Clunking sound from front end.

[kyledmb]

That is odd....my early R1T has 48k on it and no noises like you experienced. I do think they have a fair amount of quality control variences so some are really good...some are really bad...

So you're saying that some Rivians don't sound like the suspension is rattling apart?

I have ANOTHER service appointment this Thursday, one week from getting my truck back from the last visit. I am pleading with them to just diagnose the rattle. What is causing it? I need them to be straight up and honest.

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[Electrified Outdoors]

Ok folks, first update. I dropped the vehicle off for service this morning. Tri Motor R1S Ascend in Storm Blue was there and I took it for a little spin. The Tri Motor feels faster than the outgoing quad...its scary fast folks. More on that soon enough. As a loaner I have a Silverado EV work truck...more on that later too.

Anyway, to my issue. The tech rode along. Immediately said dampers but they will check half shafts as well. Also showed him the refrigerant line and they are going to perform the FSA for that. It will probably get an alignment while there as well as a new 12v battery (proactive replacement by Rivian).

Two articles of bad news. They said it will be about 4 weeks for my R1T to be fixed but I will continue to give updates as I receive them. The Silverado only had 15% battery when I picked up (but still had 72mi range ?). Charging @ 48 amps 10 to 80% will take 18 hours!!!

A couple other items. Glen Burnie, MD service center is expected to open in the next 30 days. Sterling, VA is not expected until 2-3rd q next year. This is all very unofficial though so please don't bank on it.

 

[Jonger1150]

Ok folks, first update. I dropped the vehicle off for service this morning. Tri Motor R1S Ascend in Storm Blue was there and I took it for a little spin. The Tri Motor feels faster than the outgoing quad...its scary fast folks. More on that soon enough. As a loaner I have a Silverado EV work truck...more on that later too.

Anyway, to my issue. The tech rode along. Immediately said dampers but they will check half shafts as well. Also showed him the refrigerant line and they are going to perform the FSA for that. It will probably get an alignment while there as well as a new 12v battery (proactive replacement by Rivian).

Two articles of bad news. They said it will be about 4 weeks for my R1T to be fixed but I will continue to give updates as I receive them. The Silverado only had 15% battery when I picked up (but still had 72mi range ?). Charging @ 48 amps 10 to 80% will take 18 hours!!!

A couple other items. Glen Burnie, MD service center is expected to open in the next 30 days. Sterling, VA is not expected until 2-3rd q next year. This is all very unofficial though so please don't bank on it.

Is a Rivian customer allowed to go to other SCs outside of their area. Madison Heights in Michigan is WAAAAY quicker to get in and get out.

 

[Schroederhc]

Yes. Look at your app; it should give you a couple of options. Gave me three in my area. They were all 90 ish days out at the time

 

[R1Tom]

So you're saying that some Rivians don't sound like the suspension is rattling apart?

I have ANOTHER service appointment this Thursday, one week from getting my truck back from the last visit. I am pleading with them to just diagnose the rattle. What is causing it? I need them to be straight up and honest.

More detail on current status of mine.

2.5 year old R1T. 48k.

Things that have been replaced: Front half shafts, front subframe changed to newer cast unit, steering knuckles to newer cast units, I believe lower control arms on front. Added ting washers.

With all that replaced....I still have what I think is the half shaft clunks. But that seems to be it. I wish Rivian would solve the half shaft clunks but it maybe a nature of the beast with the high level of torque these have and the high range of suspension travel.

The clunks are only noticeable at low speeds....under 25mph generally and more noticeable when suspension is unloading for some reason.

 

[kyledmb]

More detail on current status of mine.

2.5 year old R1T. 48k.

Things that have been replaced: Front half shafts, front subframe changed to newer cast unit, steering knuckles to newer cast units, I believe lower control arms on front. Added ting washers.

With all that replaced....I still have what I think is the half shaft clunks. But that seems to be it. I wish Rivian would solve the half shaft clunks but it maybe a nature of the beast with the high level of torque these have and the high range of suspension travel.

The clunks are only noticeable at low speeds....under 25mph generally and more noticeable when suspension is unloading for some reason.

