Urgent Help: Software Update Blocked on Rare So Flo Rivian

[COdogman]

I feel like we are missing quite a few details here.

What reason have you been given for them refusing to update?

Would the update register the current suspension height as “standard”? If so I completely understand why they cannot do this for you. I wouldn’t either. You have modified the suspension to a point where the software settings aren’t anywhere near accurate anymore…

Allegations like a Rivian lead “aggressively” approached you, or they were “overwhelmed and emotional”, there are “unspoken” rules or intimidation occurring seem disingenuous when they cannot share their side of the story.

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[CANCERDOC]

So Costa Mesa refused to do the software update even after you offered to pay them for it? What if you signed a waiver that you have a modified vehicle out of warranty and you are paying for the actual service with zero guarantees it will be successful? Won’t they do it then?

I’ve been to Costa Mesa many times. Their staff are A+ and totally professional. If their policy is they won’t touch a highly modified out of warranty (or warranty voided) vehicle then you are out of luck and this is something that should have been considered prior to your “high value collaboration.”

 

[Killer95Stang]

I did some digging... and this R1T was put together by Apocalypse 6x6, which is the same shop that has a TV show called Truck Dynasty
https://www.apocalypse6x6.com/nirvana/. They bend the truth enough in their ad that it doesn't surprise me that you will be left holding the bag with an unserviceable vehicle. I would look into a third party maybe updating your RIT, because Rivian wipp not, in my opinion.

 

[socaladam]

Who or what is SloFlo?

are they associated with Rivian in any manner? If so, have SloFlo fix it.

If they (SloFlo) modified a vehicle to the point at which it’s no longer factory, Rivian is under no obligation to fix your vehicle.

Just like tuners on factory ECUs (which I used to be very much part of) were out of scope for warranty work at dealerships.

So you either make it stock and take it back to Rivian or you get SloFlo to fix it.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

I think you have your answer. I’m not surprised Rivian doesn’t want to touch it.

 

[Zoul]

The way you have worded your post makes me think you are not aware of what vehicle you have. The following is what I was able to understand when these trucks were built, I don't remember all the details and things may have changed since then.

To my knowledge there was no "high value collaboration" between rivian and soflo on these trucks. If I remember correctly there was a lot of bad blood between the 2 on these trucks, and rivian was of the opinion that they were not to be resold/are not road worthy. I'm not sure rivian could stop them from being sold though.

This could be why you got such an aggressive response from the technician, as far as he knows you work for soflo. He and the rest of the staff could very well have their jobs on the line if they were to help you. I do not remember if there was any court proceedings regarding the situation so that could potentially be another roadblock.

You may not fully understand the extent of the modification done to this truck. This is not a simple body lift or spring spacer lift kit. This would be similar to a diff drop lift kit, but not a bolt on one. The way the r1t are designed, The chassis had to undergo heavy cutting and welding of suspension mounting points. Wiring harnesses, including high voltage wiring, would have been cut and extensions spliced in. On top of that I remember there being stories claiming poor workmanship on these modifications. This would be more comparable to a rivian shaped mud bog truck, than what it would be to a customized rivian that you'd take to the dealership for warranty. Even if the modifications were done well, its still custom race car type territory or maybe a bodybuilder/upfitter at best. Rivian has no obligation to provide service, that's the bodybuilder's job.

You may also not be fully understanding the needed repairs and why they aren't possible. Did you have the suspension control module replaced? Or was other work performed and now the suspension control module is not happy? Either way I would guess that it is not a software update that is needed but rather a calibration. Or it needs a software update that also requires a calibration. The calibration tool kit includes a lot of photo eyes and a machine that looks similar to an alignment rack. It's likely that the calibration can not be properly performed due to your truck not fitting the machine or not able to see the photo eyes. Maybe something could be Jerry rigged to work, but on a safety system I wouldn't want my name on the work order. Also with high voltage wiring having been tampered with it could be that rivian deams the vehicle unsafe to work on. That is the roadblock many of the people with salvage rivians are facing.

Again this is just my understanding of the situation, from info I had gathered back when these were first being built. At one point I liked the lifted look and was hoping a kit would come out. As more info came out and it was more and more apparent this wasn't a diy kit I lost interest. About the same time resellers were price gauging the stock trucks and everything was too rich for my blood, so lost interest in general. . Maybe there was a compromise between the 2 companies since then. Also any rivian info was mostly hearsay on stuff like Reddit and facebook at that point, so who knows how believable it was. I honestly can't find any info on the beef between companies on Google.

Also why is soflo not covering this issue and fixing your truck? They claim all of their trucks have an in house warranty.

 

[Killer95Stang]

The way you have worded your post makes me think you are not aware of what vehicle you have. The following is what I was able to understand when these trucks were built, I don't remember all the details and things may have changed since then.

To my knowledge there was no "high value collaboration" between rivian and soflo on these trucks. If I remember correctly there was a lot of bad blood between the 2 on these trucks, and rivian was of the opinion that they were not to be resold/are not road worthy. I'm not sure rivian could stop them from being sold though.

This could be why you got such an aggressive response from the technician, as far as he knows you work for soflo. He and the rest of the staff could very well have their jobs on the line if they were to help you. I do not remember if there was any court proceedings regarding the situation so that could potentially be another roadblock.

