Community NVH Thread - Share your fixes for noises, rattles, clunks, squeaks

[R1TruKaLa]

Enjoying my R1S a great deal but I can't deny that it makes a LOT of noise. Rattles, clunks, squeaks, but especially... rattles. Did I mention it rattles a LOT, like on the smallest 1/4" deep road imperfection... rattles all over

So I thought it might be nice to start a thread for community fixes/tip/tricks to deal with the common NVH (Noise, vibration, harshness) issues I know a lot of early adopter R1 owners face. These have been scattered around but it might be nice to have one place to share the methods people have used to self-service these issues and maybe help avoid having to wait for service to address them (if they even will - I took mine on for some of this and while things came back better, it's far from "fixed"). So let's help each other help ourselves.

I don't have any solutions to offer at the moment but I can at least share the areas that I hear things from most often and maybe that'll get the ball rolling for others to offer solutions they might have found.

There seems to be some rattle that sounds like it's emanating from the passenger side roof area, near the frontmost roof rack mount point (I do have the rails on the front two mounts). It definitely sounds like it's from the vehicle and not the rail, but maybe it's some interaction between the two. I don't know.

Lots of rattles from the rear seat area. I am always driving as everyone else seems terrified to drive this thing so I can never sit in the back and listen from there, press, hold, or otherwise try to troubleshoot, so it's hard to say exactly where things are coming from - but like... rattles galore back there. Doors maybe, seating area, again it's very hard to pinpoint without being able to get back there.

Another item that sounds like an underbody "flapping" over bumps. Service did fix a loose panel down there, and it did improve things, yet the sound persists.

The typical front-end clunks, ticks, tocks, and creaks, which I've just sorta accepted at this point.

I'd really like to address the interior rattles mostly. Thunks and clunks aren't nice, but the rattles make this vehicle sound... cheap, for lack of a better term. A solid thunk is a lot better than sounding like the interior is missing half the screws it should have.

So what home-grown solutions have people come up with to silence their noisy R1s? What are the common trouble areas to look at and examine for squeaks and rattles?

Let's help each other sort this out

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[DIYrrr]

Haven't gotten any of them looked at by an SC, but the B-pillars vibrate/rattle a lot on rough roads...mainly the plastic adjusters for the seat belt height. Similarly, I have a nasty rattle in the headliner, but haven't been able to isolate exactly where. The seals on doors are pretty bad...especially in high winds on the highway they leak a lot.

So the seat belt adjuster isn’t likely the source. I swore it was but it’s actually the second row door panel. Put a small piece of foam or 3m or something similar between it and the metal. Someone did a write up on it a while back.

 

[Boo23]

I had a lot of rattles that were hard to pinpoint, SC stripped all doors as they said it was the wiring loom in the door rattling around, this fixed about 85% of my rattles.

 

[Freddie]

These two pieces would squeak over bumps. I probably could have hidden the tape better but it's hard to see unless you're looking straight down. I have rattles in the seat belt adjusters in the B pillars too. No idea how to address those.

Still thinking which part of the vehicle it is??? Would you mind sharing zoomed out picture ?

 

[RexRemus]

Still thinking which part of the vehicle it is??? Would you mind sharing zoomed out picture ?

It's the edge of the dash on the left. It's an odd angle but if you open the front doors you'll get it

 

[RayzorBEV]

Enjoying my R1S a great deal but I can't deny that it makes a LOT of noise. Rattles, clunks, squeaks, but especially... rattles. Did I mention it rattles a LOT, like on the smallest 1/4" deep road imperfection... rattles all over

So I thought it might be nice to start a thread for community fixes/tip/tricks to deal with the common NVH (Noise, vibration, harshness) issues I know a lot of early adopter R1 owners face. These have been scattered around but it might be nice to have one place to share the methods people have used to self-service these issues and maybe help avoid having to wait for service to address them (if they even will - I took mine on for some of this and while things came back better, it's far from "fixed"). So let's help each other help ourselves.

