Passenger side lower than driver side.

[NY_Rob]

At least manufacturers can't bury recurring issues like they used to pre-internet era saying "we've never seen that before".
In college I worked summers and weekends as a marine mechanic at a Johnson Outboard repair shop. When the new 35hp models came out in the mid 80's virtually all of them burned up due to design flaws. OMC tried to blame the failures on the customers. When we complained to OMC via our Service Rep we always got "we've never seen that before" as the standard reply. After a bunch of failures we phoned about half a dozen other Johnson/Evinrude dealers and they told us they all had the same problem with the same engine. Eventually OMC released a new powerhead with redesigned exhaust plate and new cyl. head that stopped the burn ups. All in all... they were forced to address and correct their design mistakes, let's hope Rivian will do the same with all the issue's they are having (ride hight issues, "tocking" halfshafts, water under the mats, etc..). Continually saying "they're all like that", "it's normal" and "it's within spec" are not solutions and erode owner confidence in Rivian as a brand.

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[Jason C]

At least manufacturers can't bury recurring issues like they used to pre-internet era saying "we've never seen that before".
In college I worked summers and weekends as a marine mechanic at a Johnson Outboard repair shop. When the new 35hp models came out in the mid 80's virtually all of them burned up due to design flaws. OMC tried to blame the failures on the customers. When we complained to OMC via our Service Rep we always got "we've never seen that before" as the standard reply. After a bunch of failures we phoned about half a dozen other Johnson/Evinrude dealers and they told us they all had the same problem with the same engine. Eventually OMC released a new powerhead with redesigned exhaust plate and new cyl. head that stopped the burn ups. All in all... they were forced to address and correct their design mistakes, let's hope Rivian will do the same with all the issue's they are having (ride hight issues, "tocking" halfshafts, water under the mats, etc..). Continually saying "they're all like that", "it's normal" and "it's within spec" are not solutions and erode owner confidence in Rivian as a brand.

It blows my mind that with all the years they spent developing this truck they are having issues like this. With the number of people experiencing this issue I would assume it happened with pre-production vehicles. Unless they are using different sensors, air bags, etc on the production vehicles.

Honestly all this makes me appreciate a well-tuned coil over suspension.

 

[R1Tom]

It blows my mind that with all the years they spent developing this truck they are having issues like this. With the number of people experiencing this issue I would assume it happened with pre-production vehicles. Unless they are using different sensors, air bags, etc on the production vehicles.

Honestly all this makes me appreciate a well-tuned coil over suspension.

And wouldn't you think, they would contact some of us and be willing to deep dive into these issues and actually solve them? Instead it is often the typical "owner doesn't know what they are talking about" behavior. Or "you saw that on the internet....you can't believe anything you see on internet" type of answer.

 

[CGM55082]

It blows my mind that with all the years they spent developing this truck they are having issues like this. With the number of people experiencing this issue I would assume it happened with pre-production vehicles. Unless they are using different sensors, air bags, etc on the production vehicles.

Honestly all this makes me appreciate a well-tuned coil over suspension.

I have the exact same issue as you, where not only is the front passenger side low, but the rear passenger side is high compared to rear driver's side. It's made me wonder many times if a sensor or something was somehow installed in reversed when my truck was made.

My truck is a VIN 6500 range and has been into service twice for this issue, but still no resolution. I've started to look at every Rivian I see, even pictures online, and the majority have this low-front-passenger-side issue. I would bet most people don't notice it, but it's there.

 

[NY_Rob]

It blows my mind that with all the years they spent developing this truck they are having issues like this. With the number of people experiencing this issue I would assume it happened with pre-production vehicles. Unless they are using different sensors, air bags, etc on the production vehicles.

I think the early release/sales to employees only program was a complete and utter failure.
Best example is the utterly broken motorized tonneau cover system. Do they actually expect us to believe that none of the employee owners had any problems with the tonneau where one third of the respondents of the poll on this site have had issues... ? Of course they had problems... were they afraid to report them? Why did they not stop and address the issue right there and then? Wasn't that the point of the employee sales program.. to weed out any issues before general retail release to the public?
Maybe even worse is the current 'head buried in the sand' situation where they're trying to tell owners that the "tocking" sounds made by the CV joints and half-shafts are "normal" because "most of the other trucks at the SC sound like that"... well hello... that means all those trucks have the same problem too!!
Now they admit that your sub-frame is level to the ground but the chassis isn't... but they just stop there and send the owner home with no plan or even offer to continue looking in to the situation. It just reeks of utter incompetence at multiple levels and no one cares enough to escalate the issue up the food chain. It almost seems like a Tesla like situation where no one has the balls to tell Elon "we have a problem with xxx" because of fear of getting fired. Rivian need to grow up and start taking responsibility for it's issues vs. just frustrating owners even further by giving them the idiot treatment.

 

[Jason C]

Just an update on my situation.

Last night while I was driving home Alexa wouldn't respond to any commands. To fix this I performed a hard reset and let the vehicle sleep over night before turning it back on.

This morning went out to my vehicle and it looked level. However, I didn't measure the ride height.

As I was driving to work (5 minutes into the drive) the service suspension soon light came on. According to the service center on my last visit the service suspension soon alert I'm getting is just a software error. Not sure I believe that.

15 minutes later I got to work and measure the front of my vehicle it was reading 36" drivers side and 35-7/8" passenger side. I was like wow it just needed a hard reset.

My excitement was short lived. After being parked for an hour, I had to drive 5 minutes to the bank. Once I arrived went out and measured the left and right again. Its back to 36" driver side and 35" passenger side.