You may not fully understand the extent of the modification done to this truck. This is not a simple body lift or spring spacer lift kit. This would be similar to a diff drop lift kit, but not a bolt on one. The way the r1t are designed, The chassis had to undergo heavy cutting and welding of suspension mounting points. Wiring harnesses, including high voltage wiring, would have been cut and extensions spliced in. On top of that I remember there being stories claiming poor workmanship on these modifications. This would be more comparable to a rivian shaped mud bog truck, than what it would be to a customized rivian that you'd take to the dealership for warranty. Even if the modifications were done well, its still custom race car type territory or maybe a bodybuilder/upfitter at best. Rivian has no obligation to provide service, that's the bodybuilder's job.

You may also not be fully understanding the needed repairs and why they aren't possible. Did you have the suspension control module replaced? Or was other work performed and now the suspension control module is not happy? Either way I would guess that it is not a software update that is needed but rather a calibration. Or it needs a software update that also requires a calibration. The calibration tool kit includes a lot of photo eyes and a machine that looks similar to an alignment rack. It's likely that the calibration can not be properly performed due to your truck not fitting the machine or not able to see the photo eyes. Maybe something could be Jerry rigged to work, but on a safety system I wouldn't want my name on the work order. Also with high voltage wiring having been tampered with it could be that rivian deams the vehicle unsafe to work on. That is the roadblock many of the people with salvage rivians are facing.

Again this is just my understanding of the situation, from info I had gathered back when these were first being built. At one point I liked the lifted look and was hoping a kit would come out. As more info came out and it was more and more apparent this wasn't a diy kit I lost interest. About the same time resellers were price gauging the stock trucks and everything was too rich for my blood, so lost interest in general. . Maybe there was a compromise between the 2 companies since then. Also any rivian info was mostly hearsay on stuff like Reddit and facebook at that point, so who knows how believable it was. I honestly can't find any info on the beef between companies on Google.

Also why is soflo not covering this issue and fixing your truck? They claim all of their trucks have an in house warranty.

Digging up this posters name... he apparently purchased the vehicle used in December of 2024. He might not work for SoFlo. He actually posted about the purchase on a Tesla forum.

 

[JetFalcon]

“I get that some people here may disagree with me, and that’s fine—many of you are rule-followers, and I respect that. At the same time, being professional or strictly following the rules doesn’t always prevent problems. Even highly competent people can sometimes hide issues behind a ‘theater’ of professionalism, especially in environments with toxic work culture.

Leads or employees may resist sharing higher-level or regional info—not because it’s forbidden, but often due to ego, internal politics, or a desire to control information. Ideally, in a transparent and healthy environment, that info should be openly shared.

Finally, even rule-followers or those without direct experience (like not owning a modified vehicle) aren’t immune to bad outcomes—they just might be less prepared when situations go sideways.

I’m curious to hear how others handle this balance between rules, transparency, and experience.”

 

[mikehmb]

I break rules all the time, but I also recognize that there are consequences to doing so - often financial.

If I was Rivian, I wouldn't touch the Nirvana with a 10ft electrially-insulated pole. There's too much going on in the interplay of geometry and configurability with the software to give them any reason to make an exception.

Also, writing your post with quotes at both ends pretty much confirms to me that this is written by ChatGPT and posted by a bot.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

“I get that some people here may disagree with me, and that’s fine—many of you are rule-followers, and I respect that. At the same time, being professional or strictly following the rules doesn’t always prevent problems. Even highly competent people can sometimes hide issues behind a ‘theater’ of professionalism, especially in environments with toxic work culture.

Leads or employees may resist sharing higher-level or regional info—not because it’s forbidden, but often due to ego, internal politics, or a desire to control information. Ideally, in a transparent and healthy environment, that info should be openly shared.

Finally, even rule-followers or those without direct experience (like not owning a modified vehicle) aren’t immune to bad outcomes—they just might be less prepared when situations go sideways.

I’m curious to hear how others handle this balance between rules, transparency, and experience.”

Your beef is with soflo. They sold you something that’s wasn’t what you agreed to buy.

 

[Davethadog]

This is the problem with the way software defined vehicles are sold. When you buy one you agree that Rivian is providing you a license for their software but it’s implied legally that it’s a separate thing from the physical truck itself. While I have to concede that it makes the most sense to think of things this way it leaves people such as yourself in a shitty spot - hideous modifications notwithstanding.

 

[COdogman]

“I get that some people here may disagree with me, and that’s fine—many of you are rule-followers, and I respect that. At the same time, being professional or strictly following the rules doesn’t always prevent problems. Even highly competent people can sometimes hide issues behind a ‘theater’ of professionalism, especially in environments with toxic work culture.

Leads or employees may resist sharing higher-level or regional info—not because it’s forbidden, but often due to ego, internal politics, or a desire to control information. Ideally, in a transparent and healthy environment, that info should be openly shared.

Finally, even rule-followers or those without direct experience (like not owning a modified vehicle) aren’t immune to bad outcomes—they just might be less prepared when situations go sideways.

I’m curious to hear how others handle this balance between rules, transparency, and experience.”

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

If you're gonna break rules... then you should also accept the consequences and not blame Rivian for refusing to provide support. "Rules" provide consumers cover for certain rights. You gave up those rights by choosing to break rules. How about taking some personal responsibility? You are a victim only because of your choices. Not a victim of anyone else's decisions or actions.

 

[Riviot]

I think we can all agree it's time for this thread to devolve into a gif party...

My car is extremely rare and represents a high-value collaboration.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I think we can all agree it's time for this thread to devolve into a gif party...

Agreed.

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