Sponsored

Half Shaft / CV Joint Noise

dcpdx

Member
First Name
Dan
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
10
Reaction score
7
Location
Oregon
Vehicles
R1S
Has anyone had a serious mechanical failure of any of these parts?
Yes, My R1S 0400's VIN the Axle end stripped out the drive unit. Driver Side Rear. Got a Turtle Mode alert icon and was only allowed front wheel drive. Bellevue Service Center replaced the drive unit for that axle. Back in action now.

This occurred in All Purpose mode. I've never gone full High or Low.

Rivian may have to limit the ride height availability. Too flexible and too much torque is a bad combo.
Sponsored

 

Deleted member 7086

Guest
My half shaft noise started around 2000 miles. Was “repaired” around 7000 miles (repacked and bolts tightened). By the time I drove the 150 miles home it was back and worse than ever. In my amateur opinion it is a design/manufacturing defect and Rivian needs to own up to it.
 

NY_Rob

Well-Known Member
First Name
Rob
Joined
Feb 9, 2022
Threads
18
Messages
3,664
Reaction score
5,066
Location
long island
Vehicles
2021 Model 3 LR AWD, 2017 BMW i3 REX, 2023 R1T
Occupation
IT
In my amateur opinion it is a design/manufacturing defect and Rivian needs to own up to it.
I don't think anyone here would disagree with your assessment.
It's mind boggling that Rivian has not released some sort of statement regarding this widespread issue. With so many reports, it seems that if your truck doesn't have the issue.. it's only because it doesn't have it YET!
 

Sponsored

Zoidz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Gil
Joined
Feb 28, 2021
Threads
105
Messages
3,126
Reaction score
6,876
Location
PA
Vehicles
23 R1S Adv, Avalanche, BMWs-X3,330cic,K1200RS bike
Occupation
Engineer
My half shaft noise started around 2000 miles. Was “repaired” around 7000 miles (repacked and bolts tightened). By the time I drove the 150 miles home it was back and worse than ever. In my amateur opinion it is a design/manufacturing defect and Rivian needs to own up to it.
Powertrain design engineering certainly knows about it at this point. My guess is they are trying to determine the proper, permanent remediation. That could take months of redesign, prototype builds and more importantly, durability testing. Unfortunately, it took way too long until Rivian acknowledged the tonneau problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, this looks like Tonneau 2.0 :(

Not defending here, but pointing out the connundrum. If they acknowledge the issue too soon, existing deliveries could tank, which is obviously something they want to avoid.
 

Zoidz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Gil
Joined
Feb 28, 2021
Threads
105
Messages
3,126
Reaction score
6,876
Location
PA
Vehicles
23 R1S Adv, Avalanche, BMWs-X3,330cic,K1200RS bike
Occupation
Engineer
Rivian will hopefully not take any half-measures, and will replace these half shafts with full shafts.
They are called half shafts because they replace the traditional full width axle. Half on one side, half on the other side - "Half Shaft". It's not feasible to replace it with a full shaft axle for a ton of reasons.

What's different on a Rivian from the tens of millions of other vehicles with half shafts? Due to the suspension travel, the half shaft needs to change length, which does not need to happen on many cars out there. Rivian uses a "Ball Spline" half shaft which allows it to change length as the suspension height is adjusted. Think of it like a telescoping shaft on a collapsible umbrella, but obviously much stronger and complex. Other vehicles do use this tech from the factory, such as Volvo XC, but it's not all that common. It's offered as an off-road performance upgrade for many ICE pickups, used in race cars, etc.

In this picture, the shaft telescopes on the right center where you see the rows of ball bearings.

Rivian R1T R1S Half Shaft / CV Joint Noise 1669654095384
 

onebadmofo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2022
Threads
14
Messages
119
Reaction score
244
Location
NJ
Vehicles
R1T, Tesla MY LR
Occupation
I know how to exit VIM
Clubs
 
About to tick over 10k miles, besides the one service center visit when the car was making creeking noise I still don't have any new noises. I've taken it off-road, rock crawling and general drivingi around, so far so good. 9xxx vin
 

Deleted member 7086

Guest
Rivian is in a difficult position. To acknowledge the problem may impact sales. But to fail to disclose it to new purchasers may violate various state consumer laws and bring the scrutiny of state Attorneys General.
 

jebinc

Well-Known Member
First Name
John
Joined
Oct 5, 2022
Threads
43
Messages
2,074
Reaction score
1,879
Location
Seattle, WA
Vehicles
2021+ Tesla MS Plaid, R1T Adventure
Occupation
Retired
I'm VIN 22XX.

And I did end up emailing Rivian last Wednesday. Guess what.......not a single peep back from them (other than the automated response acknowledging receipt of the email)!
TG holiday four day weekend.
 

Sponsored

DaveA

Well-Known Member
First Name
David
Joined
Nov 17, 2020
Threads
12
Messages
1,897
Reaction score
3,348
Location
Texas
Vehicles
Rivian R1T
I don't think anyone here would disagree with your assessment.
It's mind boggling that Rivian has not released some sort of statement regarding this widespread issue. With so many reports, it seems that if your truck doesn't have the issue.. it's only because it doesn't have it YET!
I’m thinking it’s on the recall list, but having just got the more pressing recall out of the way, it’s too soon….stock price would crater.
 

NY_Rob

Well-Known Member
First Name
Rob
Joined
Feb 9, 2022
Threads
18
Messages
3,664
Reaction score
5,066
Location
long island
Vehicles
2021 Model 3 LR AWD, 2017 BMW i3 REX, 2023 R1T
Occupation
IT
Rivian is in a difficult position. To acknowledge the problem may impact sales. But to fail to disclose it to new purchasers may violate various state consumer laws and bring the scrutiny of state Attorneys General.
Yes, they are in a difficult position, and unlike the tonneau issue... they can't just build vehicles without the half shafts.
Unfortunately, they are continuing to build vehicles with known bad parts that will need to be replaced at a later date. This is going to cost huge $$$$$ to remediate because it may eventually involve every vehicle they've ever made and the number of vehicles that will need repairs continues to grow every single day they produce new vehicles.

I don't even want to think what's going to happen to the stock when their hand is eventually forced.
 

Marchin_MTB

Well-Known Member
First Name
Marcin
Joined
Jun 25, 2022
Threads
11
Messages
1,074
Reaction score
1,322
Location
Colorado
Vehicles
2015 i3, 2011 Honda CRV.
Occupation
Aerospace Engineer turned Space Physicist
Clubs
 

SEPA R1T

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
77
Reaction score
123
Location
Phoenixville
Vehicles
2022 Rivian R1T
Clubs
 
TG holiday four day weekend.
The email I sent was on November 9! Finally received an email back from my guide on the 17th letting me know that she had relayed my concerns to the service support team and I should expect someone from service support to reach out to me to discuss further. Crickets since then........
Sponsored

 
 




Top