Thanks for clarifying. I do have some clunks, too. My main concern is the consistent rattling. Sounds like I have something different than you going on.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Is a Rivian customer allowed to go to other SCs outside of their area. Madison Heights in Michigan is WAAAAY quicker to get in and get out.

As far as I know yes you are. You should be allowed to take it to any Rivian service center you want.
Probably limited to what shows up on your app though for scheduling. Otherwise if the SC doesn't show up in your app/area you would have to contact service support to schedule.

I don't see why they wouldn't let you do that...but they likely wouldn't cover towing it to a SC that is further away.

 

[R1Tom]

Thanks for clarifying. I do have some clunks, too. My main concern is the consistent rattling. Sounds like I have something different than you going on.

I agree.....rattling is not present in mine.

 

[Jonger1150]

Yes. Look at your app; it should give you a couple of options. Gave me three in my area. They were all 90 ish days out at the time

That's awful. It's like a week here.

 

[Schroederhc]

Pacific Northwest has been a zoo, however it is improving!

 

[MidnightRivian]

I had the knuckle fasteners done and it helped reduce the clunk sound by 70% when making low speed turning maneuvers.

I already have dampers replaced for the front and that helped with clunks from speed bumps.

I also had the AC noise campaign and that one made a huge difference. Overall I am pleased with the customer campaigns and hope Rivian will continue to refine / improve the ride.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2024/MC-11008362-0001.pdf

 

[kyledmb]

Just got back from another service appointment, they drove the car for a ride along and heard the rattling. We got back to the SC, they all conferred for about 10 mins behind a closed door, then came out and said everything is normal.

I'm going to sleep on it, but honestly I think I need to leave Rivian in my rear view mirror. This just isn't acceptable. Probably going to be hanging out in the "Rivian vs Competitors" corner from now on.

 

[Deezel]

Just got back from another service appointment, they drove the car for a ride along and heard the rattling. We got back to the SC, they all conferred for about 10 mins behind a closed door, then came out and said everything is normal.

I'm going to sleep on it, but honestly I think I need to leave Rivian in my rear view mirror. This just isn't acceptable. Probably going to be hanging out in the "Rivian vs Competitors" corner from now on.

Damn.. so disappointing. Have you actually tried pulling on your CV axles, do you hear the same noise? I'm wondering if when the techs put the R1T lift with the suspension drooped out that it preloads the spline joint enough that they can't get the same movement. I've noticed on my truck that the play seems to vary based on the steering position and the ride height setting. Also if I turn the steering wheel the side that is compressed seems to have almost no play, while the opposite side has much more..

Anyhow, update on my truck. Got it back from service. They found a loose coolant hose clamp somewhere in the front. They fixed that and replaced the jounce lines. I think they could hear the squeek/chirp noise, which I was actually fine with. I assume that's just hydraulic fluid/air or some type of seal friction noises. All those noises are now gone.

What I wasn't fine with is the metallic rattling/clunking noise, which I really thought was CV axle play. The tech noted he checked for play in all CV axles and noted none. This is what's driving my theory about them checking with suspension dropped out.

Here is what is odd though..

The loaner R1T they gave me, exact same config as mine (quad motor, all terrains, large pack) was dead silent. It had double the mileage of my truck. It had the hollow/dead resonant noise on bumps that I think is just from body panels, the frunk area and the extremely stiff chassis, but no metallic rattles etc.

Just for kicks I got under the loaner and pulled on the CV axles. Damn thing had more play than mine! This doesn't compute.. Also I've had vehicles with completely blown CV axles in need of replacement, they never rattled like this, only made crazy clicking noises when you turned hard..

Also on the loaner, I checked out the skid plate while I was under there. It had two loose mounting bolts near the back. I tightened both of those up and that helped the hollow noise substantially.

I tried to step back and think about other sources of play etc.. I had a similar clunk noise like this on my Raptor and it turned out to be the lower control arm shock bolts. The LCA on those trucks is HUGE and the area you bolt through is quite thick. This requires a huge amount of axial load (via bolt torque) to properly load the joint. IIRC the torque spec for that lower bolt is 440ft-lbs! I had to buy a torque wrench just for those two bolts.

