Kneel Mode stresses suspension?

[zeezz]

Yep, two schools of thought here... use it as much as possible so if it fails it will be in warranty is my current line of thought.

Had an XC90 with air suspension and had to have it serviced 4x in 3 years.... so far Rivian has been better

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[LL75]

My wife had troubles getting in even with Kneel mode. Get a running board and set it at normal height. I'm a firm believer if you are using something too much, it will eventually wears out.

 

[Steve A.]

Car is too high in standard mode for my family. I’m going to try to see if the kneel option works. But doesn’t that stress your suspension for often since you’re using it all the time?

I've had mine 6 months now and have put 16,800+ miles on it 99.9% of which has been in sport/lowest/stiffest/max regen w/ ZERO issues so far. If it would cause a problem, then one would think Rivian would at least have an official warning and/or cap on it (see max speed cap of 110 mph for details) instead of offering the feature.

 

[Steve A.]

I had been driving around in low rather than auto for months because it made entry and egress easier (this was before kneel mode). Then I red somewhere (here or reddit) that low and lowest cause a slight toe in on the front wheels and could be responsible for some of the tire wear issues people have reported. Now I drive on standard and sometimes use kneel.

People speculate on a lot of things, but proof is in the data. I didn't rotate my 22" until ~11.5k miles and have driven 99.99% in sport/lowest/stiffest/max regen mode and saw ZERO abnormal tread wear issues; inner/middle/outer tread were all in the 5.5mm-6.5mm range.

 

[defcon888]

Yep, two schools of thought here... use it as much as possible so if it fails it will be in warranty is my current line of thought.

Had an XC90 with air suspension and had to have it serviced 4x in 3 years.... so far Rivian has been better

we had the XC40 Recharge...had it for 10 months and sold it to get the R1T. It was in the shop twice within 2 months to have the tCAM replaced. Strranded me at work. The sales guy never showed us anything about setting it up, but gosh darnit, he went on and on about the stereo system and the settings on that. The FOBS never worked properly, it never remembered settings (so my wife would have to adjust the seat after I drove and vice versa). It was just a bad experience. All they did was take XC40 body and slap it on a battery.

 

[Stretch]

For the very reason of helping to get in/out, I was intending to install running boards but Rivian emphasized, when I took delivery, installing them would negate the battery warranty because the bolts to install the runners would be the same used for the battery. Wondering, did Rivian happen to mention this?

Wow, I had not heard this. I’ve got running boards on order from EV Sportline but of course they are taking months to fulfill the shipment. Wondering if I should cancel as I absolutely wouldn’t want to impact my warranty. I will reach out to my Guide and report back.

 

[godfodder0901]

Wow, I had not heard this. I’ve got running boards on order from EV Sportline but of course they are taking months to fulfill the shipment. Wondering if I should cancel as I absolutely wouldn’t want to impact my warranty. I will reach out to my Guide and report back.

It will not. If the Guide says otherwise, they are just (poorly) attempting to CYA. As alluded to many times, it would be illegal for them to deny a warranty claim solely because you installed aftermarket parts. They would have to prove that the part caused the failure.

 

[CDC_73]

19000 miles here, just fine using Kneel.

 

[shamoo]

I haven't used kneel mode yet, so I have a dumb question.

Does it simply drop to "sport mode" height? Or does it go even lower than that? My wife and I personally don't mind the height, but when my mom occasionally comes along, even sport mode is a bit high for her (she's not short, just older).

 

[pnwr1s]

This is such a weird fear. Kneel doesn't make your suspension do anything that it doesn't already do every single time you drive it. To that end, driving your Rivian will also prematurely wear your suspension—so you should just not drive it.

Enjoy the truck. Don't over think it.

 

[postcromag]

I've been using kneel mode for about 11 months and 15 days now ~12 k on the odometer. No issues.

Ditto, only add 3K miles. It's air. I figure working it every day keeps it from atrophying.

 

[Calisoulla]

been using kneel mode for about 3 months now in my r1s no issues at all

 

[Prime]

For what it’s worth my delivery specialist said he’d avoid using kneel mode since there had been some suspension issues popping up. That was back in spring. Maybe some software / hardware tweaks have made things more reliable. I avoided it mostly because of that comment, but also a few times I did use it I felt like left and right sides would not be level consistently.

Although now there’s a thread about steps and sliders apparently voiding battery warranty. So maybe back to using kneel mode.

 

[Mathme]

For the very reason of helping to get in/out, I was intending to install running boards but Rivian emphasized, when I took delivery, installing them would negate the battery warranty because the bolts to install the runners would be the same used for the battery. Wondering, did Rivian happen to mention this?

Rivian can't automatically void your warranty for adding aftermarket accessories. There's this little thing called the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act that prevents blanket statements like this from being true. The only way they can deny a warranty claim is IF THEY PROVE the accessory caused damage to the original part. Next time you hear a statement like this from Rivian, simply ask them how that's applicable under the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.

I have running boards on my R1T and they have been a great addition. The only time I use the kneel feature is when giving my 90 year old mother a ride and every little bit lower helps her out.

 

[R1Thor]

Man, the paranoia with people and reliability and warranties.

FWIW: Engineers are paid relatively well. Why? Because you don't just design something, you ENGINEER it: for reliability, practicality, manufacturability, and longevity. And that takes A LOT more than just drawing something on a piece of paper and then putting it into CAD. There are tons of studies, tests, and best-practices that can be implemented into every tiny detail and function. That's why there are TEAMS of Engineers for developing vehicles. They will have appropriate teams focusing on each system, and even some engineers specialized to particular components.

If Rivian had ANY concerns about this feature, it wouldn't have been integrated into the software, period.

You guys remind me of when I got my first car with auto start/stop, and everyone in the forums were developing little hacks and relays to defeat it for fear it would 'destroy' their starter prematurely, because 'starting motors aren't supposed to have that lifecycle usage.' As if the Engineers didn't think of that and engineer a better starter... I enjoyed saving on fuel when stopped in traffic or at red lights. And it never once skipped a beat. ..anyway, I digress...

It's a bell curve.

There will be parts that fail. There will be parts that fail prematurely.

But the vast majority of them will last as long as the device is intended to be in use.

And happily, at approximately the same rate that some will fail early, some will last seemingly forever.

LDFSS + DMAIC is widely used. We should all fall within this +/- 3 sigma bell curve distribution.

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