Rivian Air Suspension concerns?

[Craigins]

Going on 6years , 70k miles, with my Ram. Love the air suspension, no issues.

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[Craigins]

Meh. Drink the chalky crap then sit on the toilet to watch a movie on your iPad.

Try the 2 day prep. Nothing but clear liquids for 48 hours. Then on top of that, watching blood sugar so almost no calories.

The main issue for me though is no sleep. I've always had mine in the morning and have had to do the prep from midnight to 2am. Then get up at 5/6 am to go in for the scope.

 

[_evtrk]

I’m not so concerned.

Going on year 8 in my Jeep GC with thier air suspension and have had no issues.

Of course any vehicle these days once out of warrenty will need a slush fund for repairs. Recently paid 2700 for the on board charger on my Model S.

same with me, going on 8 years, no issues with air suspension, wish i could say the same about the 8.4" uconnect, people complaining about small bugs rivian has with their UI and how it should be flawless considering the vehicles cost, i have a $64k Jeep GC and from day one to today it still randomly shuts off, forgets what was on, forgets my seat config, lags, freezes , and has bluetooth connectivity issues all the time.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

It isn't the colonoscopy, it's the preparation for the colonoscopy that's bad.

Don’t remind me, I turned 50 a few months ago……

No, it’s air sprung. Anti-roll is cross linked hydraulics.

Good to hear. After years of working on aircraft I’d be more concerned if the Rivian’s suspension was hydraulic based. On Chinook helicopters, we’ve always said to never fly it if it doesn’t have a hydraulic leak because that means it’s out of hydraulic fluid.

 

[bd5400]

My GX 460 has rear air suspension as well as the KDSS system which uses hydraulic pressure to adjust and disconnect the stabilizer bars when necessary. The only issue I’ve ever had is that maybe once a year the car may forget to auto-level and the rear will ride really low. All it takes to fix is to change the suspension height and it resets itself.

Based on other GX 460 owners the air suspension has been pretty reliable across the board. So while plenty of people have air suspension complaints (sorry Range Rover owners), air suspensions can be reliable components from some brands.

 

[moosehead]

As others legitimately describe, air suspension problems can be a PITA and extend from leaky compressor, to lines and orings, to bags themselves, to electronic controllers. I do not discount these headaches whatsoever.

That said, the performance attributes of air suss provide substantial benefit, which is why many auto and truck manufacturers keep using them across many platforms. Ride quality, adjustability, and auto load leveling for towing are all tremendous benefits. Meanwhile, they have been widely used for several or more decades for similar reasons. I’d like to believe that Rivian’s system is latest and greatest tech, plus warranty protection should cover short to intermediate needs.

At the other end of the suspension spectrum, my family thinks our fully leaf sprung Waggy rides like its on square wheels.

We’ve also enjoyed multiple performance vehicles, SUV’s, and trucks with air suspension including ‘16 Cayenne GTS, ‘11 Jeep Grand Cherokee, ‘02 Land Rover, ‘13 Audi S7, and aftermarket air bags on a ‘15 GMC Sierra with heavy tow package. Despite spirited driving, deep cold and snow, and heavy long-distance tow - none have caused us issues.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

Good to hear. After years of working on aircraft I’d be more concerned if the Rivian’s suspension was hydraulic based. On Chinook helicopters, we’ve always said to never fly it if it doesn’t have a hydraulic leak because that means it’s out of hydraulic fluid.

Hah, I work for one of the major US rotorcraft manufacturers and can confirm.

 

[RayzorBEV]

Air suspensions are generally fantastic when they're new and functioning. Repairs can be expensive but I'll still opt for it, if available, over a standard one, they make a big difference.

 

[iansriv]

(Don't get me started with my 2 Land Rovers' air suspension--see profile pic. I've ranted plenty on another thread).

Yes, I'm concerned.

Heard a lot about the LR long-term issues with air suspensions. I looked at a Defender before putting my deposit down on the R1S. Cracked windshield, cracked rear window, sudden power loss and owners ok with keeping a wrench to remove the battery cable to manage problems; made me rethink my decision. Also, the mark-ups of +50k on a 8cl model didn't help. I wanted to love the Defender but it just wasn't meant to be.

