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Kneel Mode Suspension Wear / Life?

deathernater

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Curious for those more familiar with air suspensions. Does enabling kneel mode significantly hurt the longevity of the air suspension in terms of extra wear?

It seems each time I get going the truck needs to pump air to get itself back up to height. I assume the air suspension is an open system and not just a pure tank based system so what if the air filters get dirty as it is taking in air?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
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dleewla

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i dont think it takes any familiarity with air suspensions to know if you use kneel mode all the time it will impact the longevity of the system. simple physics. things wear down over time. everything has a number of cycles. you can take the simplest mechanical system and know the more you use it, the faster it wears out. and Rivian's air suspension is not simple
 

kizamybute'

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I won't use it for that reason. Ordered my running boards from EV Sportline to make getting in and out easier. With those, won't have a need for kneel mode.

But, I'm always one that hated easy exit mode too, were the seats move back and wheel forward, having to go for a ride every time you get in the car. I've always shut those off too.
 
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R1Tom

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i dont think it takes any familiarity with air suspensions to know if you use kneel mode all the time it will impact the longevity of the system. simple physics. things wear down over time. everything has a number of cycles. you can take the simplest mechanical system and know the more you use it, the faster it wears out. and Rivian's air suspension is not simple
In theory the only things mechanical involved in ride height changes are the air release valves and the air compressor and maybe a mechsnical pressure sensor. The air springs and other components are all moving alot more from simply driving, than the once up a little and down a little, that happens for kneel mode.

But I suppose the air compressor will have to run a bit more and those release valves will have to cycle more. But who knows...maybe those cycles are actually good for them in the life span of vehicle.

I guess what I am saying is we are all just guessing at this point. It isn't really definitive that this small change in ride height and what little it uses the components to accomplish, would actually shorten those components life appreciably in comparison to the life of the truck.
 
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deathernater

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To clarify my original post, I understand there will be additional wear. I would say a certain percentage like 10 percent less life is acceptable for the comfort. However, anything more I would consider not worth it.
 

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To clarify my original post, I understand there will be additional wear. I would say a certain percentage like 10 percent less life is acceptable for the comfort. However, anything more I would consider not worth it.
I'd expect to be more like <1%, unless you never take the truck off road and always leave it in all-purpose standard ride height.
 

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To clarify my original post, I understand there will be additional wear. I would say a certain percentage like 10 percent less life is acceptable for the comfort. However, anything more I would consider not worth it.
It's probably dependent on your habits. If I drive 300 miles at a stretch w/ kneel mode it will only activate once vs if I drive 3 miles per day it will activate 100 times by the time I get to 300 miles.

Situation 1 would see kneel model have a far less significant percentage impact than situation 2 as (assuming all purpose/auto) their suspension would be adjusting much more frequently outside of kneel mode than situation 2.

Not trying to be a jerk here, but curious. Do you stay out of auto suspension and leave it locked in a manual setting?
 
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deathernater

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Leaving it in auto suspension mode. Have not explored other drive modes quite yet. Just got the truck Monday and have not had much time to play with it. Just that my family complained it was too high so I had it kneel.

I did notice in auto it is pumping the height to the middle height after pulling out of the driveway above parking lot speed. I can hear the faint sound of the compressor when it's raising.
 

pnwr1s

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The truck dynamically adjust dampening every time you drive it by changing pressures in the bags. To think that avoiding using the kneel function will extend its life is silly. Just enjoy it.
 

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The truck dynamically adjust dampening every time you drive it by changing pressures in the bags. To think that avoiding using the kneel function will extend its life is silly. Just enjoy it.
Shouldn't you enjoy it as much as possible, so if these early air suspensions have issues, they'd get replaced under warranty, with revised versions?

Am I wrong?

I constantly hike the suspension to "high" whenever possible. I like the look of the truck in high, and since I'm a taller guy, its a non-issue getting into the truck. I'd love a mini-lift kit, just to make each ride height one level higher. I feel standard is too low. I'm assuming it's "not good" for my alignment, but other than that, I'm enjoying the truck.
 

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pnwr1s

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Shouldn't you enjoy it as much as possible, so if these early air suspensions have issues, they'd get replaced under warranty, with revised versions?

Am I wrong?

I constantly hike the suspension to "high" whenever possible. I like the look of the truck in high, and since I'm a taller guy, its a non-issue getting into the truck. I'd love a mini-lift kit, just to make each ride height one level higher. I feel standard is too low. I'm assuming it's "not good" for my alignment, but other than that, I'm enjoying the truck.
We agree
 
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deathernater

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Shouldn't you enjoy it as much as possible, so if these early air suspensions have issues, they'd get replaced under warranty, with revised versions?

Am I wrong?

I constantly hike the suspension to "high" whenever possible. I like the look of the truck in high, and since I'm a taller guy, its a non-issue getting into the truck. I'd love a mini-lift kit, just to make each ride height one level higher. I feel standard is too low. I'm assuming it's "not good" for my alignment, but other than that, I'm enjoying the truck.
Makes sense to make it break earlier and replaced under warranty with a revised and improved version, assuming there are even design flaws with the early air suspension.

My other question aside from long-term wear is how it gets the intake air. Is there some sort of an air filter and do we need to worry about changing those after a few years?
 

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My biggest issue so far is that I've turned it on but it doesn't seem to work when I park the truck.

When it does work then you have to sit there and wait after you park? I really miss the geofencing from the Model S for the garage door opener and for the ride height.
 
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deathernater

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It has to be either in all purpose or the conserve drive mode. It would not work with other drive modes. Furthermore you have to wait for it to finish kneeling otherwise it would pause if you open the door prematurely.
 

OverZealous

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My biggest issue so far is that I've turned it on but it doesn't seem to work when I park the truck.

When it does work then you have to sit there and wait after you park? I really miss the geofencing from the Model S for the garage door opener and for the ride height.
As @deathernater said, it only works in all purpose or conserve, and you also have to have the suspension in normal or low. If you select a different suspension height, it disables kneeling.

I also found out that it only works if you get above 5mph before stopping. So, for example, if the truck is in kneel, and you change the mode to something else or change the height, it won't kneel again until you get over 5mph.

As far as speed, the drop is incredibly quick, maybe 1-2 seconds. The majority of the time, I can't get my belt off and grab my phone before it's already down. The only one who's waiting for it is my 10yo daughter, because she's ten. 😁

I suppose if you are the kind of person who takes their seat belt off before parking, or if you are always in a hurry, you might be waiting on it more often. Of course, you can just pop the door open, get out, and it'll finish kneeling after the door is closed again.

It works really well for us. We were manually dropping the suspension all the time for my 5-foot tall wife, and it's nice it just happens. We do have running boards on order, so we'll have to see if we still need kneel mode with those.
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