DIY Tonneau Repairs? Anyone try to do this yet?

[NY_Rob]

? Great work @Lil'O Annie !! 1000% respect for hard working and industrious farmers across the US of A who just "get er done" 24/7 without excuses or complaint.

At this point... can you verify there is just a single drive motor for the whole system?

Sponsored

 

[Lil'O Annie]

? Great work @Lil'O Annie !! 1000% respect for hard working and industrious farmers across the US of A who just "get er done" 24/7 without excuses or complaint.

At this point... can you verify there is just a single drive motor for the whole system?

I'm uploading a short video right now showing what we had to do to get the panels loose. In the video, you can see a silver bar with drive gears on each end. That bar appears to be driven by one motor on the left side ( you can see the motor in the video).

Here's the video...
https://youtu.be/z6-vKalm0AQ

 

[Lil'O Annie]

More pics please.. A LOT more pics..
I hope Sandy Munro does a deep dive on the tonneau.

YES!! I'm anxious to see what the Munro group has to say about this cover too!!
I just uploaded a video that should give you a good idea of what we had to do.
https://youtu.be/z6-vKalm0AQ

 

[moosehead]

Well done and thank you for pic and video LOA. Is that light brown material shown around 0:59 and 1:29 a blown in foam?

Otherwise, as many predicted, looks like these will bind regularly with basic dirt and dust from daily driving, OR, or even outside storage. Feels like it will require regular DIY cleaning and lube, if not redesign.

FWIW, our RetraxPro manual system is working flawlessly for 5 years despite everyday dirt and outside storage. It does roll into a box storage like a rolled up carpet, so no stacked slats, but it does take up space at the rear window wall.

 

[Lil'O Annie]

Here's a photo showing the single tonneau motor on the left side.

 

[Lil'O Annie]

Well done and thank you for pic and video LOA. Is that light brown material shown around 0:59 and 1:29 a blown in foam?

Otherwise, as many predicted, looks like these will bind regularly with basic dirt and dust from daily driving, OR, or even outside storage. Feels like it will require regular DIY cleaning and lube, if not redesign.

Yes, that is blown on foam of some kind. I think it just seals up areas and doesn't have anything to do with the tonneau.
I asked our delivery person about how to go about keeping the cover cleaned and maintained and he said it has to be done by the Service Center personnel because it involves pull off some many of the bed panels. I believe it after all the work we had to do just to get the panels out. This is NOT a job for the average owner. BUT, we live in dust 24/7, so the design is bound to fail for us on the farm.

 

[MNLightning]

Well...we did it!! Spent the whole afternoon doing exploratory surgery on the R1T Tonneau fiasco. After 3 service requests, and not hearing back at all, we were desperate. Ended up doing a partial tonneau-lectomy. Not for the faint-of-heart, but not the most difficult procedure either. You need a few of the right tools, though. Ended up taking off all the plastic bed edge-caps and the cover over the tonneau box below the rear window. Had to pull out the tonneau rails to get 3 of the panels un-jammed and removed. Then, when things were loosened up, the tonneau motor was able to pull the cockeyed panel down into the stack in the box.
We'll just leave the bed open and didn't want to try to actually fix it, only to have it lock up again. Not the perfect solution, but at least now we can use the entire open bed.

Now, we wait for the re-designed replacement when Rivian can get around to it--I'm thinking that will be a long wait. ?

Here's what the tonneau gears look like in two corners underneath the panels.

I take it that disassembly didn't provide anything obvious as far as what the problem was??

 

[Lil'O Annie]

I take it that disassembly didn't provide anything obvious as far as what the problem was??

It's our opinion that it is just a bad design doom to failure. We think having just one motor on one side will inevitably lead to an uneven slip and misalignment. But, to be honest, we aren't design experts and don't actually know for sure why these are failing.

 

[MNLightning]

Thanks for the video. My guess is that you are taking a chance if you open it all the way and rely on the cogs to engage evenly. I think I'll not open mine all the way to hopefully avoid the issue.

 

[Lil'O Annie]

Thanks for the video. My guess is that you are taking a chance if you open it all the way and rely on the cogs to engage evenly. I think I'll not open mine all the way to hopefully avoid the issue.

Yes...I agree! We did take a BIG chance digging into this thing. It is NOT for everyone to attempt!! If you can wait for service, that's the way to go. We couldn't wait and are 200+ miles away from the service center. Plus, we have the tools and work on equipment all the time on the farm.
We LOVE this truck and LOVE the Rivian company!! We expected early struggles and were willing to accept them.

 

[NY_Rob]

It's our opinion that it is just a bad design doom to failure. We think having just one motor on one side will inevitably lead to an uneven slip and misalignment. But, to be honest, we aren't design experts and don't actually know for sure why these are failing.

My college degree is in "Automotive Engineering"... and my WAG is it's a "crap design"

If they had used a motor on each side... the system would most likely work as advertised. Too much torque required for one small motor way off on one side to drag all those large panels back into or out of the storage compartment and the cross bar is probably flexing/twisting as well adding to the one side jamming condition. If the system is jamming due to uneven friction on one side.. an individual motor on each side would be able to power through that too.

 

[SteveDoverNH]

Thanks for the video. My guess is that you are taking a chance if you open it all the way and rely on the cogs to engage evenly. I think I'll not open mine all the way to hopefully avoid the issue.

Not opening the cover all the way sounds reasonable, but can you help me understand the logic? Is it that winding up the final few panels creates more chance for uneven resistance side to side, and then overlap/sticking?

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Yes, that is blown on foam of some kind. I think it just seals up areas and doesn't have anything to do with the tonneau.
I asked our delivery person about how to go about keeping the cover cleaned and maintained and he said it has to be done by the Service Center personnel because it involves pull off some many of the bed panels. I believe it after all the work we had to do just to get the panels out. This is NOT a job for the average owner. BUT, we live in dust 24/7, so the design is bound to fail for us on the farm.

Thanks for posting the video!

I actually expected a slightly worse execution of the mechanics on Rivian's part on this considering the issues. But seeing the internals, It's a decent design, and because of the full length shaft, one motor is all you need. All that said, it's clearly binding on the bed rails then skipping gears while it continues to retract on the "free" side.

Several ideas floating around the old noggin, but I think the better low cost/less wear option on their part would be a more stable connection between each separate panel on the edges to remove some of the potential slop and binding.

 

[Lil'O Annie]

My college degree is in "Automotive Engineering"... and my WAG is it's a "crap design"

If they had used a motor on each side... the system would most likely work as advertised. Too much torque required for one small motor way off on one side to drag all those large panels back into or out of the storage compartment and the cross bar is probably flexing/twisting as well adding to the one side jamming condition. If the system is jamming due to uneven friction on one side.. an individual motor on each side would be able to power through that too.

EXACTLY!! That is what we think is the major weakness in this system as well!! Nice to have a Automotive Engineer supporting our thoughts on this.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

My college degree is in "Automotive Engineering"... and my WAG is it's a "crap design"

If they had used a motor on each side... the system would most likely work as advertised. Too much torque required for one small motor way off on one side to drag all those large panels back into or out of the storage compartment and the cross bar is probably flexing/twisting as well adding to the one side jamming condition. If the system is jamming due to uneven friction on one side.. an individual motor on each side would be able to power through that too.

I think a dual motor setup would introduce more of an issue specifically as it comes to syncronization. Both would have to be perfectly timed, the second one falls out of sync with the other, same issue.

Sponsored