Based on this experience I tried checking the same type of bolt on the R1T. It was super tight. I have no idea what the torque spec is, but I used a huge breaker bar and a 24mm socket on the bolt side and my longest socket wrench on the nut side. Both driver/passenger sides were super tight so I'm calling that good. It is possible the torque spec is much higher, but I'm not going to mess with it and potentially over torque it. There were no obvious signs of damage to the bushing in the damper either. This noise I'm hearing is something obviously loose.

I drove the truck after this.. not it. Noise still present.

Next I thought about an Integra I had as a track car. That car made a similar noise when I replaced the top shock mounts to improve my alignment. I did not get the top mount bolts tight enough, and like this it would really only make noise at low speeds with compression/rebound cycles. On the R1T you can access these by just pulling up the trim piece under the frunk, most adjacent to the windshield. There are 3 mounting bolts on top for the damper (see below)

Again, don't know the torque spec (if anyone does or knows where to find, please share!) so I just tightened them by hand without really cranking on them. I was able to get a minimal amount of rotation on one of them.. maybe 1/8 of a turn or less. They weren't obviously loose but I thought it couldn't hurt. I drove the truck again after this-unfortunately the noise is still present..

Finally, I started searching for the RCAs about torquing the knuckle, axle bolt etc and found a different RCA (ref RCA-18-22-001-1: Front Damper Reinforcement Plate Inspection and Installation.)

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10208798-0001.pdf

Apparently some trucks were built without a suspension reinforcing plate on top of the damper, between the suspension chassis mount. The affected vehicles apparently were only from Sept to Oct of 2021, but I have had suppliers at my job repeat the same mistakes later when they do not properly administer corrective actions. I thought it might be possible they forgot this plate again.

I checked this area on my truck. It's very difficult to get to see, I had to shove my cell phone up there and take a photo.

I have nothing like what is shown in the image. I can't feel anything in between the two parts either. In fact, I think my damper looks much different than the image, so it's possible the damper has been redesigned since then.

However, I'm going to try to chat with Rivian to confirm whether or not there should be a part in there. On every other vehicle I've owned, there is some type of noise isolation piece in there. Whether it's a steel/alum piece with a rubber insert/bushing built in or just a compressed rubber insert. I can't say that I've seen a damper mounted straight to the metal body area like this before. This would seem to transmit tons of noise/impact to the body, but why that would only happen at low speeds like this doesn't seem to jive.

Have any of you had your trucks checked for this reinforcing plate or had this fix performed?

I will let everyone know what Rivian says about this. Either way, I think I'm going to push for the knuckle/hub and CV axle torque fix next.

 

[kyledmb]

Deezel, thank you for sharing this. You've really spent a ton of time tracking this down and helping everyone here.

I can reproduce a similar sound to my rattles by rocking the have shaft back and forth. After my SC ride along sitting shotgun, I now know the rattle is only present on the driver's side. The sound is less intense in cool/cold weather. During the heat of the summer, the rattling was substantially louder and even resulted in sloppy steering play. Has to be some component with lubricant viscosity impacting it.

Angles matter, too. I can almost make the rattle go away in -
Drive Mode: All Purpose
Ride Height: High
Ride Feel: Firm

The rattle is worse in -
Drive Mode: All Purpose
Ride Height: Standard
Ride Feel: Soft

Let us know what Rivian says about your inquiries. The more data, the better for us.

 

[Jonger1150]

Just got back from another service appointment, they drove the car for a ride along and heard the rattling. We got back to the SC, they all conferred for about 10 mins behind a closed door, then came out and said everything is normal.

I'm going to sleep on it, but honestly I think I need to leave Rivian in my rear view mirror. This just isn't acceptable. Probably going to be hanging out in the "Rivian vs Competitors" corner from now on.

There is just no fixing the half-shaft clunk. Also, you're probably getting resistance on the damper replacements.

I'll probably end of trading in this Rivian when the lease is up because of those two issues. I'll be extremely well informed on the state of 2027 Rivian suspension issues before signing another lease.

If a TSB fix for the half-shafts appears before June of 2027, I'll possibly purchase this truck. That's truly the only thing I hate about it.

Thankfully the noise is way dialed back in the colder months. 6 months before warmth returns to Michigan.

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