Reinforced Underbody Shield removed & myth dispelled (not integral to pack structure)

[FooF]

I reached out to both service centers near me they said they can't donit because "1. It may void the warranty and 2. The rus is connected to the high voltage battery which requires serious modification in order to get it done, which is why it's only done during initial build out."

Am i going to have to road trip to Massachusetts to get this done? Or just not get it at all.

Best to wait for outcome of Onesoil install to get more details since it is the first time I have heard of a Service Center installing RUS upgrade. I got excuse 2 previously when inquiring at San Jose CA Service Center.

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[onesoil]

@onesoil can you provide any more detail of your work order so that customer service can look up your install so we can prove it is an option?

Update:

My truck was picked up yesterday, and my work order came through today:

It looks like the initial quote I got was off by about $1k (for the worse, for me), but after adding up the cost of the parts and considering the fact that I may be the first general consumer to have this retrofit done, I'm going to approve the work. Also, the factory has the parts on hand, whereas these parts have to be shipped to the SC and my non-RUS underbody has to be removed before these are installed, so to cost $800 more than the RUS from factory actually seems reasonable to me.

I still haven't gotten complete clarification on how (if) this differs from a factory specc'd RUS—part of me wants to believe that it is exactly the same, but I suspect there may be some layer of composite bonded to the pack that I will be missing. While I may never know with certainty how factory-installed RUS differs from the one I'm having installed, I will at least feel better knowing there is some extra protection between my battery pack and rocks/logs below me in some of the areas I drive pretty frequently—whether that's metal, carbon, or a combination.

I will update once the work has been done, at which point we can confirm that at least one person has been able to have this done post-purchase.

A side note: Chelsea continues to give me hope for Rivian. My father had a loaner brought on a flatbed to have his Tonneau replacement done, and the folks at Chelsea bumped my work order up so that I could keep the loaner while they swapped my dad's truck out for mine—connecting the dots between my truck and his to reduce flat-bed trips while giving us better service amounts to a level of logistical common sense and customer service capability that I would never expect from Tesla or other manufacturers—the former, coming from many painful personal experiences with terrible service in far-flung places (Tesla just opened their first Vermont SC last month—so hopefully that will change given how many Vermonters have Teslas).

 

[rhuber]

[QUOTE="onesoil, post: 530742, member: 7341"



I still haven't gotten complete clarification on how (if) this differs from a factory specc'd RUS—part of me wants to believe that it is exactly the same, but I suspect there may be some layer of composite bonded to the pack that I will be missing.
[/QUOTE]

Awesome that you got them to install one!

I promise there is no different layering. I’ve taken apart both styles of pack and the shield is absolutely 100% a bolt on. The confusion may be related to the “on road” shield being a cf composite, but that’s the entire floor of every pack. It is exactly the same thickness on every pack, regardless. The steel and aluminum shield is never bonded, only fastened.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Alternatively, turn your vehicle upside down to remove it.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[rhuber]

Thanks for the advice!

Silver lining - That's a relatively easy removal job.

 

[onesoil]

I’ll take your word for it @rhuber, since you’ve had both all apart in pieces (and since nobody at Rivian thus far seems sure or able to say) and appreciate the added peace of mind. It sure is strange that nobody along the way has been able to describe what all RUS actually contains that differentiates it from the on-road underbelly… but overall I’m happy that I was able to wiggle my way into having the added protection. Next step: rock sliders!

At any rate, they finally delivered (20 days later). My truck went in for a list of things plus the RUS retrofit. I heard a clunk in the rear and felt some front half-shaft clicking. The mobile tech said it was “normal” (or that he didn’t hear the clunking I was replicating for him on a drive) but they brought it to Chelsea anyways, since I wanted the RUS installed, and they ended up replacing both rear dampers and the left front half-shaft. No more clunking in the rear or clicking in the front!

