First Tow to the Ramp...... R1T towing 20' Grady White Boat

[NY_Rob]

First time towing our 20' Grady with the R1T yesterday..... it towed like a dream!

Smooth launching and braking, hardly noticed the 3,500lb boat/trailer behind us. As a matter of fact, used regen most of the 5mi trip down to the ramp, hardly touched the brakes.... it was that good. Absolutely no drama at all.

Had to buckle the seatbeld behind me to stop the R1T from shifting from Reverse to Park when lifting my butt of the seat in order to see the stern of the boat when backing down the ramp. Once they enable the live cam stream from the top of the cab roof looking backward over the bed- it will make for an excellent tow vehicle.

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[Thedude]

The R1T is an excellent tow vehicle within its relatively short range capabilities. Honestly like towing with it better than my old 2500 diesel as long as I don’t have to stop and charge along the way.

I’ve never understood the problems people have with lifting their butt off the seat though. I back up boats and trailers with my R1T weekly and have not once had to do that. The mirrors aren’t great for towing but they still show everything needed to back something up.

 

[Goose]

The R1T is an excellent tow vehicle within its relatively short range capabilities. Honestly like towing with it better than my old 2500 diesel as long as I don’t have to stop and charge along the way.

I’ve never understood the problems people have with lifting their butt off the seat though. I back up boats and trailers with my R1T weekly and have not once had to do that. The mirrors aren’t great for towing but they still show everything needed to back something up.

I also only use the mirrors when backing a trailer, my dad almost exclusively puts his right arm on the passenger seat and turns around. It all depends on who you are.

 

[Hillbilly]

Nice boat!

I wish we had more control when backing up to hitch. Much easier on a truck to let the motor slowly back you up in gear while modulating the brake pedal for fine movement.

Much more difficult to use the accelerator pedal in the R1T. You can kind of do it if you put it in neutral and feather the brake pedal, but you have to be rolling downhill for that to work and need to actively keep switching the camera view to a rear view. A pain.

Would also love some kind of integrated camera system that can mount to a trailer to let us see down the sides. The R1T is just too narrow to see what's going on around it when hitched up.

The engineers at Rivian could do with spending some time towing with some heavy duty trucks to get an idea of what all makes them so great for the whole towing experience.

 

[fudgedragon44]

PSA...double check your trailer jackstand! I towed our 22' boat with our R1T for the first time this weekend. Agreed the ride is super smooth. But I generally drop the tail gate down to see better when launching. I left it down when parking and the jack stand put a dent in the top of my tailgate when I made a tight turn. Not huge but the first imperfection in our truck in 5 months. I shed a little tear. This wasn't an issue in our old Tundra but maybe the opened R1T tailgate sticks out further due to the gooseneck hinges? If there's doubt, just slide your jackstand back on the trailer a few inches.

 

[Goose]

PSA...double check your trailer jackstand! I towed our 22' boat with our R1T for the first time this weekend. Agreed the ride is super smooth. But I generally drop the tail gate down to see better when launching. I left it down when parking and the jack stand put a dent in the top of my tailgate when I made a tight turn. Not huge but the first imperfection in our truck in 5 months. I shed a little tear. This wasn't an issue in our old Tundra but maybe the opened R1T tailgate sticks out further due to the gooseneck hinges? If there's doubt, just slide your jackstand back on the trailer a few inches.

Why not use the rear camera?

 

[Tucker74]

PSA...double check your trailer jackstand! I towed our 22' boat with our R1T for the first time this weekend. Agreed the ride is super smooth. But I generally drop the tail gate down to see better when launching. I left it down when parking and the jack stand put a dent in the top of my tailgate when I made a tight turn. Not huge but the first imperfection in our truck in 5 months. I shed a little tear. This wasn't an issue in our old Tundra but maybe the opened R1T tailgate sticks out further due to the gooseneck hinges? If there's doubt, just slide your jackstand back on the trailer a few inches.

