Not just a missing center cap after all. Yikes. (Lost bolt that holds the axel to the hub)

[Ash]

So my truck is at the service center to fix some paint damage that happened pre-delivery. I let them know about a month before that one of my center caps fell off my driver side front wheel. I thought it was just a piece of missing plastic, but it turns out there's a bolt that holds the axel to the hub that fell off and pushed the center cap out from the inside. I've drove a lot like that. Didn't seem to cause a problem, but still un-nerving. If you lose a cap, check the bolt! I still love my truck and nothing's going to change that. Here's a pic.
cheers~

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[crashmtb]

It’s fine, the half shaft tapers down to spline diameter. So it can’t come completely out

 

[Dark-Fx]

It’s fine, the half shaft tapers down to spline diameter. So it can’t come completely out

Mine was backing out slightly when my bolt came loose.

 

[Ash]

It’s fine, the half shaft tapers down to spline diameter. So it can’t come completely out

Yeah, I wasn't really worried about it. Just wondering how many other bolts might fall off. I've got over 6k miles on Blue (yer my boy Blue!) so far and loving every one of them. I noticed they added an inspection of my drive units and suspension to the work order even though I hadn't asked them too. That makes me feel good.

 

[Voronbrg]

Mine did the same. The nuts back out popping the caps off. Common issue on ev.

 

[Riviot]

My cap popped off over a month ago and they still haven't answered my service ticket question about getting another one. What's it supposed to look like underneath the cap? I think I'll go pop one off and compare...

 

[Dark-Fx]

My cap popped off over a month ago and they still haven't answered my service ticket question about getting another one. What's it supposed to look like underneath the cap? I think I'll go pop one off and compare...

There should be a bolt like this in the end of the axle. It shouldn't be loose or missing. Service's excuse was that they don't always put enough thread locker on the bolt, and the axle noise is due to dry assembly of the axle and hub. My 32XX vin truck demonstrates both of those.

 

[mindstormsguy]

Mine did the same. The nuts back out popping the caps off. Common issue on ev.

What? Since when? What EVs does this commonly happen on?

 

[Riviot]

Oh cool, so I'm missing an axel bolt? I sent them the below picture a month ago! Now that I know what I'm looking at, clearly it's missing. How is this not a bigger deal?

 

[R1Tom]

It’s fine, the half shaft tapers down to spline diameter. So it can’t come completely out

I am a bit naive on what tasks this bolt all performs. Does it simply pull and hold the half shaft into the hub, or does it also preload the hub bearings? If this and the half shaft were removed, would the front wheel rotating assembly all just behave as normal, minus power. Or would the bearing get loose and start quickly wearing, making noises, etc?

 

[JeremyP]

I'm guessing it just keeps the half shaft in the right position; on vehicles like my 4runner or chevy truck there is a large nut that threads onto the cv shaft and gets torqued to around 200ft-lbs to preload the unit bearing.

 

[PracticalRivian]

On most vehicles this axle nut actually holds the whole hub/bearing assembly together. I'm guessing that is not the case with Rivian because you'd have lost the whole wheel by driving on it any length of time.

 

[R1Tom]

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On most vehicles this axle nut actually holds the whole hub/bearing assembly together. I'm guessing that is not the case with Rivian because you'd have lost the whole wheel by driving on it any length of time.

That is what I thought too, and why I am confused here....

 

[Dark-Fx]

I am a bit naive on what tasks this bolt all performs. Does it simply pull and hold the half shaft into the hub, or does it also preload the hub bearings? If this and the half shaft were removed, would the front wheel rotating assembly all just behave as normal, minus power. Or would the bearing get loose and start quickly wearing, making noises, etc?

Rivian service told me the wheel won't fall off because the bolt is missing. I'm not really sure how they have the hub designed so the bearing maintains proper preload without some sort of threaded assembly going through it.

 

[Voronbrg]

What? Since when? What EVs does this commonly happen on?

It's a common phenomenon on evs because of the torque and fast frequency. This is t a problem on i. C. E. s a new issue manufactures are learning transitioning to evs. The axle hardware tends to back out.

There was a sae paper on this same exact issue. I'll try and link it.

Mine backed out and popped the cap off. Service found the other three all loose.

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