Total for the RUS retrofit came to $2,840.49 (parts and labor)

They even gave me all my original underbelly panels back, one of which is carbon (I believe it’s the front subframe cover), but the rear one is plastic unlike the photos below of the RUS from the rear.

I will compare them when I have a little more time, and have as backup if my dad ever damages his non-RUS equipped R1T underbelly.

 

[FooF]

I’ll take your word for it @rhuber, since you’ve had both all apart in pieces (and since nobody at Rivian thus far seems sure or able to say) and appreciate the added peace of mind. It sure is strange that nobody along the way has been able to describe what all RUS actually contains that differentiates it from the on-road underbelly… but overall I’m happy that I was able to wiggle my way into having the added protection. Next step: rock sliders!

At any rate, they finally delivered (20 days later). My truck went in for a list of things plus the RUS retrofit. I heard a clunk in the rear and felt some front half-shaft clicking. The mobile tech said it was “normal” (or that he didn’t hear the clunking I was replicating for him on a drive) but they brought it to Chelsea anyways, since I wanted the RUS installed, and they ended up replacing both rear dampers and the left front half-shaft. No more clunking in the rear or clicking in the front!

Total for the RUS retrofit came to $2,840.49 (parts and labor)

They even gave me all my original underbelly panels back, one of which is carbon (I believe it’s the front subframe cover), but the rear one is plastic unlike the photos below of the RUS from the rear.

I will compare them when I have a little more time, and have as backup if my dad ever damages his non-RUS equipped R1T underbelly.

So the battery cover does not appear to have been upgraded to the RUS only subframes.

 

[onesoil]

So the battery cover does not appear to have been upgraded to the RUS only subframes.

According to the work order, it should be upgraded—at least, that’s what I assumed when I read it. If they didn’t swap that out, I would say that the work order is very misleading.

Is there some visual que that you’re not seeing in photos of my truck? I haven’t ever seen an R1 with RUS up until getting mine added, so I wouldn’t really know what to look for.

 

[FooF]

I am just going by appearance. Also the factory rus panel is smooth and metallic. The panel you have is composite and even if it has additional metal plate underneath, the composite would get damaged if you go over a rock correct?

 

[onesoil]

I am just going by appearance. Also the factory rus panel is smooth and metallic. The panel you have is composite and even if it has additional metal plate underneath, the composite would get damaged if you go over a rock correct?

I’ll have to get under the truck tomorrow and get some more detailed photos/investigate a little further.

@rhuber, can you post some photos of what your battery pack cover looks like post swap? Or anyone with RUS, for that matter.

 

[FooF]

Scroll up on this post the upside down truck has factory rus

 

[onesoil]

Scroll up on this post the upside down truck has factory rus

I think you’re right, by appearance anyways. I guess I feel like this was a bit of a bait and switch then—there was no mention of them doing everything but the battery pack panel (which seems like the most important part, no?).

is there any chance that RUS has changed over time? I just dug through some threads that seem to show a few different looking shots of RUS equipped underbodies (though none have the grooves like mine appear to have).

 

[CBRacerX]

I'll post some pics of the 2024 RUS next week after I pickup my R1T.

 

[devnr]

I’ll have to get under the truck tomorrow and get some more detailed photos/investigate a little further.

@rhuber, can you post some photos of what your battery pack cover looks like post swap? Or anyone with RUS, for that matter.

@onesoil - were you able to investigate further, or check with the SC if the back panel was upgraded to RUS? Or in other words, it was a complete RUS upgrade and no parts or panels were left out?

I'd be interested in an RUS upgrade as well. Wonder if anyone's had any luck with this in the west coast.

 

[CBRacerX]

I'll post some pics of the 2024 RUS next week after I pickup my R1T.

Sorry this got a bit delayed but here are the pics of the 2024 RUS

I'll note that the silver front underbody "shield" that is attached to the bumper cover isn't metal like a Porsche Cayenne with shield option - it is plastic (maybe composite but outer surface seems to be plastic).

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