 

[Mysta]

TBH I’d rather drive a heavy truck like this for 100k miles and pay to replace the whole suspension when it may start having issues than drive on coils. Hopefully they’ll come with a cheaper option for those that want to compromise a lot of functionality and comfort for some durability and money.

 

[Max]

Does anyone know if most of the air suspension problems are due to age or use? In other words a 30K R1 and a 100K R1 will have similar likelihood of having problems after 10 years? All other things being equal.

 

[SoCal Rob]

We’re currently in the desert for vacation which will include some off-road adventure in our 2006 Land Rover LR3 with 231,000+ miles and an air spring height-adjustable suspension. When we first bought this vehicle (used from the local LR dealer with 109,000 miles) specifically for its off-road capability, I was concerned about the air suspension and the risk of driving into a place where a suspension failure would mean that we would lack the clearance to drive back out. I bought a special diagnostic tool which uses the OBD port and an app to read fault codes, check live data, and even manually override certain things, like the air suspension. Since LR chose to drop to the lowest setting case of system problem, having the ability to manually re-inflate as many air springs as possible seemed like it could come in handy. I never had to do that since over 122,000 miles, and a LOT of off road driving, we never had a suspension failure.

I think there are several reasons for this. First, because we frequently drive off road we use the system throughout its range. Valve blocks get activated, air springs fully extend and then contract, etc. The air springs extending seems pretty important to me because of how the rubber air bag part wraps over the metal sleeve. If a small piece of gravel gets trapped there, I can see how it would eventually rub through the air bag part and result in a leak. Next, and some may think this crazy for a vehicle with so many miles on it, I get repairs and maintenance (outside of oil changes and tires) done at the Land Rover dealer. They know the vehicles and they use genuine parts. I also do a lot of preventive maintenance based on their recommendations: differential fluids get changed more often, etc. Finally, I tend to replace sets of things rather than one. If a coil pack goes bad I replace all 8, etc. I know I’m spending more on maintenance than I absolutely need to, but I’m driving this vehicle places where people can easily die if stranded and unprepared.

Also, it could be that we had good luck in getting a Land Rover which was assembled well and got all good parts from suppliers.

I’ll say this to bring it back to Rivian: The advantages provided by an air spring suspension in comfort, handling, and capability far outweigh the maintenance costs to me. I think our most expensive repair was to replace all 4 air springs when one sprung a leak and that was ~$3,500 in 2015.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

Motortrend's air compressor overheated during their review and I believe they had a suspension failure during the Rebelled rally as well. I would personally not expect the air suspension to be bulletproof, especially given the added complexity of hydraulic roll control.

The problem with EV trucks is that they need to ride lower than we're used to in order to get "reasonable" efficiency. People are insecure sheep so they need to be able to raise it back up to "drive off-road" ( look tough when they park). The Lightning doesn't have the air suspension and definitely looks a bit weird as a result. The Ford's fixed suspension and two motor setup will yield better reliability and probably comparable or better efficiency despite the larger size. I'm sure the next Rivian truck will go this route.

 

[kylealden]

People are insecure sheep so they need to be able to raise it back up to "drive off-road" ( look tough when they park).

Insulting anyone who wants the option of high clearance based on your assumptions about their motivations says a lot more about your insecurities than it does about theirs.

The R1T’s suspension is about the furthest thing from a vanity lift, since it is at its lowest settings in virtually all public situations (highways, parking, etc). Believe it or not, high clearance does actually have a lot of utility in the exact use cases the R1T is designed for.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

Insulting anyone who wants the option of high clearance based on your assumptions about their motivations says a lot more about your insecurities than it does about theirs.

Yes, I'm sure that's exactly how that works.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to about EV trucks is that "truck guys" aren't going to be able to ignore efficiency the same way they always have. You want to drive a vehicle you trail 2 days a year with 15 inches of ground clearance, big dumb mudders and tacky plastic fenders etc, you're going to be driving 100 miles between hour long charges.

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