Half Shaft / CV Joint Noise

[Heimat]

FWIW vin # 22xx has almost 14,000 miles and has had 0 mechanical or electrical problems. Even the tonneau still works fine. It is disheartening to hear of so many trucks with problems. Hope Rivian gets you all taken care of.

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[DaveA]

FWIW vin # 22xx has almost 14,000 miles and has had 0 mechanical or electrical problems. Even the tonneau still works fine. It is disheartening to hear of so many trucks with problems. Hope Rivian gets you all taken care of.

You suspension doesn’t squeak and no tick-tock noise? I don’t believe it…

 

[NY_Rob]

FWIW vin # 22xx has almost 14,000 miles and has had 0 mechanical or electrical problems. Even the tonneau still works fine. It is disheartening to hear of so many trucks with problems. Hope Rivian gets you all taken care of.

Happy to hear that! It gives me hope....

Do you change ride height often (or at all)? Do you "gun it" occasionally or at all?

 

[Heimat]

You suspension doesn’t squeak and no tick-tock noise? I don’t believe it…

No tick-tock noise. Supension squeak is an unavoidable result of the hydraulic dampening system. It bothered me at first, but now it's just background noise that I ignore

 

[DaveA]

No tick-tock noise. Supension squeak is an unavailable result of the hydraulic dampening system. It bothered me at first, but now it's just background noise that I ignore

Lucky you! Wonder what’s different about yours…?

 

[Heimat]

Happy to hear that! It gives me hope....

Do you change ride height often (or at all)? Do you "gun it" occasionally or at all?

Honestly I mostly leave it in low. I'm in and out a lot and don't like waiting for the truck to kneel. I do "gun it" probably more than I legally should. Just to much fun

 

[PappaBolt]

Yes, My R1S 0400's VIN the Axle end stripped out the drive unit. Driver Side Rear. Got a Turtle Mode alert icon and was only allowed front wheel drive. Bellevue Service Center replaced the drive unit for that axle. Back in action now.

This occurred in All Purpose mode. I've never gone full High or Low.

Rivian may have to limit the ride height availability. Too flexible and too much torque is a bad combo.

I'm in the same boat with the rear drive unit failure and in the same 400s VIN range.

 

[dcpdx]

I'm in the same boat with the rear drive unit failure and in the same 400s VIN range.

Bummer! Not a long repair, but still a tow to Bellevue?

 

[PappaBolt]

Bummer! Not a long repair, but still a tow to Bellevue?

My R1S was already there for other reasons. When they went to inspect my noise complaints they discovered the drive unit failure. Only 800 miles and no off road. I’ve kept the suspension in all purpose other than trying out the “off road” setting a couple times while stationary in the driveway.

 

[Aubs]

R1T vin 89xx here. I just noticed clicking noise under hard acceleration on high ride height. Previously I've only gunned it in sport mode and low or normal height. I just put a service ticket in so let's see what they say.

 

[Aka_Buck]

R1T vin 89xx here. I just noticed clicking noise under hard acceleration on high ride height. Previously I've only gunned it in sport mode and low or normal height. I just put a service ticket in so let's see what they say.

I have the same on rear driver's. But it's non existent in lower ride heights. I think there is less CV engagement when the ride height is high and gives the cups more of a chance to have issues.

I plan on having it fixed after the holiday as well as a tight passenger window that sometimes engages pinch protection

 

[Lighthouse]

This is not how I envisioned my first post in Rivian Forums going.

TLDR:
My first full day with my new R1T (VIN 14XXX) resulted in turtle mode and the service soon alert. Checked the CV axles and found play in the driver rear. (Video)

Play by play:

Having received delivery the afternoon before, we were excited for our first full day with the truck. We left early for a daytrip over the pass and then back home. Starting temp was 30ish, dipping to 16 as we crossed the pass and reached our destination. The truck handled snow and slush like a dream.

On the way home we took a different route with a larger highway and switched to conserve mode. Just after merging onto the hwy and reaching the highest speed thus far, (80ish I think?) we heard & felt a loud thud from somewhere in the underbody. (It felt like someone hit it with a closed fist as hard as they could)

I checked the road behind us in the mirrors thinking maybe I ran over something, (Block of ice? Debris?) but the hwy was clear.

Hoping it was just a random gremlin we kept on…

A few miles later the sound repeated, and I reduced the speed slightly. (Once could be a fluke. Twice in 5 minutes is not)

Then, a minute later it happened several more times, but now they came in quick succession, and now even louder and stronger. (It was now more of a loud bang rather than a thud. Bang bang BANG!) It was also now easy to determine that the sound was coming from the rear of the vehicle.

We pulled to the side of the highway and checked to see if there was anything visibly out of place on the underbody/wheel wells, as well as checked for any warnings on the screens. Nothing was amiss.

