Sponsored

Happy with the Truck, But….

Milo

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2022
Threads
4
Messages
22
Reaction score
42
Location
California
Vehicles
R1T
Hey Guys,

i never joined any forum before, until now. Just wanted to share my experience so far. I picked up the R1T Thursday at South SF Service Center, very happy to finally get the truck after waiting for more than a year, reservation placed on Oct 2021. After owning the truck for two days, with less than 200 miles, the Service Suspension System Soon warning light came on, and also noticed a clucking noise, when decelerating and accelerating, since I am a mechanic, I decided to check the noise, I have a pretty good idea where to start, I inspected the front suspension, all was good, then the rear, that’s where I found the left rear drive axle (CV Joint) loose, I’m not a happy camper, I decided not to drive the truck, service request has been submitted and waiting for the reply, probably won’t here anything until Monday. Other than that, we loved the truck.

Rivian R1T R1S Happy with the Truck, But…. DE7BBA68-D9AF-4180-9F2C-EE87F2A21CE6

Sponsored

 

Andystroh

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andrew
Joined
Mar 18, 2021
Threads
23
Messages
499
Reaction score
1,050
Location
Colorado
Vehicles
R1T
Clubs
 
Call service via the phone number if you want a quicker response, they are available 24/7
 

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
Do not drive that truck... that CV-Joint could literally fail any second.

You did a good job identifying and documenting the issue!!
 

Sponsored

seajayseven

Well-Known Member
First Name
J
Joined
Sep 21, 2022
Threads
12
Messages
89
Reaction score
76
Location
Pa
Vehicles
Cars
Occupation
Jobs
The Half shafts will be the next recall. I also think they will dial down the available power in higher suspension settings if they haven’t already in the last update.
 

ElectrifiedOverland

Well-Known Member
First Name
Eric
Joined
Jul 28, 2022
Threads
5
Messages
63
Reaction score
181
Location
NH
Vehicles
Rivian R1T, Porsche 911, Mercedes ML350
Occupation
Pilot
Clubs
 
Hey Guys,

i never joined any forum before, until now. Just wanted to share my experience so far. I picked up the R1T Thursday at South SF Service Center, very happy to finally get the truck after waiting for more than a year, reservation placed on Oct 2021. After owning the truck for two days, with less than 200 miles, the Service Suspension System Soon warning light came on, and also noticed a clucking noise, when decelerating and accelerating, since I am a mechanic, I decided to check the noise, I have a pretty good idea where to start, I inspected the front suspension, all was good, then the rear, that’s where I found the left rear drive axle (CV Joint) loose, I’m not a happy camper, I decided not to drive the truck, service request has been submitted and waiting for the reply, probably won’t here anything until Monday. Other than that, we loved the truck.

DE7BBA68-D9AF-4180-9F2C-EE87F2A21CE6.jpeg


I had the exact same issue, and of course it decided to fail at the worst possible time after I had fully loaded the truck and was leaving my house for a weekend in the mountains. I made it about 20 yd out of my driveway and heard a clunk and shortly thereafter saw the turtle and the service suspension soon icon. I pulled back into my driveway and got under the truck to inspect where I heard the sound and found my half shaft to be completely disconnected from the hub. I took a quick video and sent it to the service advisor that I was already on the phone with. They were very helpful and immediately dispatched a flatbed to pick the truck up and bring it to the service center. Once it was there it took them about 20 minutes to fix it, they told me that the shaft has a retaining clip that has to be pushed in fully before it seats in the hub and apparently in production mine hadn't been pressed in all the way. Guessing that will be the same issue with your truck. I have about 1,500 mi on the truck since and have no issues whatsoever, so hopefully short of the inconvenience and obviously disappointing experience with your new vehicle, it should be an easy and permanent fix. Good luck.
 

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
This is absolutely unbelievable as it continues to happen with brand new vehicles just 2 days after delivery!

I think even worse is it's getting to the point of being a cover up by Rivian's 100% lack of any public acknowledgement of a life threatening failure since VIN 1,000 right through VIN's made today.

NHTSA will step in soon, and I urge everyone who's had a failure to report it immediately to the NHTSA as this is a catastrophic failure that could cause a life threatening situation.

" Filing a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) takes only 10 minutes and can be submitted online or over the phone -- Monday-Friday 8am to 8pm at (888) 327-4236; TTY: (800) 424-9153. It's important for you to share the information about your vehicle to improve the safety for other owners. "

Enough is enough.. time to call out Rivian on this issue!
 
