Tire wear using Conserve Mode after ~ 6000 miles

[uthatch]

Interesting, I've turned off auto ride height due to some members posting uneven tire wear (due to cambering). I may have to re-think this now...

Well yeah, that makes sense, I could see that. It seems as though my alignment is good at Low. About 95% of my travel is on the freeway. So if my alignment is good at low, I'm going to see good wear, as I am. I don't lowest because the truck rides too rough.

What I'm not sure anyone knows is the camber change between normal and low. And if they do know by measuring, what are the effects on the tire wear?

LOL, I can say there's a BIG caster change in the highest setting. I changed my wheels over the weekend and had it in highest, and when I drove it afterward, I made a turn in the parking lot and the wheels flop to the side. It was kind of funny, I've never felt that much of a change in a vehicle and it's due entirely to ride height. It doesn't mean a thing in regards to this conversation, but it was just anecdotally interesting.

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[azzurro]

It is worth mentioning that if your vehicle is originaly configured with 20" wheel tire package than by changing to 21s or 22s you are also changing the dinamics and all the parameters that the vehicle software is programeed to control... just to mention a few... your ADAS sysytem, your ride height / alignment parameters, your EPAS (electric powr steering) you cameras and other systems will be slightly off since they are programmed and calibrated at the factory to work with the factory installed wheel/tire size....

 

[uthatch]

It is worth mentioning that if your vehicle is originaly configured with 20" wheel tire package than by changing to 21s or 22s you are also changing the dinamics and all the parameters that the vehicle software is programeed to control... just to mention a few... your ADAS sysytem, your ride height / alignment parameters, your EPAS (electric powr steering) you cameras and other systems will be slightly off since they are programmed and calibrated at the factory to work with the factory installed wheel/tire size....

Yeah I considered that and was actually the reason I wanted to have the truck recalibrated. But honestly, I have my doubts about the extent of the differences in the calibration.
Certainly the Speedo due to the known OD difference between the two tire sizes. But the rest of the items you mentioned, I’m just not buying. The truck suspension doesn’t know if all 4 wheels are 1” different in size, either direction. As long as they all are the same. Not to mention a buffer needs to be built into the software for tire wear anyway….not an inch buffer, but tires wear differently so that would be accounted for.

Can’t see how alignment would change either. Or the power steering.

And how would the cameras be different? The truck has multiple ride heights it operates at so what would the cameras care?

Im not being argumentative, I’m just wondering, and doubting, it’s as critical as it’s been portrayed some places to get the tire size recalibrated.

Plus I have the experience of the truck working perfectly fine for thousands of miles telling me there’s no big changes in the calibrations outside the speedo. Could I be wrong? Certainly.

 

[stewart]

I have about 6000 miles on a set of 21”s I bought for road trips. The tires were brand new, I bought the complete set off a forum member a few months back.

I recently completed a 3000+ trip to TX with the 21’s. That trip plus a camping trip and some other local running around got me to about 6000 miles on these tires.

I use Conserve pretty much all the time on the freeway. In town I use All Purpose mostly. I typically switch to Conserve from All Purpose when I’ve already entered whatever freeway I’m traveling on and then switch back to AP when I exit the freeway.

I usually travel at around 80MPH on the freeway. The trip to TX much of the time I was going faster. I also had 2 motorcycles in the bed adding weight and wind resistance and therefore more work for the drive wheels. How to quantify the additional work, I do not know.

I swapped back to my 20”s yesterday and checked the ear on the 21’s. There is a 1mm difference, with the front drive wheels being at 4mm to the wear bar compared to 5mm to the wear bar for the rears.

So this tells me that for sure the drive wheels are wearing more quickly, no surprise. But also if I rotated them I would have very decent tire life from the set. Obviously when I remount them, I will rotate them.

Not sure if this helps anyone, but it’s just an PSA for anyone who cares. I added the photos but it’s really difficult to see the difference in tread.

Thanks. Very helpful information.

 

[azzurro]

Yeah I considered that and was actually the reason I wanted to have the truck recalibrated. But honestly, I have my doubts about the extent of the differences in the calibration.
Certainly the Speedo due to the known OD difference between the two tire sizes. But the rest of the items you mentioned, I’m just not buying. The truck suspension doesn’t know if all 4 wheels are 1” different in size, either direction. As long as they all are the same. Not to mention a buffer needs to be built into the software for tire wear anyway….not an inch buffer, but tires wear differently so that would be accounted for.

Can’t see how alignment would change either. Or the power steering.

And how would the cameras be different? The truck has multiple ride heights it operates at so what would the cameras care?