At this point we were still 70 miles and a mountain pass away from home. So, we cautiously returned to the hwy and babied the speed and throttle. The sound was gone for several miles.

During that time, we found the instructions to capture diagnostic data. So, we did that. (Unfortunately, it wasn't immediately following one of the loud noises, but we figured better safe than sorry. Hopefully it caught something relevant.)


This is also when I noticed the "Limited Performance Mode"/ Turtle Mode icon was now visible on the driver screen. And in the center screen a notification popped up that AWD was disengaged for safety and advised that the vehicle should be serviced soon.

Over the final 50ish miles, the noise reappeared a couple more times. But now it was very faint/soft compared to before when it was very loud, staccato, and pronounced.


Salt in the wou...driveway

Unfortunately, as we arrived home, though our local hilly roads had finally been cleared of snow enough that 2wd wasn’t a problem, our driveway still had some hardpack snow. The truck couldn't make it up our steep driveway. I admit my pride was a hurt having to park it down on the street until we could clear more of the snow and coat the driveway in several bags of salt to break up the compacted snow.

As I’m sure you all can relate, I've been a tad excited about the truck. Our neighbors have all endured my intense enthusiasm since making my reservation and were eager to finally see it. So, when the first time they lay eyes on this fabled truck, it's parked at the bottom of the driveway unable to make the climb up the driveway like the vehicle it’s supposed to replace (a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe) they noticed immediately, and promptly said something in amusement.
I'm sure I'll hear about this for a long while. Lol

Looking for clues…

Now home and remembering posts online about CV axle issues, I took a closer look at the truck. I found the driver rear cv axle has movement towards the inner cv joint.


The front two had virtually no movement. And the passenger rear was maybe 20% of the amount of the driver rear by comparison.

Is this the culprit? I don’t know. But I’m eagerly awaiting the Bellevue service center opening in the morning. Hoping they can diagnose and fix it soon. Because right now, I have an 8500lb 2wd vehicle that isn’t able to navigate our own driveway… with more snow in the forecast.

(Video of driver rear CV axle showing more movement at the inside joint. )

 

[NY_Rob]

So sorry you had to be introduced to Rivian this way @Lighthouse!

There have been a few reports recently where the C-clip that secures the inboard portion of the half shaft into the motor output coupling were not installed correctly or never seated fully which allows the half shaft splined end to slide out of the motor output coupling and spin freely (which also allows that corner's motor to spin freely). If this is the case in your situation.. that would certainly cause AWD to disengage and force the vehicle into turtle mode.

If enough damage has been done.. Rivian has replaced the complete drive motor and half shaft for the affected side.

 

[Lighthouse]

So sorry you had to be introduced to Rivian this way @Lighthouse!

There have been a few reports recently where the C-clip that secures the inboard portion of the half shaft into the motor output coupling were not installed correctly or never seated fully which allows the half shaft splined end to slide out of the motor output coupling and spin freely (which also allows that corner motor spin freely). If this is the case in your situation..

Wow. Thanks for that info. I hadn't seen those!

Thanks to your reply I've been catching up on some threads ( Here & here among others for those following along) and they definitely sound similar to what happened with my R1T on the first day of driving with less than 500 miles and prior to the big-event-in-question, having no other noise occurring.

I was hoping to get a better feel for what circumstances were contributing to the issue (speed/throttle/etc) so I drove it another 40 miles today. But interestingly, when I first got in the truck, Turtle Mode was gone. Both screens appeared as if everything was normal. I could raise and lower the stance and change modes like nothing was wrong.

But when I began to back out of the driveway, the warning screen popped up, AWD disabled, and Turtle mode turned back on. All modes & height options were immediately greyed out/unavailable on the screen.

During the 40ish miles that followed, there was not a single thud, bang, or any detectable issue. We made several stops, and unlike when I first got in the truck today, Turtle Mode was still showing on the screen every time I returned to the vehicle. So, I'm not sure why it was gone when I first got in today, but constantly engaged from park for every time thereafter.
But whatever it's engagement reasoning, it appears, (for now at least) turtle mode is successfully preventing the issue from engaging or progressing.

(Note: From an analysis standpoint, I'm impressed how well the truck software is adapting to the mechanical problem. After reading other people's accounts of similar issues over the last few months where turtle mode did not engage until the half shaft connection issue was far worse [that's if Turtle Mode engaged for them at all], I wonder if the way Turtle Mode is engaging on my R1T is a recent improvement to how/when it engages to safeguard against additional damage. If so, bravo to Rivian for that.)

All of that to say, assuming the weather holds, and continued success of Turtle Mode keeping the thud at bay, I now feel comfortable driving it until the service center can address the issue. Hopefully it's straightforward and quick because I've only had it a couple days. I don't wanna give the truck back! lol

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