Tonneau Mixed Messages...Concerned!

[staytuned]

I guess I'm on the other side of the fence, having just switched from an R1S reservation to R1T.
It's easier to deal with a tarp in an SUV than a clunky, manual tonneau on a pickup. Integrated and powered is a must (for me.)

It should be an option.

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[M00v0vr]

I'm an relatively early res holder and don't want a powered cover under any configuration. If you don't want it let them know, this is how the off road pkg became an option and not built into LE, per CS.

 

[Whmorken]

I've heard this a bunch, but on my test drive last weekend, the powered tonneau worked totally fine. Opened and closed multiple times, seemed to divert the water away from the bed (it was raining pretty hard that day) and it was actually the second thing the employee showed me when he arrived.

Maybe the truck I test drove had the updated design

Good report. Thanks.

 

[Chris S]

I just switched to an R1S due to long-term concerns about the tonneau cover and gear tunnel doors. It seems like there's a good bit more to potentially go wrong on the truck.

 

[blturner]

I frequently carry stuff that has to absolutely stay dry. So I always put a tonneau cover on my pickups. All of them have been a collection of compromises. Folding, rolling, hard, soft, above the side rails, flush, below, with or without gutters. exposed rubber, UV, freeze, ice and snow resistant, weight capacity, on and on.
I find it very unlikely that everyone will be happy with whatever choices get made in this area.
As they try and work through all of the conflicts I bet there have been many spirited conversations by Rivian engineers and management about the best balance. So yes the 1.0 version having problems is just par for the course.
If you think there is the perfect tonneau out there then you should look hard at the current choices.
I want/need a bed with a cover, so I will put up with whatever. If you can't, then yes the R1S may be a better choice for you.

 

[BoltEVowner]

I frequently carry stuff that has to absolutely stay dry. So I always put a tonneau cover on my pickups. All of them have been a collection of compromises. Folding, rolling, hard, soft, above the side rails, flush, below, with or without gutters. exposed rubber, UV, freeze, ice and snow resistant, weight capacity, on and on.
I find it very unlikely that everyone will be happy with whatever choices get made in this area.
As they try and work through all of the conflicts I bet there have been many spirited conversations by Rivian engineers and management about the best balance. So yes the 1.0 version having problems is just par for the course.
If you think there is the perfect tonneau out there then you should look hard at the current choices.
I want/need a bed with a cover, so I will put up with whatever. If you can't, then yes the R1S may be a better choice for you.

Chatted with CS a couple of days ago, asking about the powered tonneau issues, and wondering if a LE preorder holder could request a manual tonneau cover instead. He said "No, and problems with the tonneau cover are not causing production delays, and any problems, if they occurred, would be fixed." Paraphrasing of course. Looks like we will just have to wait and see, but I for one, DO want a tonneau cover for a large area of lockable storage space.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

There has been a lot of talk about the Tonneau cover on the R1T and the problems that it may or may not be having. I have heard the following directly from Rivian employees over the last couple of weeks (not third hand...directly from Rivian to me):

I knew i had seen an issue with the tonneau cover in one of the Colorado reviews. There is definitely some quirks with the Tonneau, as you can in the video, it appears to have jammed on an angle here.

I think its safe to say they are aware of issues surrounding its function and are trying to address it. One I had read was there was an issue with temperature related expansion and contraction warping it just enough to hamper correct function.

 

[Florida Boy]

I frequently carry stuff that has to absolutely stay dry. So I always put a tonneau cover on my pickups. All of them have been a collection of compromises. Folding, rolling, hard, soft, above the side rails, flush, below, with or without gutters. exposed rubber, UV, freeze, ice and snow resistant, weight capacity, on and on.
I find it very unlikely that everyone will be happy with whatever choices get made in this area.
As they try and work through all of the conflicts I bet there have been many spirited conversations by Rivian engineers and management about the best balance. So yes the 1.0 version having problems is just par for the course.
If you think there is the perfect tonneau out there then you should look hard at the current choices.
I want/need a bed with a cover, so I will put up with whatever. If you can't, then yes the R1S may be a better choice for you.

That is very good perspective! I think you are probably right.

 

[Jehorton]

I frequently carry stuff that has to absolutely stay dry. So I always put a tonneau cover on my pickups. All of them have been a collection of compromises. Folding, rolling, hard, soft, above the side rails, flush, below, with or without gutters. exposed rubber, UV, freeze, ice and snow resistant, weight capacity, on and on.
I find it very unlikely that everyone will be happy with whatever choices get made in this area.
As they try and work through all of the conflicts I bet there have been many spirited conversations by Rivian engineers and management about the best balance. So yes the 1.0 version having problems is just par for the course.
If you think there is the perfect tonneau out there then you should look hard at the current choices.
I want/need a bed with a cover, so I will put up with whatever. If you can't, then yes the R1S may be a better choice for you.

