Announcing our new "CLUBS" section where you can join or create a Rivian club or group! You can use this new feature to conveniently plan and discuss local events, gatherings or other club/group related topics.
So we encourage you to join (or start) special-interest and regional-based Rivian clubs at: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/group-categories/clubs-groups.1/
This looks suspiciously like salt water flood damage, or damage after driving in salt water and not cleaning thoroughly afterwards. I lived in south Texas quite often and I did drive on the beach regularly. I could be way off, but that is what my vehicles looked like if I didn't spend a lot of time cleaning the bottom of the truck.Feb 25 delivery at houston service center.
I didn't mean to imply you're driving through salt water. I only meant to say that is what it looks like. It's it possible that while at the Houston sc, there was a small flood that forced salt water up into that area of your rivian? I can't imagine why your truck should be so rusty. Here in Colorado they now use a salt like chemical that leaves a hard crusty surface on everything. Once I get my running boards, I'll remove the panels. I'll cross my fingers that it doesn't look like yours underneath. Btw, not all counties in Colorado use this horrible mixture on the roads. I write often to make them stop. Back in the day, Colorado was a great place to find rusty free cars. Today, it looks like the cars have been in Michigan since new
My neighbor brings home testers all the time. Some are very early models that have been driven by him in death valley and others have gone as far as Alaska. I've had my head under one the trucks when I was looking at the differences in the welded vs cast front subframe. I've never seen rust. Next time I see another truck or R1S with the Michigan MFG plates, I'll peek my head under to see.
Update: I'm feeling a bit less concerned today. After finally dislodging the troublesome fastener, removing that bracket, and a good cleaning, the major issues seem to be confined to the cheap metal brackets and fastners. There are definitely some issues on the structure itself, but not near as bad as looked initially. Not perfect, but I was comfortable enough to go ahead with install. Will try to do a post on that soon but quick version is notwithstanding some dodgy instructions the quality of the sliders/steps seems outstanding! Two happy kids can get in much easier now.
Very nice looking–and functional!Update: I'm feeling a bit less concerned today. After finally dislodging the troublesome fastener, removing that bracket, and a good cleaning, the major issues seem to be confined to the cheap metal brackets and fastners. There are definitely some issues on the structure itself, but not near as bad as looked initially. Not perfect, but I was comfortable enough to go ahead with install. Will try to do a post on that soon but quick version is notwithstanding some dodgy instructions the quality of the sliders/steps seems outstanding! Two happy kids can get in much easier now.