I don't have any solutions to offer at the moment but I can at least share the areas that I hear things from most often and maybe that'll get the ball rolling for others to offer solutions they might have found.

There seems to be some rattle that sounds like it's emanating from the passenger side roof area, near the frontmost roof rack mount point (I do have the rails on the front two mounts). It definitely sounds like it's from the vehicle and not the rail, but maybe it's some interaction between the two. I don't know.

Lots of rattles from the rear seat area. I am always driving as everyone else seems terrified to drive this thing so I can never sit in the back and listen from there, press, hold, or otherwise try to troubleshoot, so it's hard to say exactly where things are coming from - but like... rattles galore back there. Doors maybe, seating area, again it's very hard to pinpoint without being able to get back there.

Another item that sounds like an underbody "flapping" over bumps. Service did fix a loose panel down there, and it did improve things, yet the sound persists.

The typical front-end clunks, ticks, tocks, and creaks, which I've just sorta accepted at this point.

I'd really like to address the interior rattles mostly. Thunks and clunks aren't nice, but the rattles make this vehicle sound... cheap, for lack of a better term. A solid thunk is a lot better than sounding like the interior is missing half the screws it should have.

So what home-grown solutions have people come up with to silence their noisy R1s? What are the common trouble areas to look at and examine for squeaks and rattles?

Let's help each other sort this out

Yup. On my third Rivians, 2022R1T, 2023 R1T, and a 2023 R1S. Lots of annoying squeaks, rattles and wind noise. My 2022 R1T probably has the most cacophonous suspension melodey ever produced by an air suspension. So much so that I chuck it after less than a year of ownership but darn it, I love Rivian so much, ended up buying 2 more. These examples are better built but still has squeaks, rattles and the mandatory body panels misalignment. Call me neo-masochist

 

[MtnRiv]

Enjoying my R1S a great deal but I can't deny that it makes a LOT of noise. Rattles, clunks, squeaks, but especially... rattles. Did I mention it rattles a LOT, like on the smallest 1/4" deep road imperfection... rattles all over

So I thought it might be nice to start a thread for community fixes/tip/tricks to deal with the common NVH (Noise, vibration, harshness) issues I know a lot of early adopter R1 owners face. These have been scattered around but it might be nice to have one place to share the methods people have used to self-service these issues and maybe help avoid having to wait for service to address them (if they even will - I took mine on for some of this and while things came back better, it's far from "fixed"). So let's help each other help ourselves.

I don't have any solutions to offer at the moment but I can at least share the areas that I hear things from most often and maybe that'll get the ball rolling for others to offer solutions they might have found.

There seems to be some rattle that sounds like it's emanating from the passenger side roof area, near the frontmost roof rack mount point (I do have the rails on the front two mounts). It definitely sounds like it's from the vehicle and not the rail, but maybe it's some interaction between the two. I don't know.

Lots of rattles from the rear seat area. I am always driving as everyone else seems terrified to drive this thing so I can never sit in the back and listen from there, press, hold, or otherwise try to troubleshoot, so it's hard to say exactly where things are coming from - but like... rattles galore back there. Doors maybe, seating area, again it's very hard to pinpoint without being able to get back there.

Another item that sounds like an underbody "flapping" over bumps. Service did fix a loose panel down there, and it did improve things, yet the sound persists.

The typical front-end clunks, ticks, tocks, and creaks, which I've just sorta accepted at this point.

I'd really like to address the interior rattles mostly. Thunks and clunks aren't nice, but the rattles make this vehicle sound... cheap, for lack of a better term. A solid thunk is a lot better than sounding like the interior is missing half the screws it should have.

So what home-grown solutions have people come up with to silence their noisy R1s? What are the common trouble areas to look at and examine for squeaks and rattles?

Let's help each other sort this out

Check the B pillar speakers. If you tap on them, they sound like there is a plastic ball inside that rattles around on rougher roads. I don’t know the fix yet, but your issue sounds like that could be the culprit!

