R1T CV Axle Boot Issues (Q&A)

[SoCal Rob]

Hello all,

Got 1,700 miles on my two week old R1T and noticed a slight wobble in high speed driving (80+mph) and thought my alignment seemed to pull to the left.

Had my alignment checked and was told/shown the my rear passenger CV joint had a boot leak (grease everywhere). To what degree they didn't say, because this was an incidental finding since they were looking at the front suspension and steering.

None the less called Rivian (4 times now) and scheduled service, but wanted an answer as to if it was safe to drive with this issue, and whether or not driving the truck would make the situation worse causing greater damage?

Asked Rivian service now 4 times (every day) as my car sits in my garage if I can drive it.

Pictures below of a good CV axle and the bad one

Unless I’m mistaken, the CV boot clamp is missing entirely from the wide end of the bad one. That would certainly explain why the grease is leaking out!
Clamp

No clamp visible

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[NY_Rob]

Not surprising they elected to replace the halfshaft/inboard/outboard CV joint... would you really like to run a precision assembly like a modern CV joint with the grease flung out and exposed to the elements?

 

[dduffey]

What's your approximate VIN# ? Wondering if this is affecting all or just some trucks? If it was widespread it would have probably been seen in the employee trucks that were delivered earlier in the year and hopefully be a known issue.

VIN ~6500

 

[NY_Rob]

Here's a great video explaining CV joints...

 

[crashmtb]

Unless I’m mistaken, the CV boot clamp is missing entirely from the wide end of the bad one. That would certainly explain why the grease is leaking out!
Clamp

No clamp visible

Right where your red arrow is pointing is a lighter area compared to the boot. That’s likely the clamp. looks like It’s there, just covered in crud.

of note, the first one shows a witness mark on the clamp. So they definitely are checked at assembly.

 

[electruck]

Right where your red arrow is pointing is a lighter area compared to the boot. That’s likely the clamp. looks like It’s there, just covered in crud.

That's either the clamp... or where the clamp used to be. Easy enough to determine should the OP want to crawl under and see.

 

[SASSquatch]

Am I seeing things or does this not seem like it should be the way it is, either?

 

[godfodder0901]

Am I seeing things or does this not seem like it should be the way it is, either?

Looks to be that way on the other side as well.

 

[SASSquatch]

Looks to be that way on the other side as well.

Ok. I don't know what I'm looking at, but for some reason it makes me nervous, like it's missing a fastener. If it is like that on the other side, it must be by design.

 

[electruck]

Am I seeing things or does this not seem like it should be the way it is, either?

Looks to be normal. Here's a pic from the tear down thread showing the same thing:

 

[SASSquatch]

I guess that component must not have a lot of tolerance for movement in a lateral direction to pop off of that bolt or rod.

I should probably read up on the anatomy of suspension components before I look at more upskirt pics of the R1T....

 

[electruck]

I guess that component must not have a lot of tolerance for movement in a lateral direction to pop off of that bolt or rod.

I should probably read up on the anatomy of suspension components before I look at more upskirt pics of the R1T....

I suspect that is the tail end of the ball joint pressed into the other side of the knuckle.

 

[godfodder0901]

Ok. I don't know what I'm looking at, but for some reason it makes me nervous, like it's missing a fastener. If it is like that on the other side, it must be by design.

Whoah there! Let's not jump to conclusions! To be fair, I don't know much about these components either, but it is reassuring to see it in multiple examples.

 

[SASSquatch]

I suspect that is the tail end of the ball joint pressed into the other side of the knuckle.

Ahhhhhh. That makes sense now. Thank you.

 

[ja_kub_sz]

Unless I’m mistaken, the CV boot clamp is missing entirely from the wide end of the bad one. That would certainly explain why the grease is leaking out!
Clamp

No clamp visible

You are wise beyond your years! Thanks!

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