Clunking sound from front end.

[R1Tom]

Did you ever take into service? Is it Normal? I just got a call back on the ticket I submitted, does not sound promising;

What was the wording on what they called expected behavior or whatever they called it?

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[Prime]

And another video of the clunk when going over bumps / suspension events. I can get it to clunk going over this bump every day.

I get pretty loud clunks over speed bumps if I’m going anything over 3mph. Then I see promo videos of R1Ts going what looks like 10mph rock crawling and 40-50mph rallying, makes me wonder what those sound like.

 

[RexRemus]

I also have had this since day one on my R1S - any bumps, large or small make things rattle irritatingly and I can't easily track down the source of those - but the "clunk" you can feel is the more concerning one. it's... every bump. You hear it and feel it and no other vehicle I have ever owned has made a sound like that or felt like this does. It just feels like the suspension is "loose" somewhere and is going to wear out and break. but as others have said - I had it into service a while back and they said "all is normal" - so yeah, just need to wait for a wheel to fall off I guess.

 

[sogorman]

I also have had this since day one on my R1S - any bumps, large or small make things rattle irritatingly and I can't easily track down the source of those - but the "clunk" you can feel is the more concerning one. it's... every bump. You hear it and feel it and no other vehicle I have ever owned has made a sound like that or felt like this does. It just feels like the suspension is "loose" somewhere and is going to wear out and break. but as others have said - I had it into service a while back and they said "all is normal" - so yeah, just need to wait for a wheel to fall off I guess.

100% agree and sounds like we have the same clunk. It almost sounds like something is flying up in the frunk and hitting the floor up there... but you can also feel it in your feet like it's coming from the drive units or inner suspension components?

What is frustrating is that wen test driving demo cars or my friends cars none of them have the clunk issue. If the clunk is 'Normal', they need to be fixing all their demo cars and they don't clunk.

 

[HaveBlue]

The only non hazardous thing I can think of is that there are floating pistons in the hydraulic struts and there's hydro shock going on, akin to water hammer inside plumbing pipes.
Otherwise I'm thinking loose parts or strut towers flexing bad. Makes me want to take apart the frunk and double check all the connections.

 

[V-R1T]

My observations are that all of the R1s clunk. I have been in for service several times about this issue because it drives me nuts. I had the retrofit washers installed, but that solution provided little improvement.

From my research and probing around the vehicle, the culprit is the half-shafts (axles). Because of the long travel suspension, the half-shafts use a telescoping design with a small shaft inside of a larger shaft. The two shafts rattle against each other at low speed as the wheel is impacted up and down. At higher speeds, there is enough rotational momentum (like a gyroscope) in the spinning shafts to keep them concentric and they don't generally rattle (45 mph+). Turning the steering wheel while also hitting a bump is really bad as the outer end of the axle shaft is moving in two directions at once.

Play in the axles, both front and rear, is obvious from inspection under the vehicle. The knocking of the shafts transmits vibrations through the frame to the occupants.

Setting the ride to the firmest setting and reducing tire pressure helps a little as it reduces up/down movement of the wheels. It's not the most comfortable ride setting though. Cold weather is a little better too as stiffer grease helps blunt the knocking of the shafts. It gets worse as it warms up.

Rivian refuses to acknowledge it as an issue. I refuse to believe that the constant impact of the parts will not accelerate wear to the parts. It seems that Rivian is just running out the clock past the warranty period so that they will not need to cover the replacement cost.

Anyone have any other ideas or found any solutions?

 

[djsider2]

My observations are that all of the R1s clunk. I have been in for service several times about this issue because it drives me nuts. I had the retrofit washers installed, but that solution provided little improvement.

From my research and probing around the vehicle, the culprit is the half-shafts (axles). Because of the long travel suspension, the half-shafts use a telescoping design with a small shaft inside of a larger shaft. The two shafts rattle against each other at low speed as the wheel is impacted up and down. At higher speeds, there is enough rotational momentum (like a gyroscope) in the spinning shafts to keep them concentric and they don't generally rattle (45 mph+). Turning the steering wheel while also hitting a bump is really bad as the outer end of the axle shaft is moving in two directions at once.

