The OEM Jack: Good Enough or Risky?

[Singletracker]

True about sliders but you can also take off the plastic and jack on the frame rails. See p25 https://rivian.com/support/article/r1-tire-service-guide

Did not know this about removing the panels to access jack points. I am going to have to try this. It might be a little safer. Thanks for pointing this out.

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[cqsota]

One other important note - my OEM jack has the puck directly attached to the top of the scissors. This is a good thing because it reduces the slippage risk of the puck coming off the Jack. In fact I noticed after I got my rig down from the precarious position that it was in, that the top nipple of the puck had actually bent the jack point on the Rivian. Meaning that part of the reason the Rivian didn’t slide off the jack and on to the ground was because the puck nipple was wedged in at an angle holding it from sliding off. Had the puck just been placed on top of the Jack vs attached to it - I think it far more likely it would have toppled or slid off the top of the Jack given the angle it was at.

 

[Luxus]

I'll throw in my 2 cents. For the emergency tire change, I would trust the OEM jack. However, I would be very careful in using it. I can't say this for sure, but my assumption is the OEM jack is not designed for constant use. The reason being is that makes it cheaper for them to make.
For day to day maintenance needs, I would invest in a proper jack. Like a rolling jack or bottle jack (personal preference is rolling).

I would also strongly recommend the use of jack stands if you need to take off more than one wheel at a time (tire rotation). I don't even trust good jacks if I need to be under the vehicle. Just be sure they are rated for the weight of the vehicle.

 

[ElGuano]

Jus tread the official tire change guide, I didn't know Rivian actually instructs on the "jack up until you see it tilt, then lower and reposition the jack" method. It is what it is, but man, that's just a bit uncomfortable.

 

[RPeterson]

We’ll say something mildly controversial.

The factory jack technically works.

But “technically” isn’t the same as “confidence-inspiring.”

With a vehicle this heavy, stability under load matters more than most people realize.

We’ve had customers say:

“It worked fine… but I didn’t love how it felt.”

When you’re rotating tires or dealing with a roadside situation, the margin for error is small.

Do you trust the factory setup, or did you upgrade your lifting solution?

— Team Electruck

I strongly recommend you get some thick axle grease, coat the threads and run it through its full range up and down. The truck is crazy heavy for a scissor jack and galling the threads is very easy. Maybe keep an electric drill handy to spin it since it has very fine threads and takes forever to lift. The motor on my drill got pretty hot, but 10x faster than by hand.

 

[Here2there]

If I am going off road, I put this in the gear tunnel or bed. And most of the time it is strapped into the front of the bed with the tonneau cover closed. I do have the OEM jack but hope to never need it. Would only trust it with very firm and flat footing for the vehicle.

I have this too but for my R1S. Still haven't found a good solution to strap or mount it to something and store in the sub trunk for road trips.

 

[Time2Roll]

Scary was a factory high lift bumper jack on a 1973 Ford Country Squire wagon.

 

[Luxus]

Scary was a factory high lift bumper jack on a 1973 Ford Country Squire wagon.

I had to change a tire on my 74 Lesabre not too long ago. Same kind of jack and things looked a bit sketchy with the jack all the way up. I can see why the oems switched to a scissor jack later on.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

The OEM jack does work and I do trust it…but probably the most scared I’ve been in my life was trying to get the tire back on as the R1S slid down the hill on said jack…it just kept leaning to the point that I had to dig out underneath the tire to have enough clearance to get it back on..so yeah always lift on a flat surface. Yes all wheels were blocked.

And before you make too many assumptions about my intelligence - the issue I faced was that I had run over a log lengthwise that wedged itself under the front tire and into the rear suspension such that the vehicle literally wouldn’t move. Thirty plus miles out a forest service road… Removed the rear wheel and cut the log away with a chainsaw, left part of it in the suspension arm as it was too wedged to remove safely and then slapped that tire back on before she slid off…talk about anxiety.

Damn dude this is next level. That's a tough situation to get out of.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Lots of good shares regarding jacks so far. Personally, for ease of use and better portability, I lean towards keeping a bottle jack + jack pad (for stability and added lift height) in the car for most common situations. And, if you have a floor jack too, keep it for home/shop use and for more serious off-pavement excursions.

In addition to the above, I think a Trac Tire Jack (or something like it) would also be good to have... since you don't always have extra helping hands to get that 80+ lb spare into place.

https://www.liftwithtrac.com/products/tirejack-roller-plate-package

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