Sponsored

Suspension heigh difference between the wheels - what is considered normal?

shap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Threads
16
Messages
870
Reaction score
765
Location
Austin,TX
Vehicles
BMW 45e, R1T
Clubs
 
Hello,

I reviewed a few threads on this, but still have a question about what difference between wheels height is considered normal.

Here is what I measured on a flat garage surface in standard mode after a short ride (and it does not change after being in the garage for a night, so no leaks):

Front LEFT: 88.7cm Front RIGHT: 89cm
Rear LEFT: 91.6cm Rear RIGHT: 90.2cm

Is it normal? I measured my X5 and it is within a few mm on all 4 wheels. Should I ask Rivian SC to re-calibrate?

R1T 23 QM, VIN 22xxx, 20" wheels (converted from 21")

Rivian R1T R1S Suspension heigh difference between the wheels - what is considered normal? 1734643341645-9l
Rivian R1T R1S Suspension heigh difference between the wheels - what is considered normal? 1734643362579-vt

Rivian R1T R1S Suspension heigh difference between the wheels - what is considered normal? 1734643316812-ce
Rivian R1T R1S Suspension heigh difference between the wheels - what is considered normal? 1734643285753-vm
Sponsored

 
Last edited:

Donald Stanfield

Well-Known Member
First Name
Donald
Joined
Jul 31, 2022
Threads
59
Messages
8,311
Reaction score
16,661
Location
USA
Vehicles
2025 R1S Tri Ascend, 2024 i4 M50
Occupation
Stuff and things
I think the rears sitting higher than the front is normal and by design. Both my '22 T and my '25 S have that.
 

SPITmadFIRE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Threads
10
Messages
842
Reaction score
1,388
Location
CA
Vehicles
2024 R1S PDM Max Pack 20" AT
You're describing "rake". You do not want your vehicle to be 100% level front to rear. You would have significantly less control under braking and cornering if so. This would become an uncontrollable problem once the vehicle is loaded to GVWR as the rear would lose even more ride height.

A small difference between left and right is completely normal as the vehicle is not loaded perfectly evenly side to side. You'd also have to take into account tire pressure, tire wear, etc. If you measured any other vehicle on the road you may find that that vast majority of vehicles have small differences in ride height wheel to wheel like this.
 
OP
OP
shap

shap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Threads
16
Messages
870
Reaction score
765
Location
Austin,TX
Vehicles
BMW 45e, R1T
Clubs
 
I think the rears sitting higher than the front is normal and by design. Both my '22 T and my '25 S have that.
Thank you. I thought the same, the main question is really why the left rear is different from the right rear by slightly more than 1 cm.
 
OP
OP
shap

shap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Threads
16
Messages
870
Reaction score
765
Location
Austin,TX
Vehicles
BMW 45e, R1T
Clubs
 
You're describing "rake". You do not want your vehicle to be 100% level front to rear. You would have significantly less control under braking and cornering if so. This would become an uncontrollable problem once the vehicle is loaded to GVWR as the rear would lose even more ride height.

A small difference between left and right is completely normal as the vehicle is not loaded perfectly evenly side to side. You'd also have to take into account tire pressure, tire wear, etc. If you measured any other vehicle on the road you may find that that vast majority of vehicles have small differences in ride height wheel to wheel like this.
Thank you - the truck is empty, so there is no load, and the tires are pretty new, with the same PSI. Was curious what others see and what is considered in spec (1"? 2"? less than 1"?)
 

Sponsored

MountainPassPerformance

Well-Known Member
Site Sponsor
First Name
Sasha Anis
Joined
Jan 19, 2024
Threads
11
Messages
142
Reaction score
366
Location
Toronto, Canada
Vehicles
Rivian R1T, Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3
Occupation
Owners of Mountain Pass Performance
Hey shap!

The R1T does sit lower in the front by default.

As for the discrepancy from side to side, that's just par for the course. It has to do with the fact that the Rivian's air suspension is constantly changing, so it will aim for an acceptable "height window" at each suspension setting so it doesn't constantly adjust when you come to a stop, accelerate, turn, etc.

Our truck is often high/low on one side versus the other, but also sometimes level. It really does seem to drift around by 1/4"-3/8" or so.

We learned a lot about how the R1's suspension system behaves (after scratching our heads for a bit) during the development of our Rivian height adjustment kit - which, if you were interested in getting the truck more leveled out, can be used to level out the truck to your standards without affecting things like camp mode.
 
OP
OP
shap

shap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Threads
16
Messages
870
Reaction score
765
Location
Austin,TX
Vehicles
BMW 45e, R1T
Clubs
 
Hey shap!

The R1T does sit lower in the front by default.

As for the discrepancy from side to side, that's just par for the course. It has to do with the fact that the Rivian's air suspension is constantly changing, so it will aim for an acceptable "height window" at each suspension setting so it doesn't constantly adjust when you come to a stop, accelerate, turn, etc.

Our truck is often high/low on one side versus the other, but also sometimes level. It really does seem to drift around by 1/4"-3/8" or so.

We learned a lot about how the R1's suspension system behaves (after scratching our heads for a bit) during the development of our Rivian height adjustment kit - which, if you were interested in getting the truck more leveled out, can be used to level out the truck to your standards without affecting things like camp mode.
Thank you - my understanding is that Camp mode uses different sensors to level the truck.
As for modifications - I just do not want to deal with this too much, installed running boards and maybe will change the horn, but that is it for now. But I looked at your website - will need to think about it.

As I mentioned, it is just not clear from the Rivian specs what is considered normal, and what will require sensor recalibration. I do not feel any problem (drives straight, steering wheel not 100% centered (a bit to the left), but seems most of us have this).
 

MountainPassPerformance

Well-Known Member
Site Sponsor
First Name
Sasha Anis
Joined
Jan 19, 2024
Threads
11
Messages
142
Reaction score
366
Location
Toronto, Canada
Vehicles
Rivian R1T, Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3
Occupation
Owners of Mountain Pass Performance
Thank you - my understanding is that Camp mode uses different sensors to level the truck.
As for modifications - I just do not want to deal with this too much, installed running boards and maybe will change the horn, but that is it for now. But I looked at your website - will need to think about it.

As I mentioned, it is just not clear from the Rivian specs what is considered normal, and what will require sensor recalibration.
We totally understand that - it can be quite the rabbit hole ?

As long as your alignment isn't being drastically affected by the height discrepancies, and as long as your height differences stay within that range, you should be okay.

If the gap between sides keeps increasing over time, it may be worth a service checkup, but you'll likely find a slight variation between heights at any ride height setting at all times.
 
OP
OP
shap

shap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Threads
16
Messages
870
Reaction score
765
Location
Austin,TX
Vehicles
BMW 45e, R1T
Clubs
 
So just to update the team - after the SC visit, I am now even more confused - the front shocks were leaking and were replaced.... (The rear height difference is fixed, but now I have a front difference of 1.5cm - between the left and right wheel). How the replacement of front shocks fixed rear height is beyond my understanding. But now it is a front difference :)

Rivian R1T R1S Suspension heigh difference between the wheels - what is considered normal? 1744054554579-eg
Sponsored

 
 








Top