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Lift kit to support larger tires on R1T?

basedRNC

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Are there any lift kits available for the R1T?

Thinking about upgrading to larger tires at some point which may need more clearance.

If not, what are the largest tires the R1T can support without rubbing?
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Donald Stanfield

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No lift kits and I feel like to put one on you would have to junk a large part of the air suspension that comes with the truck. With the amount of travel the air suspension has I wouldn’t expect a lift kit to come anytime soon if ever.

I personally know nothing about max tire size so I can’t help you there but I would recommend not messing with the stock suspension as it already has some problems and you’ll void your warranty not to mention willingly throw away a big part of the reason people buy the truck.
 

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No lift kit available as far as I know, doubt with the Rivian’s unique suspension that one is coming soon.

On the Optima overland build they are using 35” tires (295 65 R20) but sounds like they are still exploring with sizes, wheel offsets etc. So if/when I decided to go bigger I will be looking at either 285 65 R20 or 295 65 R20 hopefully more info Is available by the time I need new tires (again).
 

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When I was swapping my stock 22's out for winter tires/wheels I noticed that I had a rub mark in the passenger side front. Not sure when it happened.
Rivian R1T R1S Lift kit to support larger tires on R1T? PXL_20221126_180328578
 

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Dark-Fx

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A lift does nothing to help fit larger tires. The physical wheel well dimensions are always the limit until you start cutting, chopping and bending metal and plastic.
I'm definitely wondering how someone would handle it with the air suspension having a height sensor. Height is probably not completely linear but I suppose if you are hacking and chopping up the truck, you probably don't care.

Poor man's lift might just be adjusting the height sensors so the truck thinks it is in a lower suspension setting.
 

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I'm definitely wondering how someone would handle it with the air suspension having a height sensor. Height is probably not completely linear but I suppose if you are hacking and chopping up the truck, you probably don't care.

Poor man's lift might just be adjusting the height sensors so the truck thinks it is in a lower suspension setting.
That’s how it has been done on Land Rovers with air suspension. They have a connecting link between the control arm and a sensor that gives height readings to the ECU. Change the link length and the computer adjusts to what it thinks is correct resulting in a lift. I don’t know if Rivian has something similar.
 

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Beyond the issues with the suspension - bigger tires would likely severely impact handling and range and you'd feel it much more than you would lifting an ICE vehicle.
 

M4H4X

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Beyond the issues with the suspension - bigger tires would likely severely impact handling and range and you'd feel it much more than you would lifting an ICE vehicle.
Also, CV joint wear and tear increased. These things have CV joints prone to failure already.
 

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A lift does nothing to help fit larger tires. The physical wheel well dimensions are always the limit until you start cutting, chopping and bending metal and plastic.
You can always avoid needing to cut, chop and bend with more height.

Rivian R1T R1S Lift kit to support larger tires on R1T? 1669636980644


On a serious note, the safest way to raise the R1T is probably with frame spacers.

You may need to remove some underbody aero bits since that attaches to the body. It’ll be a hit to efficiency but I’m going to guess if you’re looking to raise and put more aggressive knobby tires on that efficiency isn’t a high priority.

Aside from frame spacers you can trick the electronics, but that usually only gets you about an Inch. The only thing it would do is allow you to essentially drive in the High and Highest settings at higher speeds which is probably locked because it causes instability and excessive wear to a variety of components. But it also brings up the next issue..

While doable, with bigger tires you then run the potential issue of the suspension lowering if you’re not going to cut the wheel wells. You would need a 7” lift to make sure the lowest setting would now be where you’re at on highest at that height and avoid going down to a level that rubs, we’re now dealing with whether or not the tubes and wires have enough slack to route up that high.

I guess I’m trying to say..how much money do you have?
 

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Also, CV joint wear and tear increased. These things have CV joints prone to failure already.
I haven't heard of any actual CV joint failures yet, just some people having issues that sounds like an original assembly problem, and of course the excessive tocking noise.

Ultimately, I would probably investigate having custom made portal axles for the truck, so you can maintain the extra clearance with the rest of the suspension components. I don't have any interest in doing it though.
 
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M4H4X

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I haven't heard of any actual CV joint failures yet, just some people having issues that sounds like an original assembly problem, and of course the excessive tocking noise.

Ultimately, I would probably investigate having custom made portal axles for the truck, so you can maintain the extra clearance with the rest of the suspension components. I don't have any interest in doing it though.
Rivian with portal axles specs:

Range: Yes.
Weight: Yes.
 

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The stock A/T's are 34's, those are pretty big tires as is. The better option would be to explore smaller wheels to fit more rubber, not really bigger tires but would still allow you to have more sidewall. Anyone know if you can fit 17 or 18" wheels over the calipers?
 

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The stock A/T's are 34's, those are pretty big tires as is. The better option would be to explore smaller wheels to fit more rubber, not really bigger tires but would still allow you to have more sidewall. Anyone know if you can fit 17 or 18" wheels over the calipers?
Not over the front brakes. 20s are as small as you can go.
 

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As someone who used Johnson Rods to get a few inches of lift on my Defender for a little bit, I am happy to recommend against this type of modification. While it looked cool and ostensibly gave me a little bit more ground clearance for offroad obstacles, it also reduced the efficacy of the air suspension (it causes the bags to be more inflated all the time, like if you were riding around in "High" all the time even if you're in "Normal"+Rods), it made the handling on road worse, reduced my fuel efficiency, and made the offroad ride quality considerably worse. I ultimately took them back off and tossed them in the bin, since they just weren't necessary. I still never ran into anything I *wanted* to do that the Defender couldn't even without them.

I agree with others, there are better mods that would achieve better results without trying to lift a vehicle that can already give you 15" of ground clearance. Some sort of solution to fit smaller rims and give us more rubber would be ideal. I don't think we really need to go bigger than 34" if we could get something like 16" or 17" rims on it.

I'm definitely not a hardcore rock crawler, so if I didn't run into anything my mostly stock Defender couldn't do, I'm not at all plussed when it comes to pointing the more capable R1T at the same obstacles, without any height/tire mods.

I do, however, still want a damn winch! And will definitely pick up sliders for those extra-difficult sections of the trail.
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