R1T isn't a 'Truck'? Think Again. Best vehicle I've ever owned, hands down.

[Thedude]

Is there a law I'm unaware of that states you're not permitted to tow more than the rating for your vehicle? Serious question. I've never heard of anything like that.

As far as making sacrifices - that's true for every vehicle, so what's the point really? The Tacoma traded on-road comfort for off-road chops. The TRX/Raptors of the world trade efficiency and ease of driving for the ability to blast through dunes at 80mph (your vastly superior offroad suspension is tuned to do this specifically. It will do all the other off-road stuff, but not as well, because it sacrificed ability in other areas for this. I'd take the R1Ts suspension for rock crawling over the TRX's).

Every vehicle has strengths and weaknesses.

EDIT: I think at this point it's fair to state that I have a bias against these giant trucks. I see tons of them around here, lifted to insane heights (nothing like still dragging your diffs over a 6 inch rock even tho your testosterone machine is lifted so high your head is in the clouds), being driven like the driver personally owns the road, and they are nearly 100% of the bad experiences I have on roads with drivers. Getting cut off. Coal rolled. Etc etc. All these raging man-babies think they've got this terrain-chewing monster that enables them to do anything they want, yet hardly any of them have a single pinstripe on them, but they'll be the first to yell at my truck about it being a mall crawler or garage queen. I have a strong personal dislike for gigantic trucks and the (generally - not everyone is like this) people that drive them.

I love the huge body lifted trucks on thin sidewall 24” mud tires. Perfect example of a truck made useless for most truck things. I pinstriped my TRX month one. Yeah it hurt inside hearing the branches run down the paint but it’s a truck made to go off-road and have fun with, not sit around and look pretty in the driveway.

Legally there isn’t a law that absolutely restricts towing over the rated limit unless you exceed weights that require special licensing. There are laws that define that as operating the vehicle in an unsafe or negligent manner however. If you cause an accident when towing over the limit you are open to easy civil liability suits and criminal charges related to operating in an unsafe or negligent manner.

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[Zoidz]

Is there a law I'm unaware of that states you're not permitted to tow more than the rating for your vehicle? Serious question. I've never heard of anything like that.
....

Pennsylvania has law covering this, and I suspect all states have similar laws. It's illegal to exceed the manufacturer's weight ratings. It's a safety thing for you and everyone around you. The code primarily applies to vehicles registered as trucks (in PA a Rivian is) but it provides a catch all for ANY vehicle and trailer combination at the very end. See #1 below.

One interesting note is that another section actually ADDS 2,000 pounds to road weight restrictions (not towing weight) for EVs. See #2 below. As an example, this would help an Amazon EDV where a road weight restriction of 4 tons might be violated, they get 5 tons.

#1
4942. Registered gross weight.
(a) Single vehicle limits.--No vehicle registered as a truck, a combination or a trailer shall be operated with a gross weight in excess of its registered gross weight.

(b) Truck towing trailer.--No vehicle registered as a truck shall be operated with a gross weight, exclusive of any trailer being towed, in excess of its registered gross weight as a truck.

(c) Combination.--No combination containing a trailer having a gross weight or registered gross weight in excess of 10,000 pounds shall be operated with a gross weight in excess of the registered gross weight of the truck or truck tractor for a combination. This subsection shall not apply to a combination of vehicles consisting of a motor vehicle towing a recreational trailer or recreational cargo trailer, registered as such, as long as the combination weight does not exceed the sum of the manufacturer's rated axle capacities or the gross combination weight rating, whichever is less.


#2
d) Natural gas and electric vehicles.--
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a vehicle that is operated by an engine fueled primarily by compressed or liquefied natural gas or powered primarily by means of electric battery power may exceed the gross vehicle weight limits imposed under this section by an amount, not to exceed a maximum of 2,000 pounds, that is equal to the difference between the weight of the vehicle attributable to the natural gas tank and fueling system or the battery or battery pack carried by the vehicle and the weight of a comparable diesel tank and fueling system.

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Thanks for that info @Zoidz! Very helpful and appreciated

 

[Madsen203]

LOL a Tesla MY could do everything you R1T did including the trailering. It’s not a truck for one solid reason: 4.5’ bed. It’s as much as a truck as a Subaru Baja or Hyundai Santa Cruz. Payload also sucks and is the limiting factor for towing/hauling. Its as much of a truck as the EV Hummer is-which it is not.

 

[Zoidz]

LOL a Tesla MY could do everything you R1T did including the trailering. It’s not a truck for one solid reason: 4.5’ bed. It’s as much as a truck as a Subaru Baja or Hyundai Santa Cruz. Payload also sucks and is the limiting factor for towing/hauling. Its as much of a truck as the EV Hummer is-which it is not.

