Chronic Alignment Issue

[Adampaul619]

Anyone having any chronic alignment issues with their vehicle?
I've had it in the service center twice already, and the alignment is still terrible... within 200 feet if I don't steer to correct, I'd be halfway off the road.
Tired of driving 2.5 hours to the service center... anyone had this issue and had success at a local alignment shop?

Thanks!
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[R1TLG20BM]

You can and likely should take it to a reputable alignment shop. The specs are public so any shop can do it, might have to bring pucks with you. Service centers seem to struggle mightily with alignments for some reason. I had the same issues, gave up on the SE and took it to a shop I'd always gone to. Problem solved in 25min. I'm on the west coast though so I don't have a recommendation for you over there.

 

[R.I.P.]

Is it possible it's not alignment? If it is a quad, is it possible the problem is being caused by mismatched motors?

Wheel alignment should not be as difficult as it seems to be for some of these vehicles. One has to start looking at other possibilities, such as mismatched or misfit suspension parts, and of course the mismatched motor theory.

Unfortunately, testing this theory with readily available equipment is going to be a heck of a challenge.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Where on the EC are you. Someone posted recently about a shop in VA where they had a good experience.

Did the SC provide a print out with before and after specs?

The Gaithersburg SC aligned my T, it was off on delivery, and it tracked great. Unfortunately, on a road trip I hit a HUGE pothole and knocked it out again and they aligned it a second time.

My next step would be an alignment shop who is willing to carefully go over the vehicle. A senior alignment guy would be preferable.

 

[R1Tom]

Is it possible it's not alignment? If it is a quad, is it possible the problem is being caused by mismatched motors?

Wheel alignment should not be as difficult as it seems to be for some of these vehicles. One has to start looking at other possibilities, such as mismatched or misfit suspension parts, and of course the mismatched motor theory.

Unfortunately, testing this theory with readily available equipment is going to be a heck of a challenge.

I wonder if anyone has had motors replaced and the cured the pulling (hence qualifying the mismatched motor theory)?

And then are all DM not having any pulling issues and is it exclusively a QM issue?

I know my QM pulled right at first, but after a realignment at service center and the software update, my QM tracks great. No lingering pull issues.

Also when I did have the pulling issue I extensively tested with throttle on/off, etc... and the pull had zero varience from throttle change....seeming eliminating the mismatched motor theory...at least on mine.

Some might have tire issues too. I once had a FWD manual sport sedan. It had strong pull right on throttle in car that was supposed to have little torque steer. And it was bad....but only under throttle. Dealer threw hand up....said it is a FWD performance car....what do I expect.

Well....turns out it was a bad tire....I took to tire dealer and they got me a replacement and it immediately was 100% fixed.

 

[nellbarr]

You can and likely should take it to a reputable alignment shop. The specs are public so any shop can do it, might have to bring pucks with you. Service centers seem to struggle mightily with alignments for some reason. I had the same issues, gave up on the SE and took it to a shop I'd always gone to. Problem solved in 25min. I'm on the west coast though so I don't have a recommendation for you over there.

A lot of dealers (I've had 2 Mercedes Benz for instance) do not do the alignment themselves-they send the vehicle out for the alignment to shops that specialize in that. 5 Star Frame and Alignment in North Miami Beach does the alignment for Costco, Benz etc. and they are excellent.

 

[R1TCntrlMaIzzy]

From my own experience the below.

I recently had my front driver side motor, tie rod, control arm, subframe and other parts replaced. The Riv team did their calibration and alignment. the body shop has checked the truck and aligned it, twice. No luck, still pulling to the right.

I think something other than the alignment is the issue. But, who knows. I know this did not happen before my unexpected, unwanted off-roading adventure.

I am going to drive it some more to see if it happens everywhere.

 

[RIV206]

I have the same issue and took it to a 3rd party alignment center. Seemed like it was better right after but within a day back to pulling right. I've wondered about the motor issue as well. I have a service appointment scheduled for May 5th (earliest I could get when I booked it in December).

 

[mikeywk]

I have the same issue and took it to a 3rd party alignment center. Seemed like it was better right after but within a day back to pulling right. I've wondered about the motor issue as well. I have a service appointment scheduled for May 5th (earliest I could get when I booked it in December).

Hey, were you able to resolve the issue? I just came back from my 2nd alignment at my local Rivian service center and it is still pulling right. Thanks

 

[RIV206]

Hey, were you able to resolve the issue? I just came back from my 2nd alignment at my local Rivian service center and it is still pulling right. Thanks

Yes, finally. The Bellevue service center was fantastic and got it perfect. It required 2 re-adjustments after the tech drove it but they got it perfect. Sorry to hear your results weren't the same.

 

[mikeywk]

Yes, finally. The Bellevue service center was fantastic and got it perfect. It required 2 re-adjustments after the tech drove it but they got it perfect. Sorry to hear your results weren't the same.

Alright, I'll just keep trying to get it aligned at my local service center. Fingers crossed.

