First problem with my R1S, and it's a big one. Bolt backed out

[otolith]

R1S owner, took delivery in June of 2023. Currently 8,000 miles, almost all city/daily driving. Leaving my son's baseball practice, the car started making an awful sound and I could feel a rubbing and the car fighting against me. The sound was like metal rubbing on metal and this is what I ended up finding...

Attention to screw at "12 oclock." Anyone have any insight into this? How did this screw come loose? I'm about to jack the car up and tighten it but this seems like a major problem. Any thoughts/advice would be helpful. Can't imagine if I had been on the highway and/or far from my house.

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[tate16t]

You should contact service.

 

[DuoRivian]

Hard to see exact issue from the photos but I agree contact service.

 

[FooF]

Looks like the bolt backed out and was rubbing which is probably what is causing the noise. Try to tighten the bolt and check the rest of the bolts as well. Service needs to inspect and replace any damaged components.

 

[tate16t]

Maybe this will help.

 

[R1Tom]

That bolt definitely should not have backed out like that. I would say contact service and have them fix it.

 

[atebit]

Maybe this will help.

Annotation FTW!

 

[DuoRivian]

Maybe this will help.

Thanks that does help.

 

[madgrey]

Yes, tighten if possible and get service involved. It does look like the bolt head has been worn down / rounded off, probably due to rubbing on the half-shaft or whatever that is. It may not want to tighten too much because of this but getting it at least snug would be good.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

I would definitely politely insist that service check the torque on all the fasteners there and around all the wheels.

 

[JonW716]

Guessing, it wasn’t thread locked or torqued to spec. Definitely contact service and have it documented in addition to “politely insisting’ that the other CV shaft bolts are checked. Good luck!

 

[Shaq9.7R1S]

That is one of the bolts that holds the unit bearing (wheel bearing) to the suspension upright (steering knuckle). Normally there are three bolts. This normally comes pre- assembled from a supplier, and is not a piece assembled on a production line. The bolts normally come with replacement wheel bearing assemblies, with thread locker pre applied.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Another vote for contact service. That bolt is rounded off it would appear.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Sometimes bolts like that are only meant to be tightened down once and need to be replaced if removed. Have no idea if the hub bolt is one of those but I would not hesitate to make Rivian fix it if you're still under warranty.

If you've ever had a wheel bearing replaced, this is when those bolts would get removed.

 

[White Shadow]

Sometimes bolts like that are only meant to be tightened down once and need to be replaced if removed. Have no idea if the hub bolt is one of those but I would not hesitate to make Rivian fix it if you're still under warranty.

If you've ever had a wheel bearing replaced, this is when those bolts would get removed.

Yeah, so that's called a "torque to yield" bolt and they are usually aluminum bolts. And most of them can be torqued twice before they need to be replaced. It's hard to tell from the picture, but my guess is that is an aluminum bolt and since the head is partially rounded, I'd swap it out for sure.

This was probably just a case of the bolt not being torqued to spec when the vehicle was assembled. Not good, but also not disastrous since there are two more bolts that hold that CV joint into the hub. Personally, I'd get a new bolt, install it, and check that all the other ones are torqued to spec.

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