare then our off road adventures will be very limited. The inflatable compact spare for the R1S is good enough for an on-pavement issue but probably not good enough for off-road use and a definite no-go for events which require participants to carry a full size spare.

I can’t see rivian not selling extra wheel/tire assemblies in future- at 2-4x the price of the spare tire option, if previous experience replacing an OEM wheel is any indication. A great way to get more money out of people. I’ve asked before and been told they’ll be in the gear shop “soon”.

presumably it’s just another production constraint, where all the wheels and tires they can get need to go to production.

FWIW tire rack lists some wheels that fit R1 now. But they’re all ugly!

 

[rodhx]

FWIW tire rack lists some wheels that fit R1 now. But they’re all ugly!

The curse of aftermarket truck wheels...almost all are hideous.

 

[Gshenderson]

Is anyone else concerned about this?

If Rivian won’t sell an individual wheel then that means R1S buyers who need a full size spare to go off road cannot go off road. Much worse, however, is that an R1T without a full size spare and all R1S owners cannot drive their vehicle if they damage a wheel to the point that it is unusable until Rivian changes their policy or there is an aftermarket wheel available.

Either the statement made by @Alex D ’s guide was incorrect or this seems like a significant problem for anyone who could damage a wheel off road, damage a wheel in an area with bad potholes, or end up in a crash that damages one or more wheels. That is potentially everyone so I’m hoping the guide didn’t explain this policy quite right.

I’m sure the service centers will have access to wheels should you damage one. The limitation right now is that you can’t buy one via the gear store. Most likely due to supply constraints.

 

[SoCal Rob]

FWIW tire rack lists some wheels that fit R1 now. But they’re all ugly!

The look of a spare is completely unimportant to me so that’s a huge relief. if I can buy an ugly wheel to use in case of emergency while on a trail, and until I can get my regular wheel and tire back in service, then it will transform into a thing of beauty when needed.

 

[Dirty_B]

The look of a spare is completely unimportant to me so that’s a huge relief. if I can buy an ugly wheel to use in case of emergency while on a trail, and until I can get my regular wheel and tire back in service, then it will transform into a thing of beauty when needed.

I'm with ya. I looked for steelies that would fit, back space is the issue.

 

[atR1S]

I also took delivery yesterday. The Rivian delivery guy, who could not have been nicer and more knowledgeable of the truck, was pleasantly surprised to find a full size spare in the bed compartment. Black 20's for me too and it's nice to have a 5th wheel. May even do a 5 tire rotation. I am pinching myself that I own such a vehicle. It really feels like it's from the future in its design and ability. Our kids were immediately crawling through the gear tunnel and all over the bed. If something is flimsy they will find it and break it, so it's probably just a matter of time. So far I am very pleased with the truck and need to learn a lot more to fully appreciate and use it. Last thing- my R1T came from the service center in Normal. The 3rd party transport company used a 40 foot ENCLOSED trailer to bring the R1T to Memphis. Major progress from how we have seen other Rivians being transported and the Rivian delivery guy commented on it, too.

Sponsored