OP
OP

Milo

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2022
Threads
4
Messages
22
Reaction score
42
Location
California
Vehicles
R1T
Update, I did try to realign the spline (AKA “pop back in”) the half shaft to no avail. I took some pictures. I want the service center to recheck the spline and the half shaft. It’s really disappointing, on the bright side, at least it didn’t happen while on a road-trip. I took delivery with 35 miles on the odometer, you would think someone would have noticed the clunking noise. Maybe it was a Monday when the driveshaft was installed. Lol.
Rivian R1T R1S Happy with the Truck, But…. 2EB4536B-2101-4502-BA25-57440857AC14
Rivian R1T R1S Happy with the Truck, But…. 88D6A3F8-A93E-46CB-A664-86F0776ED2D7
Rivian R1T R1S Happy with the Truck, But…. 7EBCF216-375F-4658-BB2A-FA3E3B4CDDFD
 

Sponsored

SASSquatch

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2022
Threads
34
Messages
1,834
Reaction score
3,563
Location
Washington DC
Vehicles
BMW i3s Ford C-Max Hybrid
Occupation
Semi-Autonomous Yeti
Clubs
 
@Milo great sleuthing my friend. Very glad you were able to catch this before you headed on a long road trip.

This 🤬 is completely unacceptable. There is quality control for the kinds of things that aren't safety issues that I'm willing to let slide as long as they eventually get worked out, but your half shaft being that loose could have put you or your family in danger.

Imagine if you weren't a skilled mechanic and were a mere mortal like many of us. We may not have had the wherewithal to turn around and do that kind of inspection.

Please give Rivian hell for this one. If they aren't pushing in retaining clips all the way in the factory, then somebody needs to be trained to push retaining clips in before someone gets into an accident and Rivian ends up on the business end of a class action lawsuit.

I'm scheduled to take delivery at the factory in Normal then spend the next week taking scenic routes back to the east coast and I'm starting to second guess that plan...
 
OP
OP

Milo

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2022
Threads
4
Messages
22
Reaction score
42
Location
California
Vehicles
R1T
I wonder if the retainer is even on the half shaft, it shouldn’t just pop out, I mean the rear doesn’t turn left or right, if it was on the front, then I get it.

I just got off the phone with the support advisor, the soonest available is Dec 6, the advisor couldn’t give me an answer if the truck is safe to operate, the advisor is waiting for the Tech to look at the video I sent, will wait to see.

i think the truck will need a new half shaft, I have about 180 miles on it, while in motion the rear while is spinning regardless if it’s in conserve mode, conserved mode disables the rear motor. That’s why I want the service center to inspect it further,
 

M4H4X

Well-Known Member
First Name
Randy
Joined
Oct 13, 2022
Threads
10
Messages
103
Reaction score
244
Location
Dallas, TX
Vehicles
22 R1T Launch Edition, 22 Corvette C8 Z51 2LT HTC
Occupation
Software Engineer
I know this is incredibly frustrating and it definitely shouldn’t happen on a new $~80,000 vehicle but there are a few positives.

1) You found it early.
2) It’s an incredibly easy repair for the service center to perform.

Im guessing the bolt backed out and the CV shaft slipped slightly out of the hub side. It’s supposed to be a little loose on the motor side, but firmly attached on the hub side.
 

itselectric

Well-Known Member
First Name
Wes
Joined
Aug 27, 2021
Threads
15
Messages
567
Reaction score
1,078
Location
USA
Website
evhelphub.com
Vehicles
R1T
I had the exact same issue, and of course it decided to fail at the worst possible time after I had fully loaded the truck and was leaving my house for a weekend in the mountains. I made it about 20 yd out of my driveway and heard a clunk and shortly thereafter saw the turtle and the service suspension soon icon. I pulled back into my driveway and got under the truck to inspect where I heard the sound and found my half shaft to be completely disconnected from the hub. I took a quick video and sent it to the service advisor that I was already on the phone with. They were very helpful and immediately dispatched a flatbed to pick the truck up and bring it to the service center. Once it was there it took them about 20 minutes to fix it, they told me that the shaft has a retaining clip that has to be pushed in fully before it seats in the hub and apparently in production mine hadn't been pressed in all the way. Guessing that will be the same issue with your truck. I have about 1,500 mi on the truck since and have no issues whatsoever, so hopefully short of the inconvenience and obviously disappointing experience with your new vehicle, it should be an easy and permanent fix. Good luck.
Does your suspension still make any tocking/knocking noises at all?

I agree with seejayseven the suspension and related components are the next recall and it needs to be before the end of Q1. I'm not a mechanic or engineer but I can't imagine these related parts are going to last long and I can't imagine when they do fail that is going to be safe.
 
Last edited:

Dark-Fx

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brian
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Threads
96
Messages
9,365
Reaction score
17,765
Location
Michigan
Vehicles
Polestar 2, R1T, R1S, Livewire One, Fisker Ocean
Occupation
Engineering
Clubs
 
*Probably safe to drive around with the suspension in the lowest setting.
Sponsored

 
 




Top