Im not being argumentative, I’m just wondering, and doubting, it’s as critical as it’s been portrayed some places to get the tire size recalibrated.

Plus I have the experience of the truck working perfectly fine for thousands of miles telling me there’s no big changes in the calibrations outside the speedo. Could I be wrong? Certainly.

LOL. before I get into it I must confess I have done the same thing to my truck... I stashed the OE 20's black wheels and I installed a set 22s for a better ride and range and there hasn't been a problem other that adding a few more miles to the odometer than the truck actualy drives..... with that said here is my argument:

when the vehicle goes to the alignment rack for the first time the vehicle dynamic computer is put on "precise mode" and the ride height sensors know down to the milimeter, the exact distance from the frame to the floor and than the alignment is performed. if you changed the wheel size thant that afects the precise mode alignment.
The EPAS (electric power sterring gets told the correct wheight and height of the wheels to determine the proper current imputs for handling performance and the ABS (antilock computer ) is told the correct weight and height of the weels to determine braking performance and regen. the ADAS computer is constantly being improved and it heavily relies on the correct calibration of the cameras related to the ride height. I know there is a buffer and some threshold that's aplied but with 1000's of calculations per second that all the vehicle computers need to perform togheter while driving. the more precise the calibration data input the better the vehicle drives and performs.

 

[rodbrock]

I'm not refuting in any way that Conserve mode wears the tires more unevenly but what of the normal tire wear factor in general? Fronts vs Rear on most cars wear unevenly, hence tire rotation. I wonder what Rivian's standard wear is? I feel like Conserve mode on freeways at cruising speed @ Standard ride height, the tire wear will be negligible and worth the extra miles gained for someone like me who takes 150-300 mile trips almost every weekend.

 

[uthatch]

I'm not refuting in any way that Conserve mode wears the tires more unevenly but what of the normal tire wear factor in general? Fronts vs Rear on most cars wear unevenly, hence tire rotation. I wonder what Rivian's standard wear is? I feel like Conserve mode on freeways at cruising speed @ Standard ride height, the tire wear will be negligible and worth the extra miles gained for someone like me who takes 150-300 mile trips almost every weekend.

I think that goes back to my original post. ~6000 miles, with 3000 of them with 1000+ pound load fighting the wind and going 80+mph and I see about 2mm more wear from the fronts than rears. With rotation to even out the wear I think 15,000+ is easily obtainable. Not that that is a great number, but I also think that's a conservative estimate. This is provided your alignment is good and the tires wear evenly.

I have no intention of stopping using Conserve in Auto ride height.

 

[Crosis]

Rivian has actually recommended to not use conserve mode on extended trips. Only when you really need to conserve battery. You end up decoupling the rear motors from the axle and all of the weight is put on the 2 front wheels. Hence the uneven wear.

This was reiterated in State of Charge's recent review.

 

[uthatch]

Rivian has actually recommended to not use conserve mode on extended trips. Only when you really need to conserve battery. You end up decoupling the rear motors from the axle and all of the weight is put on the 2 front wheels. Hence the uneven wear.

This was reiterated in State of Charge's recent review.

I'm having a difficult time taking the person serious after he says people come into the SC with their "wheels worn down".

 

[WSea]

I'm having a difficult time taking the person serious after he says people come into the SC with their "wheels worn down".

That's some serious tread wear!

 

[R1EV]

I paid for AWD and I'll dang well use it especially when it saves my tires in the long run. The 20 odd cost of miles from conserve to all purpose is a small cost IMO.

 

[emoore]

I haven’t used conserve mode yet. And I probably won’t use it after reading the issues with it. Only exception will be on my first road trip. I’ll use it in northern Minnesota since the charging network sucks up there.

 

[Operator]

While I don't know if this is applicable to rivian, I know that many manufacturers partner with a tire brand and the factory new tire is actually sold with significantly less tread. It allows the manufacturer to pay less for the tire in an effort to reduce the MSRP. If your getting 10-15k out of the first set I'm praying this is the case. I can't afford new tires every year.

 

[windblowlc]

While I don't know if this is applicable to rivian, I know that many manufacturers partner with a tire brand and the factory new tire is actually sold with significantly less tread. It allows the manufacturer to pay less for the tire in an effort to reduce the MSRP. If your getting 10-15k out of the first set I'm praying this is the case. I can't afford new tires every year.

Never heard or seen this happening. Which manufacturers do you know are doing this?

 

[HyperionMark]

Never heard or seen this happening. Which manufacturers do you know are doing this?

Pretty wide issue. Tesla OEM tires are always pretty crappy.

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