 

[shap]

Alright, I'll just keep trying to get it aligned at my local service center. Fingers crossed.

Yes, just continue to push on this. Mine second alignment was done very well (the first was also fine except steering wheel position).

Said that Rivian is not compensating well for road crown as some other vehicles.

 

[connoisseurr]

Dec 2022 delivery. I've had 6 alignments. 3 with Richmond, VA RSC, 2 with Gaithersburg, MD RSC and 1 with and independent shop in Chantilly, VA.

My findings:
Richmond, VA provided the first three alignment which all resulted in the vehicle pulling right, even when driving on a left crowning road (me testing by driving on the wrong side of the road). I had an alignment done at Gaithersburg which fixed the pulling in all directions - the truck tracked very straight, but it also shred my 22" Pirellis to the tune of showing cords at 8500 miles.

After replacing all 4 tires, I had the independent shop do the alignment, while the truck was in standard height. Again, another great feeling alignment.

When I went to Rivian to discuss reimbursement of premature tire failure, I was informed of the following:

• OEM tires do not have any type of tread wear warranty, so you get what you get
• Rivian alignments can only be done by RSCs with their special "diagnostic" mode, where R1 is actually set roughly 4mm lower than standard ride height
• My independent alignment was "out of spec" per Rivian's comments but was "out" by an even number across all 4 corners, which told me the independent shop's alignment was perfect, based upon the Rivian specification within the Hunter Alignment Machine database, but due to the alignment heigh discrepancies, the alignment was "off".

I believe Rivian is continuing to make suspension improvements, and not updating alignment data, which is leading to new alignments technically not being within spec, until the numbers are updated again.

I know of few who've had a handful of components replace, to even include full front subframe replacements, that ultimately fixed the issue. While I recognize that won't be everyone's issue, I've seen a few of them to know alignment issues are more common, than onesies and twosies here and there.

My recommendation would be to keep pushing back on the SC to get this resolved. As annoying as it may be, and the time it consumes, it all ends up being data to Rivian and the engineering team to: a) do a deeper dive into potential alignments and suspension geometry issues during manufacturing and assembly, and b) push to deploy an onboard service/diagnostic capability for owners to get "official" alignments completed at 3rd party shops. For my case, driving an hour, having to wait 2-3hrs for an alignment, then driving back home 1 hour, is quite the ordeal. Hoping to see 3rd party shop service sooner rather than later. They will need to have something in place by R2 rollout. I would also make sure you are getting alignment reports after every alignment received, so you have documentation as to the before and after results.

 

[mikeywk]

Dec 2022 delivery. I've had 6 alignments. 3 with Richmond, VA RSC, 2 with Gaithersburg, MD RSC and 1 with and independent shop in Chantilly, VA.

My findings:
Richmond, VA provided the first three alignment which all resulted in the vehicle pulling right, even when driving on a left crowning road (me testing by driving on the wrong side of the road). I had an alignment done at Gaithersburg which fixed the pulling in all directions - the truck tracked very straight, but it also shred my 22" Pirellis to the tune of showing cords at 8500 miles.

After replacing all 4 tires, I had the independent shop do the alignment, while the truck was in standard height. Again, another great feeling alignment.

When I went to Rivian to discuss reimbursement of premature tire failure, I was informed of the following:

• OEM tires do not have any type of tread wear warranty, so you get what you get
• Rivian alignments can only be done by RSCs with their special "diagnostic" mode, where R1 is actually set roughly 4mm lower than standard ride height
• My independent alignment was "out of spec" per Rivian's comments but was "out" by an even number across all 4 corners, which told me the independent shop's alignment was perfect, based upon the Rivian specification within the Hunter Alignment Machine database, but due to the alignment heigh discrepancies, the alignment was "off".

I believe Rivian is continuing to make suspension improvements, and not updating alignment data, which is leading to new alignments technically not being within spec, until the numbers are updated again.

I know of few who've had a handful of components replace, to even include full front subframe replacements, that ultimately fixed the issue. While I recognize that won't be everyone's issue, I've seen a few of them to know alignment issues are more common, than onesies and twosies here and there.

My recommendation would be to keep pushing back on the SC to get this resolved. As annoying as it may be, and the time it consumes, it all ends up being data to Rivian and the engineering team to: a) do a deeper dive into potential alignments and suspension geometry issues during manufacturing and assembly, and b) push to deploy an onboard service/diagnostic capability for owners to get "official" alignments completed at 3rd party shops. For my case, driving an hour, having to wait 2-3hrs for an alignment, then driving back home 1 hour, is quite the ordeal. Hoping to see 3rd party shop service sooner rather than later. They will need to have something in place by R2 rollout. I would also make sure you are getting alignment reports after every alignment received, so you have documentation as to the before and after results.

Thanks for all the info. I am lucky in that I live 10 minutes from a service center, so I will keep pushing them to get the alignment correct... if that's even possible.

You said you visited RSC 6 times. At any point did you mention you want to do a deeper dive into the issue rather than just getting alignments? Like looking at the suspension or other systems.

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