LOL, Tesla Y can tow 3500 max, R1T can tow 11,000, R1S can tow 7700 max - more than twice the Y

 

[Inkedsphynx]

LOL a Tesla MY could do everything you R1T did including the trailering. It’s not a truck for one solid reason: 4.5’ bed. It’s as much as a truck as a Subaru Baja or Hyundai Santa Cruz. Payload also sucks and is the limiting factor for towing/hauling. Its as much of a truck as the EV Hummer is-which it is not.

Lmao. There is not a snowball's chance in hell your MY would have done what I did with my R1T. I guarantee I packed way more into each trip than your vehicle could. I hauled a ton of stuff that HAD to go in a bed and wouldn't fit in anything that isn't a bed.

Payload? R1T has more than a TRX. Towing? Yea, your MY will out-tow an R1T... please pass whatever you're smoking, it's way better than what I can get here in Seattle.

Get off your knees from in front of Elon for a moment and take a look around at reality.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

LOL a Tesla MY could do everything you R1T did including the trailering. It’s not a truck for one solid reason: 4.5’ bed. It’s as much as a truck as a Subaru Baja or Hyundai Santa Cruz. Payload also sucks and is the limiting factor for towing/hauling. Its as much of a truck as the EV Hummer is-which it is not.

Ford F-150 Supercab with a 6.5' bed payload is 1,785

Rivian R1T with a 4.5' bed is 1,760

Please explain how that "sucks" by comparison.

 

[Inkedsphynx]

My 4.5ft bed didn't have any issues getting my 9ft xmas tree home, or the stack of 4x8 plywood I picked up last weekend. It wasn't an issue hauling firewood for my partner's fireplace. It would have easily handled both my motorcycles if I had wanted (only reason I didn't was fear I couldn't get the one that can't run into the bed via my own strength without risking damage to me, the bike, or the truck).

Other than hauling 12ft+ lumber, can someone please highlight for me what a 6.5ft bed can do that a 4.5ft bed can't (and really, that extra 2 feet isn't getting you anything, you're still hanging lumber multiple feet off the back of the truck)? Sure, it's definitely smaller, but that doesn't render it entirely useless as some here seem to suggest.

 

[yorty]

Last Sunday I took my family to a tree farm to get a Christmas Tree with the Rivian. After selecting our tree and performing the necessary feats of strength with the handsaw, we loaded said tree right into the bed like a real truck and drove it home. It was far easier and less stress inducing than having it on the roof like we've done in the past.

It also got many more admiring looks than any of the other "real" trucks in the parking lot.

 

[yorty]

We did the same in Havasu!

 

[Thedude]

That’s a good joke. The Rivian isn’t a huge truck but it does have a decent payload. Mine is 1559lbs which is almost dead even between one of my old Tacomas (1150lbs) and my old 2500HD (1950lbs).

 

[Zoidz]

.....
Other than hauling 12ft+ lumber, can someone please highlight for me what a 6.5ft bed can do that a 4.5ft bed can't (and really, that extra 2 feet isn't getting you anything, you're still hanging lumber multiple feet off the back of the truck)? Sure, it's definitely smaller, but that doesn't render it entirely useless as some here seem to suggest.

Done correctly, you could haul 12' lumber with the tailgate down and ratchet straps to secure it. I have an Avalanche (63" bed) I hear this "The bed's too short" crap all the time. With the tailgate down, it works for 95% of all use cases.

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Fair, I didn't really mean to imply an R1T couldn't haul 12ft+ lumber. It totally could with the appropriate safety precautions.

 

[Tejkalra]

LOL, Tesla Y can tow 3500 max, R1T can tow 11,000, R1S can tow 7700 max - more than twice the Y

I own model y... Not even close to r1t. Build quality is like some 6th grader build it. I feel bad trading my 2020 model Y to 2022 thinking it will be better then 2020....totally opposite. Instead of build quality improving it went backwards at 90 MPH. Heater will melt your face. Press auto on A/C when cold, defogger won't turn on. Manually have to turn on defogger. Heat on your seat will turn on at full speed and will make you uncomfortable. So please stop comparing the piece of shit to r1t. R1t is not best it has tons of flaws. No one is perfect but please don't compare to tesla. I don't care about 0 to 60. Don't care about towing I don't own a trailer. Do care about charging network thou. In that case tesla wins.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Drove Charleston to Greenville (200 miles on interstate) last week with a full bed (king mattress shown on the right). Gear tunnel and frunk were also fully loaded.

Not even a hint of problems, made it to

the destination with 80 miles to spare.

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