Installed the "Team 1EV RMaxx Running Boards & Rock Sliders for Rivian R1T" today

[NDIrish]

Ordered in March arrived Nov 18 ... long wait;

Really super easy install with the instructions; Definitely a workout, but straight forward and great instructions.

ONLY issue was for the 13MM bolt next to Rear tire instructions say:
"Loosen most forward 13mm hex head flange bolt at rear plastic panel (just in front of rear tire). " I loosened the one "just in front of rear tire" but they really mean the first part "most forward". Had all the rest lined up and just had to get out of position grab the tools and adjust, no harm no foul. Didn't make the same mistake on the other side.

These things are HEAVY but was a decent install with my 15 year old helping. Nothing too difficult with 2 people. Only other hitch was 1 slightly stripped torq55 bolt that had me worried a minute, but we worked through it, got it off an on and torqued (maybe not the next time). was thinking what will I do If I can't get this one out?

Other TIPs: line up the rear first and tilt it in, there is an OEM panel lip you have to get past at a slight angle (If not you bump it and can't slide the assembly all the way forward), then next difficult is the center frame bolt. My son made sure the front stayed lined up while I tilted in the rearmost one watching the center torq55 bolt cleared ok. Then all seemed to just slide in nice and aligned. Placed 2 of the big body bolts in loosely by hand near the middle, then readjusted to finish then all. Tightened from the inside out, things start lining up much better as the parts are tightening (don't be frustrated if the forward and rear most bolts don't line up while finger tight, they pull into the correct position as you tighten the middles. This goes for both the steps and the sliders.

Overall I would do install it again. It was a solid half day; unpacking, sorting; removing OEM pieces, installing running boards, then the rock sliders (those were the easiest, used the roller jack lift assist method they suggested, it works well; the rear of the slider is much heavier, so position jack accordingly, near the rear middle bolts and ensure you can get to all 4 middle bolts while it's jacked up and then it's a breeze.

Fun weekend project, nice product (we will see how they perform); kids approved of them so far

Only thing I may do different: LEAVE the OEM Rail Clips on.... they said optional, so I removed them... but now where do I store them? Would have been simplest to just leave them on, 1 less thing to find a spot in the garage.

Happy they arrived in time for the long Thanksgiving weekend; will try some obstacles I have been avoiding while I wait.

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[R1Thor]

Worth the wait in your opinion?

I've been trying for the past 3 business days to get in touch with EV Sportline to get a realistic time estimate. I ordered in August (their website suggests as of a week ago, current orders were estimated to ship December--they updated it sometime over the weekend to now say January--but still only ~1 month out?).

I find it incredulous that they wouldn't be able to figure out when they should be able to ship. If they don't, they don't have a solid supply chain, or subcontractors, and that's worrisome (to say the least). Or they're being dishonest about their timelines, because they know they're terrible and would probably lose most of their business (albeit, I could argue I'd prefer TRANSPARENCY than being ignored).

I was feeling good about 1- EV Sportline's install instructions and videos, 2- the advertised Zinc coat prior to powder, and 3- the FEA analysis they include [I've seen no one offering #2 or #3, though there's some 'conversation' about some competitors having base coats, even if it's not listed on their websites]. HOWEVER, I want to USE the rock sliders, and my patience is growing thin. WIth this week there's a ton of black Friday deals, I'd like to jump on another one if I'm going to have to wait 2+ more months for mine... so I need to get them to answer me so I can push for a refund (in the scenario they're still months behind).

Thanks for the write up!

 

[Feetdry]

Great addition to the OEM instructions. I have had the Megawatt sliders on order for over a month now. Has anyone installed a set of theirs and commented on this forum? I know mine are 65 pounds each and made in AZ. I turn 80 in 2 weeks and will have the fun of installing them on my own. Anyone want to stop by and help? I will furnish the beer?

 

[FooF]

Great addition to the OEM instructions. I have had the Megawatt sliders on order for over a month now. Has anyone installed a set of theirs and commented on this forum? I know mine are 65 pounds each and made in AZ. I turn 80 in 2 weeks and will have the fun of installing them on my own. Anyone want to stop by and help? I will furnish the beer?

When I installed my DCE sliders I used a motorcycle scissor lift on a furniture dolly and it made the job really easy. Orion Motor Tech Dilated Scissor Lift Jack for Street Bike, Cruiser, Adventure Touring Motorcycle
Make sure you use large torque wrench. I tried using one rated at max 150ftlbs and it was hard to get enough leverage under the truck. I then bought a torque wrench rated at 250ftlbs max and it was much easier to get enough leverage. (also works well for wheel lug nuts). EPAuto 1/2-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench,25-250 ft.-lb./33.9~338.9 Nm, Black

 

[Krs71]

I may need to install running boards on the R1S for the kids, was wondering if anyone knew if power running boards were an option for Rivians?

 

[NDIrish]

Worth the wait in your opinion?

I've been trying for the past 3 business days to get in touch with EV Sportline to get a realistic time estimate. I ordered in August (their website suggests as of a week ago, current orders were estimated to ship December--they updated it sometime over the weekend to now say January--but still only ~1 month out?).

