It is exhausting driving my R1T (alignment & steering issues)

[frostbit3]

2 months and 3,000 miles on mine. Taken on multiple road trips and is nothing like you’re describing. Mine feels very solid and doesn’t pull at all. No alignment issues or anything that I’ve noticed.

I’d schedule service as well, that does not sound anything like how my truck has been

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[huskybrewing]

I'm pushing 3,000 miles on mine, and don't have that issue at all. Hopefully the service center can resolve quickly.

 

[AxelR]

The variability is why I don’t think this is just an alignment issue. The truck literally feels different from drive to drive. I think it has to do with the air suspension, or maybe erroneous torque vectoring, and not that the alignment is shifting.

The truck was just at the Bellevue WA SC and they are pretty good at test driving for 30 seconds and saying things are fine.

Maybe take it to a reputable alignment shop (one doing sports cars and ideally Teslas) and have them check it. They should be able to tell you if something is off with the suspension or steering. Should be worth the couple hundred dollars.

 

[Taycanfrank]

This is a real bummer. Stuff like this is super annoying to see, cars shouldn't be getting sold with bad alignment. Super basic stuff.

Software issues, battery problems, etc.. are one thing but basically assembly and QC mishaps are ugly to see.

 

[R1Tom]

I’ve only had it for two days, but my R1T is pretty much dead on with no drift. My bigger challenge for me is that lane keeping assist is very picky. I don’t usually keep right in the middle of the lane but get fairly close to the line between me and the emergency lane. Lane keeping keeps nudging me back over.

This is my main complaint with all brands of LKA. My Acura was same. I wish they could bias or allow driver bias, to shift to right if in right lane or shift to left if in left lane. Save right down the middle for center lanes and Rudy Garmish....

 

[R1Sky Business]

Decades ago, I learned to drive in my Dads F100. This truck had rotted away bushings and you could move the wheel an inch before the truck followed. It definitely required an active driver.

The r1 reminds me of this. Except it’s brand new. Non stop adjustments. Sometimes it’s pulling to the right. Sometimes it’s pulling to the left. It’s truly baffling how sloppy the wheel feels.

I noticed that if I’m pulling to the right I can usually get it to track straight again by changing the ride height. I don’t think all the alignment complaints I see here are strictly due to sloppy alignment from the factory.

I also occasionally have the dreaded lower front right. When that is happening it always pulls to the right. I can usually get it to go away by playing with the ride height.

I’m extremely frustrated with this truck. All the reviewers say it handles amazing. Mine handles like it has 20 year old bushings. Are we driving the same thing?

I am seriously considering selling it.

Just put on adaptive cruise control or driver +.... and Forget about your problems.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I have a 98 Jeep XJ with 220k miles. Driving that is absolutely exhausting. I drove 3 hours in it recently and felt like I'd done a high intensity workout.

Driving my R1T is anything but exhausting. The only thing that gets tired when I drive it is my jaw from all the smiling

 

[Taycanfrank]

I have a 98 Jeep XJ with 220k miles. Driving that is absolutely exhausting. I drove 3 hours in it recently and felt like I'd done a high intensity workout.

Driving my R1T is anything but exhausting. The only thing that gets tired when I drive it is my jaw from all the smiling

If only everyone was getting R1Ts that functioned as well as yours!

 

[SecretService]

I’ve only had it for two days, but my R1T is pretty much dead on with no drift. My bigger challenge for me is that lane keeping assist is very picky. I don’t usually keep right in the middle of the lane but get fairly close to the line between me and the emergency lane. Lane keeping keeps nudging me back over.

I shut that off damn near immediately. The big issue is it doesn’t account for other cars. So it damn near ran me into a semi the first day I was driving. (He was hugging the line hard and I tried to get on the far side of my lane and it yanked me over… think they need some real work on that still to atleast account for other vehicles.

 

[cbuckley]

I shut that off damn near immediately. The big issue is it doesn’t account for other cars. So it damn near ran me into a semi the first day I was driving. (He was hugging the line hard and I tried to get on the far side of my lane and it yanked me over… think they need some real work on that still to atleast account for other vehicles.

The Rivian employee that dropped off my truck at my house back in March and spent a couple hours showing me the ropes strongly advised against using the lane-keeping functionality. He also had an R1T and said it was well-known amongst the employees that it’s too aggressive and not pleasant to use. As Rivian gets more driver data and experience under their belt, this functionality will get better.

98% of the roads in my area don’t allow for the use of Driver + but the adaptive cruise with LKA turned off is great for my daily commute as long as it’s outside of the dawn/dusk hours where the shadows play tricks on the cameras.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

If only everyone was getting R1Ts that functioned as well as yours!

My truck is far from perfect. The alignment is slightly off and there is mild vibration in the steering wheel. To call it "exhausting" though would be facetious, as I know what it actually feels like to drive something that's legitimately exhausting. Slight alignment problems with my truck barely rise to the level of "mild inconvenience."

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

This is my main complaint with all brands of LKA. My Acura was same. I wish they could bias or allow driver bias, to shift to right if in right lane or shift to left if in left lane. Save right down the middle for center lanes and Rudy Garmish....

I watched a review of Ford BlueCruse and apparently their implementation does let you bias the LKAS.

 

[R1Tom]

That is great! I thought maybe they all had too much concern it could cause a safety issue, and right down middle was only way.maybe then with time Rivian can implement too.

 

[Brewbud]

Sorry to hear about your issues. Mine drives very well and the steering is tight. Is yours bad in all heights? Variable heights do make it a bit harder to get it right but they should absolutely have it down by now.

For those with just a pull, there has been some discussion something could be wrong with the drive units not syncing perfectly.

 

[3121]

Decades ago, I learned to drive in my Dads F100. This truck had rotted away bushings and you could move the wheel an inch before the truck followed. It definitely required an active driver.

The r1 reminds me of this. Except it’s brand new. Non stop adjustments. Sometimes it’s pulling to the right. Sometimes it’s pulling to the left. It’s truly baffling how sloppy the wheel feels.

I noticed that if I’m pulling to the right I can usually get it to track straight again by changing the ride height. I don’t think all the alignment complaints I see here are strictly due to sloppy alignment from the factory.

I also occasionally have the dreaded lower front right. When that is happening it always pulls to the right. I can usually get it to go away by playing with the ride height.

I’m extremely frustrated with this truck. All the reviewers say it handles amazing. Mine handles like it has 20 year old bushings. Are we driving the same thing?

I am seriously considering selling it.

I had the exact issue and frustration you are describing. They tried alignments, inspections of the motors and suspension, motor calibration, sensor replacement... I finally gave up and sold it.

Polite kids working at the call center and at the service center but don't seem to understand that their whole try-try-try again approach is a horrible experience and time waste for their customers.

After 1000 miles of correcting the steering I already had feathering in the tires (velvety feel on the tread). Assuming they ever did figure out the issue they would owe me a new set of rubber too.

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