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Leaking dampers?

Drlangley

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Hey friends,

So... I parked my 2023 R1T at the airport for 4 days. Upon returning to my car, I noticed the truck suspension was in the lowest possible setting - it looked like the frame was almost sitting on the wheels. Before adding my running boards, I used to put the truck in "kneel mode" to make it easier for my wife to get in and out of the truck. However, I haven't used that setting in quite a while, and I have it set for standard mode ride height. My question is, is this normal for the truck to sort of "sink" down after sitting for a period of time? Or, is this a potential problem with my dampers? Thanks!
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Ecupip

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It’s sounds like you have a small air leak in suspension. I’d open a ticket to have them look at it before it gets worse and the compressor can’t keep up or fails.
 

VSG

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Sounds like a leak. That's happened to others. You can still drive it if it can still refill to normal height when you drive.
 

Jonjon09

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Just had both my front dampers replaced under warranty for the exact same issue. Took them about a week from drop-off date but it was only due to backlog, they only worked on it for 2 days based on communications. They'll probably replace your jounce lines as well if they haven't done so already.
 

TTedP

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"leaky dampeners" seems to be a common replacement. Is it common for air suspension vehicles or just Rivian? (or is it really not a big deal and they replace them for customer satisfaction?)
 

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My fronts were recently replaced. Took about a week too. Houston service center was great to work with.
Back in the day we used a spray bottle with soap/ water mixture to help find air leaks. If you think you have a leak get it in for service. We had customers who kept driving on leaking suspensions and burned out their air compressors too.
 

DD4ST

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Classic leak symptom. I once had a GMC Envoy with air suspension and it did the same thing. Raised back up when I turned it on and the pump engaged. You didn’t say, but I assume after you got in to drive all corrected itself. Had to replace the air springs on my Envoy which are basically large rubber bellows.
 

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"leaky dampeners" seems to be a common replacement. Is it common for air suspension vehicles or just Rivian? (or is it really not a big deal and they replace them for customer satisfaction?)
It's common for all the air suspension set-ups I'm familiar with. The ability to change ride height on the fly comes with a bunch of wear items the will require regular maintenance. Bottom line is that if you want to play, you've got to pay.
 

InTheMatrix

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Hey friends,

So... I parked my 2023 R1T at the airport for 4 days. Upon returning to my car, I noticed the truck suspension was in the lowest possible setting - it looked like the frame was almost sitting on the wheels. Before adding my running boards, I used to put the truck in "kneel mode" to make it easier for my wife to get in and out of the truck. However, I haven't used that setting in quite a while, and I have it set for standard mode ride height. My question is, is this normal for the truck to sort of "sink" down after sitting for a period of time? Or, is this a potential problem with my dampers? Thanks!
 

Jonjon09

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It's common for all the air suspension set-ups I'm familiar with. The ability to change ride height on the fly comes with a bunch of wear items the will require regular maintenance. Bottom line is that if you want to play, you've got to pay.
Anyone know what the cost it to get this fixed outside of warranty? I never got an answer from the service manager prior to them closing the chat when they fixed mine.
 

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InTheMatrix

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I just had mine replaced a couple weeks ago. Front end was low every morning when I would wake up. Opened a service ticket got it in and it was the passenger side dampener that was leaking. They replaced both of them. Took about 3-4 days. Just right before I almost hit the 60k and went over my warranty thank god.

Had them check the rear and they said those are fine. Hoping those don’t go out right after the warranty expires otherwise I’d be pissed.
 

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Damper leak would suggest hydraulic leak. Wouldn’t sagging suspension point to leak in bag of air springs? Or does Rivian call it damper replacement because spring and damper is one complete assembly?
 
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They replaced my front driver side that was leaking and the pump controller. I was out for about a week. It seems to be working well.

My Model S hasnt had issues with the air suspension but to be fair they had a few years to work out the details. It is a 2017

"leaky dampeners" seems to be a common replacement. Is it common for air suspension vehicles or just Rivian? (or is it really not a big deal and they replace them for customer satisfaction?)
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