 

[richpike]

I had a lot of rattles that were hard to pinpoint, SC stripped all doors as they said it was the wiring loom in the door rattling around, this fixed about 85% of my rattles.

Same. According to my technician, there were some wiring looms routed incorrectly for a bit that caused rattling. 100% helped my car when they rerouted them. With that said, it eventually came back and they took the door panels apart again and “secured” some additional items. Definitely helped again.

-Rich

 

[HaveBlue]

Good start of a list! I'll contribute one. At about 70mph I could hear a high speed panel flutter banging away under the car. Basically someone at the service center had pulled off one of the plastic rocker panels and bent all the cheap plastic clips. You can diagnose by checking the panels. Video below.
I took the panel off by unscrewing the ones at the wheel wells, bending down slightly and using a long screw driver to pry the clips under the doors loose. Repeat with the long panel that's loose by first prying the inboard section down. This is the section with the lose bent clips. I then used some glue to reenforce the crappy clips and carefully put the panel back after it dried. No more rattle but the next time the panel has to come off they will get jacked up again. It's a horrible design.

 

[richpike]

Good start of a list! I'll contribute one. At about 70mph I could hear a high speed panel flutter banging away under the car. Basically someone at the service center had pulled off one of the plastic rocker panels and bent all the cheap plastic clips. You can diagnose by checking the panels. Video below.
I took the panel off by unscrewing the ones at the wheel wells, bending down slightly and using a long screw driver to pry the clips under the doors loose. Repeat with the long panel that's loose by first prying the inboard section down. This is the section with the lose bent clips. I then used some glue to reenforce the crappy clips and carefully put the panel back after it dried. No more rattle but the next time the panel has to come off they will get jacked up again. It's a horrible design.

Sort of similar issue - after a tire rotation, one of the covers for the pucks had come out and was rattling (loudly) in the wind above about 30mph.

-Rich

 

[cjbot3000]

My flashlight rattled - I cut a strip of adhesive-backed hook/loop (soft half) and wrapped it and the flashlight to cushion it.

Other than that, I have 2 dash rattles that drive be bonkers.

One is the wood trim by the driver's vent. It's subtle and sporadic, but I'm not about to try and pry it apart to fix.

The other is the giant dash grill piece along the windshield. I know people have removed it and cushioned it, but I can't figure out how to get it off for the life of me, even after seeing the photos posted here. Breaking fasteners is my curse.

 

[RexRemus]

Check the B pillar speakers. If you tap on them, they sound like there is a plastic ball inside that rattles around on rougher roads. I don’t know the fix yet, but your issue sounds like that could be the culprit!

Thanks for the tip! Would not have thought to examine the speakers specifically

 

[RexRemus]

Same. According to my technician, there were some wiring looms routed incorrectly for a bit that caused rattling. 100% helped my car when they rerouted them. With that said, it eventually came back and they took the door panels apart again and “secured” some additional items. Definitely helped again.

-Rich

I'm curious how difficult it would be to get the panels off/on to take a look in there without breaking a bunch of clips along the way ?

 

[RexRemus]

My flashlight rattled - I cut a strip of adhesive-backed hook/loop (soft half) and wrapped it and the flashlight to cushion it.

Other than that, I have 2 dash rattles that drive be bonkers.

One is the wood trim by the driver's vent. It's subtle and sporadic, but I'm not about to try and pry it apart to fix.

The other is the giant dash grill piece along the windshield. I know people have removed it and cushioned it, but I can't figure out how to get it off for the life of me, even after seeing the photos posted here. Breaking fasteners is my curse.

I know this has been mentioned a few times, maybe someone will see this thread and share a guide

 

[Boo23]

Okay, I have an interesting one for front of dash rattles. Try rattling the plastic trim piece that holds the windscreen washers, the one on the edge of the hood, it rattles like crazy, it’s also next to the HVAC air intake and it’s quite likely this will transmit the sound causing a rattle noise to come from various parts of the dash.
Also had to glue on my front panel between the headlight and charge door as it kept popping out.

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