Play in the axles, both front and rear, is obvious from inspection under the vehicle. The knocking of the shafts transmits vibrations through the frame to the occupants.

Setting the ride to the firmest setting and reducing tire pressure helps a little as it reduces up/down movement of the wheels. It's not the most comfortable ride setting though. Cold weather is a little better too as stiffer grease helps blunt the knocking of the shafts. It gets worse as it warms up.

Rivian refuses to acknowledge it as an issue. I refuse to believe that the constant impact of the parts will not accelerate wear to the parts. It seems that Rivian is just running out the clock past the warranty period so that they will not need to cover the replacement cost.

Anyone have any other ideas or found any solutions?

Are there actual ways to fix this without a redesign? Is this a part quality issue or design issue?

 

[V-R1T]

It seems to me to be a design issue. The service center admitted that there has been at least one revision to the axle design, but also said that it didn’t make much difference. They would not entertain replacing my axles.

 

[Shawnybs]

After doing a similar amount of poking and prodding around the truck, and having mine at the service center multiple times with this concern (including paying for a comprehensive inspection at the service center) - I would lean towards V-R1T's explanation as the root cause.

 

[GCool]

Here is a clip of me pulling into my driveway three times in a row hitting the sidewalk bump at 4-5mph. Take a listen to the last low pitched 'thunk' / 'clunk' when the front end is coming down after the upwards suspension event. I can hear it from the lower part of the car, and can feel it in my feet. It is less noticeable on video on the last attempt.



Hear and feel this going over bumps, speed bumps, pulling into parking lots, basically all day every day driving the car.

 

[GCool]

I had a lunch R1T and it barely made any squeaks or rattles... just traded for an R1S and it's by far the loudest vehicle I have driven. CLUNKS over every speed bump, squeaks and rattles over the smallest road imperfections... beyond frustrating and they keep telling me "It's normal." It's NOT normal. I've been in service twice already. No change. Huge bummer. I honestly love everything else about the vehicles.

 

[Prime]

My observations are that all of the R1s clunk. I have been in for service several times about this issue because it drives me nuts. I had the retrofit washers installed, but that solution provided little improvement.

From my research and probing around the vehicle, the culprit is the half-shafts (axles). Because of the long travel suspension, the half-shafts use a telescoping design with a small shaft inside of a larger shaft. The two shafts rattle against each other at low speed as the wheel is impacted up and down. At higher speeds, there is enough rotational momentum (like a gyroscope) in the spinning shafts to keep them concentric and they don't generally rattle (45 mph+). Turning the steering wheel while also hitting a bump is really bad as the outer end of the axle shaft is moving in two directions at once.

Play in the axles, both front and rear, is obvious from inspection under the vehicle. The knocking of the shafts transmits vibrations through the frame to the occupants.

Setting the ride to the firmest setting and reducing tire pressure helps a little as it reduces up/down movement of the wheels. It's not the most comfortable ride setting though. Cold weather is a little better too as stiffer grease helps blunt the knocking of the shafts. It gets worse as it warms up.

Rivian refuses to acknowledge it as an issue. I refuse to believe that the constant impact of the parts will not accelerate wear to the parts. It seems that Rivian is just running out the clock past the warranty period so that they will not need to cover the replacement cost.

Anyone have any other ideas or found any solutions?

I’ve noticed this as well. Setting firm suspension on standard ride height or soft or firm at low ride height reduces clunks

 

[GCool]

Thank you - but I've tried every ride height combo - including Rally - and nothing seems to work. But I'll keep trying. I think I got a bit of lemon.

 

[DaveA]

It seems to me to be a design issue. The service center admitted that there has been at least one revision to the axle design, but also said that it didn’t make much difference. They would not entertain replacing my axles.

I’ve had washer treatments twice and hubs and half shafts replaced…occasional clunk still occurs on every drive. Definite design issue.

 

[V-R1T]

This issue seems to be so prevalent that it really needs to be escalated so that a design revision can be made. I want Rivian to succeed, but this issue brings the brand down in any NVH comparison to other brands. Any ideas on how to escalate this beyond the Service Center?

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