I called the Rivian customer service center to report this information to my ticket. Yesterday when I talked to CS I was informed they were going to report this issue to a lead engineer. Today when I called the CS rep to add the info to my support ticket. He said I can schedule your appointment with your local service center. I asked what fix did the engineers decide on? hardware replacement, new software? He replied I can't see it was sent to any lead engineer. Let's just set you up with an appointment at the same service center so they can take a look at it again.

I feel like this is going nowhere. Without a plan of action from the higher ups. The service center is just going to tell me its within spec while on their machine. And tell me to take the vehicle home.

 

[BCan]

			Just an update on my situation. Last night while I was driving home Alexa wouldn't respond to any commands. To fix this I performed a hard reset and let the vehicle sleep over night before turning it back on. This morning went out to my vehicle and it looked level. However, I didn't measure the ride height. As I was driving to work (5 minutes into the drive) the service suspension soon light came on. According to the service center on my last visit the service suspension soon alert I'm getting is just a software error. Not sure I believe that. 15 minutes later I got to work and measure the front of my vehicle it was reading 36" drivers side and 35-7/8" passenger side. I was like wow it just needed a hard reset. My excitement was short lived. After being parked for an hour, I had to drive 5 minutes to the bank. Once I arrived went out and measured the left and right again. Its back to 36" driver side and 35" passenger side. I called the Rivian customer service center to report this information to my ticket. Yesterday when I talked to CS I was informed they were going to report this issue to a lead engineer. Today when I called the CS rep to add the info to my support ticket. He said I can schedule your appointment with your local service center. I asked what fix did the engineers decide on? hardware replacement, new software? He replied I can't see it was sent to any lead engineer. Let's just set you up with an appointment at the same service center so they can take a look at it again. I feel like this is going nowhere. Without a plan of action from the higher ups. The service center is just going to tell me its within spec while on their machine. And tell me to take the vehicle home. The generic service phone rep can have the service center call you. I’d speak to them directly to see what the gameplan entails. That’s what I did…so when my appt arrived they had the necessary parts on-hand.

 

[Jason C]

			The generic service phone rep can have the service center call you. I’d speak to them directly to see what the gameplan entails. That’s what I did…so when my appt arrived they had the necessary parts on-hand.

Were they able to fix your suspension issue? If so, what did they replace.

 

[BCan]

Were they able to fix your suspension issue? If so, what did they replace.

Airbag and sensor. I went through the SC initially as you describe…”it passes - level”.

Only I lucked out that when I picked up…it wasn’t close to level. Good service manager…got the parts ordered…fixed about 90 days later.

 

[R1Tom]

Airbag and sensor. I went through the SC initially as you describe…”it passes - level”.

Only I lucked out that when I picked up…it wasn’t close to level. Good service manager…got the parts ordered…fixed about 90 days later.

Sounds like they were still guessing. One of the two was likely the culprit. Maybe both...but odds are pretty low.

I wonder which was bad really, and then it seems many are/were bad too, with all the reports of the driver front droop....

My guess is sensor. As bag would lose ground over time and be detectable. And it should have kept sending more air to compensate unless catastrophic failure.

 

[BCan]

Sounds like they were still guessing. One of the two was likely the culprit. Maybe both...but odds are pretty low.

I wonder which was bad really, and then it seems many are/were bad too, with all the reports of the driver front droop....

My guess is sensor. As bag would lose ground over time and be detectable. And it should have kept sending more air to compensate unless catastrophic failure.

Hard to say…it was worse over night…and I don’t think the compressor turns on when asleep. I’d be curious if the bag and/or sensor is a rgt front specific part.

 

[R1Tom]

Hard to say…it was worse over night…and I don’t think the compressor turns on when asleep. I’d be curious if the bag and/or sensor is a rgt front specific part.

True. But then when it woke up, first thing it should have done was make an attempt to correct, and that would have been noticeable.

It would be odd that the sensors are different, but the way they mount and bracket, I recall as different for some reason. I am not with truck at moment or I would look.

 

[Offgrid]

This looks like the ride height linkage to me. The link looks adjustable. I might see if I can access it.

 

[BCan]

This looks like the ride height linkage to me. The link looks adjustable. I might see if I can access it.

I can’t tell if that’s the linkage…or what I believed to be the linkage. Mine wasn’t adjustable. I remember it attaching to the control arm and the sensor. The sensor had two tabs that fit onto the frame.

 

[Jason C]

Update on my vehicle leaning situation.

Yesterday, I returned the vehicle to the service center for a third time. Now I'm dealing directly with the service manager. Very nice guy, he reviewed the service history on my vehicle prior to my arrival. He had prepared a service plan for my vehicle.

He said just by looking at it he could see there is definitely something wrong and he wanted to deep dive into it. I dropped the vehicle off at 9am and by 3pm he gave me a call. He said there was a leak in the Air System Unit. He said that unit is what distributes the air to the air ride suspension (individual air bags among other things). He didn't believe there was an issue with any of the 4 airbags or ride height sensors. He wanted to keep the vehicle over night to see how it looked the next morning.

This morning he called me at 8am. Said they swapped the air unit last night and the vehicle ride height on all four corners didn't change this morning. Now they need to recalibrate the system before its ready for pick up. He told me it should be ready around noon.

I won't be able to pick up the vehicle until after work. He said that will give them more time to confirm there isn't a small air leak as the vehicle sits and waits for my arrival.


I am overly grateful they were able to fix my vehicle. Drake has been more than accommodating and made sure they took the extra setup to fix my vehicle. I'm hoping this experience is a learning tool for the service center. Having to take a vehicle into service three times before they will actually investigate is ridicules. It's not only wasting my time but also their time and money.

My suggestion is if you own a Rivian and the suspension is leaning, create another support ticket. Don't let them give you the excuse it's in spec. Yes, my vehicle was in spec when the compressor kicks in and its fully pressurized but 20 minutes later it would be leaning again.

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