I think it’s the receiver being tucked up so far back, most are at the bumper beyond the rear of the truck. I noticed this when towing my Airstream, have always been able to drop the tailgate and not hit the jack in the past (which is way better if you have to load anything when hitched).

 

[fudgedragon44]

Yeah the recessed receiver could be part of the equation too. Either way, if the distance is shortened on the R1T vs most other trucks, perhaps Rivian could add a note of caution in the owners manual on this point (if it’s not there already). My dent was small but guessing the repair cost wouldn’t be.

 

[Hillbilly]

I think it’s the receiver being tucked up so far back, most are at the bumper beyond the rear of the truck. I noticed this when towing my Airstream, have always been able to drop the tailgate and not hit the jack in the past (which is way better if you have to load anything when hitched).

Same experience with my duramax and airstream. Very convenient. Especially when stopping for fuel and getting into the back (camper top on) to grab drinks or snacks out of the cooler.

The R1t isn't alone though, my brother in law just got an f350 and was pissed to see that he couldn't open the tailgate when hitched to his airstream. The tailgate is just too tall.

 

[NY_Rob]

The R1T is an excellent tow vehicle within its relatively short range capabilities. Honestly like towing with it better than my old 2500 diesel as long as I don’t have to stop and charge along the way.

I’ve never understood the problems people have with lifting their butt off the seat though. I back up boats and trailers with my R1T weekly and have not once had to do that. The mirrors aren’t great for towing but they still show everything needed to back something up.

It depends on the slope, width of the ramp and the room in front of the actual ramp you're backing down.
Here we have almost a 7' tidal drop so the ramps are pretty steep and you're generally still in a turn when backing the boat down (due to not that much distance between the street and the top of the ramp slope beginning) so you generally can't see the stern of the boat until the truck is actually on the sloped ramp portion vs. the boat on the slope and the truck still being on the level parking lot.

We have one ramp in our area where you have plenty of space in front of the very long ramp to line up and back down straight so no butt-lifting for visibility needed, but that ramp is farther from us, so we use the closest ramp which has a shorter, steeper ramp and shorter lead up to the ramp which requires being in a turn at you are backing down and you happen to lose site of the stern for a certain critical period of time.

Once they enable live streaming the cab top rear facing cam... that should 100% cover that situation.

 

[NY_Rob]

Nice boat!

I wish we had more control when backing up to hitch. Much easier on a truck to let the motor slowly back you up in gear while modulating the brake pedal for fine movement.

Much more difficult to use the accelerator pedal in the R1T. You can kind of do it if you put it in neutral and feather the brake pedal, but you have to be rolling downhill for that to work and need to actively keep switching the camera view to a rear view. A pain.

Would also love some kind of integrated camera system that can mount to a trailer to let us see down the sides. The R1T is just too narrow to see what's going on around it when hitched up.

The engineers at Rivian could do with spending some time towing with some heavy duty trucks to get an idea of what all makes them so great for the whole towing experience.

Agreed, there is room for improvement....

I use a driveway marker pole (from Home Depot) that I stick an inch or two in front of the trailer coupler. When backing up... as soon as I see the stick move through the cab rear window I stop because I know I'm at the beginning of the coupler. I then jump out, pull the stick and back up another 2-3" and I'm right under the coupler. It's not as nice as a true downward facing cam like we have in our Honda Pilot, but it's what we have.

I'm considering 3D printing some sort of mirror holder at a 45deg angle that can suction cup on to the tailgate and hang over the camera that will bend the camera view to almost straight down so you get a true down-view of the trailer ball.

 

[HaveBlue]

I wonder if the backup cam in the R1S can see the receiver?

 

[Alchemy8279]

I towed my 25' tri-toon to the marina last week, and it was an effortless experience with the R1T. Barely used the brakes, and we have some serious hills from the storage area to the lake. The camera view could definitely be better. It needs some calibrated distance lines that we can toggle on or off.

 

[pc500]

You're kidding me, the camera can't see the hitch ball?

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