The best cover is a topper haha. I went through two top of the line tonneau covers and they both leaked. My topper is prefect! Dry as can be. And that’s why I decided to switch from the R1T to the R1S.

 

[blturner]

The best cover is a topper haha. I went through two top of the line tonneau covers and they both leaked. My topper is prefect! Dry as can be. And that’s why I decided to switch from the R1T to the R1S.

Yes, Toppers do better at keeping things dry, offer more locked space, last longer. I just don't like the visibility. A topper gets a lot of the advantages of an SUV for a lot less money. Normally the SUV version of a truck costs a lot more of a premium than the $2500 between the R1T and R1S. That is why I also preordered a R1S a few months back to add to my R1T from 3 years ago. When my R1S gets built in a year or two, I will be able to decide if I stick with the truck or switch to the SUV. I am actually hoping they don't clear the backlog faster than the time I need to make that call.

 

[E.S.]

For those not aware, the base version of the R1T offers a manual tonneau cover vs the powered one. If the powered one concerns you that much (or just simply prefer a manual operation version over the powered one).

 

[Airbuswillie]

Am I the only one that doesn't even care if it has a tonneau cover? I've never liked them on a truck anyway. I just sold my 2017 GMC 2500 and had a top on the bed from Softopper the entire time I owned that truck. That's one of the downsides to the R1T right now is that I haven't seen ANY options for putting a cover or top on the bed besides the tonneau cover. I'm sure the aftermarket will come up with something but there just aren't any options yet.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Am I the only one that doesn't even care if it has a tonneau cover? I've never liked them on a truck anyway. I just sold my 2017 GMC 2500 and had a top on the bed from Softopper the entire time I owned that truck. That's one of the downsides to the R1T right now is that I haven't seen ANY options for putting a cover or top on the bed besides the tonneau cover. I'm sure the aftermarket will come up with something but there just aren't any options yet.

I've owned many trucks and I've never really liked tonneau covers. However, that was because they all seemed to do a really bad job at letting you use the truck like a TRUCK. The Rivian powered tonneau is different and it's something I'm quite excited about. Tangible benefits without the main drawbacks that traditional designs have.

Now truck caps are something I still don't understand.

 

[Rivuylkill]

letting you use the truck like a TRUCK.

I still don't even know what that means but I know I always hear people saying such and such a truck can't be used like a truck. Feel like that probably means different things to different people and if anyone isn't doing the same things with their truck as you are it's easy to say they're not using it like a truck. Plenty of people say any R1T can't be used like a truck because the bed is too short but am sure lots of others think differently.

With respect to tonneau, my soft rollup was always fine for what I needed and was quick/easy to get full bed access if I wanted to access the whole bed.

Am sure some people with those heavy diamondback ones and stored atv's or who knows what on top was great for their use case and was used like a truck as far as they were concerned.

The trifold ones weren't my cup of tea but works great for some people and am sure they were still using their truck like what they thought they'd use their truck for.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

I still don't even know what that means but I know I always hear people saying such and such a truck can't be used like a truck. Feel like that probably means different things to different people and if anyone isn't doing the same things with their truck as you are it's easy to say they're not using it like a truck. Plenty of people say any R1T can't be used like a truck because the bed is too short but am sure lots of others think differently.

With respect to tonneau, my soft rollup was always fine for what I needed and was quick/easy to get full bed access if I wanted to access the whole bed.

Am sure some people with those heavy diamondback ones and stored atv's or who knows what on top was great for their use case and was used like a truck as far as they were concerned.

The trifold ones weren't my cup of tea but works great for some people and am sure they were still using their truck like what they thought they'd use their truck for.

The reason for why I made that comment is:

For conventional HARD tonneau covers, you get decent security, but you basically limit the bed to just a large trunk. Trying to carry an item that is bulky is difficult or impossible, as the tonneau can't close. They basically turn the truck into a van, but with only half the cargo space.

For a conventional SOFT tonneau cover, you gain the ability to more easily use the truck bed to carry large items, but you throw out all security and they can be clumsy to mess with and store.

The Rivian powered tonneau really seemed to be an "aha" moment, as it solves those typical use frustrations.

I agree that there is no single definition for "truck" and different people have different needs. My "not a truck" comment wasn't meant to say that it does or doesn't work for anyone else -- just that for ME a tonneau never made sense, until now.

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