I find it incredulous that they wouldn't be able to figure out when they should be able to ship. If they don't, they don't have a solid supply chain, or subcontractors, and that's worrisome (to say the least). Or they're being dishonest about their timelines, because they know they're terrible and would probably lose most of their business (albeit, I could argue I'd prefer TRANSPARENCY than being ignored).

I was feeling good about 1- EV Sportline's install instructions and videos, 2- the advertised Zinc coat prior to powder, and 3- the FEA analysis they include [I've seen no one offering #2 or #3, though there's some 'conversation' about some competitors having base coats, even if it's not listed on their websites]. HOWEVER, I want to USE the rock sliders, and my patience is growing thin. WIth this week there's a ton of black Friday deals, I'd like to jump on another one if I'm going to have to wait 2+ more months for mine... so I need to get them to answer me so I can push for a refund (in the scenario they're still months behind).

Thanks for the write up!

We will see if it was worth the wait; definitely glad I was in before price hikes, not sure I would pull the trigger again at the current price.

Definitely look great, install was easy-ish with all bolt on with factory bolts, no modifications to the truck was plus.

I really was in the same boat as you, wondering how long I wait before chargeback; but I have them know and all that anxiety is gone. Definitely not focused on supply chain, and everytime I sent an email asking for updates I got a "call" from the VP of sales guy, which almost made me MORE worried since they basically stopped giving time-date stamped email replies... started feeling shady.... but that may have just been my paranoia. On 1 hand I expected this for the Rivian aftermarket, it will be shaky and require community support to allow business to develop. It's not like my Jeep which has so much support already... we are dealing with a vehicle that has less than 100,000 on the road where the Jeep has many many multiples of that.

Good luck, I would hang in there... I got mine finally, so not a complete disaster; communication could be better, but I imagine it will only get better.

 

[NDIrish]

Great addition to the OEM instructions. I have had the Megawatt sliders on order for over a month now. Has anyone installed a set of theirs and commented on this forum? I know mine are 65 pounds each and made in AZ. I turn 80 in 2 weeks and will have the fun of installing them on my own. Anyone want to stop by and help? I will furnish the beer?

Great addition to the OEM instructions. I have had the Megawatt sliders on order for over a month now. Has anyone installed a set of theirs and commented on this forum? I know mine are 65 pounds each and made in AZ. I turn 80 in 2 weeks and will have the fun of installing them on my own. Anyone want to stop by and help? I will furnish the beer?

At first I was gonna say I would stop by... but they are MADE in AZ ... you aren't located in AZ.... Good luck and hopefully you can find a few takers to help out, it would be a fun weekend morning project, then take them out and enjoy them!

 

[Feetdry]

At first I was gonna say I would stop by... but they are MADE in AZ ... you aren't located in AZ.... Good luck and hopefully you can find a few takers to help out, it would be a fun weekend morning project, then take them out and enjoy them!

Yes, I'm in WA. You are still welcome to stop by. I hope to be testing them by year end.

 

[R1Thor]

I finally got a call from EV Sportline updating me on my order. I was told that their supply chain issues are resolved and they're shipping daily and that where I am in queue I should likely expect mine to be built sometime in December and *may* (depending on holiday interference) even receive them before end of December.

We'll wait and see...

 

[R1Thor]

Received mine yesterday (yes, much quicker than anticipated, actually)!

There were some...notable defects in the finish. I'm a tad concerned about rust propagation over time. That said, I spoke with EV Sportline and they are sending me some touch up paint that should hopefully cover it--since they're still quite a bit behind on getting orders out, it doesn't sound like they'll have any replacement parts anytime soon.

SO, with that bit of info, I decided to install them. Install was actually kind of fun. I took my time, and it still took about 4 hours from gathering tools to cutting down all of the cardboard. In your time budget, consider: they've packaged these pretty darn well and thoroughly. My garage doubles as a gym and so I have a rubber floor. I mention this because there's much less risk of me scuffing or worrying about being 'gentle' with these. If you're working on bare concrete and need to lay out the boxes or carpet to lay these on, you need extra time and space to finesse it. Point being: I probably spent 45-60 minutes JUST getting tools together and unpackaging everything.

Definitely more hardware than I'd anticipated--fortunately I have all of the tools that made it pretty straightforward. There IS a bit of discrepancy in the instructions, but easy enough to figure out if you take a minute (mostly with respect to hardware --changes that seem to have been made-- and tool size needed: I think in the list it says you need a T-30, but you really need a T-20; and at one point they pivoted from an M8 button head socket screw to an M8 hex, so you'll need a 12mm socket for that).

Anyone else endeavoring to do this yourself (and you absolutely can all by your lonesome if you're handy and strong), I HIGHLY suggest, READ the instructions AND watch the video. The instructions have all of the pertinent hardware torque specs. The video tells you where to put the thread locker.

I'd honestly say the hardest part, by and large, was getting the Rivian's T-55 bolts out. Those things have something closer to an ANSI LT fit (until you get close to the last 2 threads, they're still torqued in there really well). My DeWalt 20V impact didn't like them, so I spent most of my time working on removing those with a breaker bar. And you're removing 7, and loosening an 8th... per side. Either 1- have a relatively high level of fitness or 2- have a nice long cheater bar would be my advice on this one. Unless you do have a really high torque impact gun.

Anyway, have fun!

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