Too much steering wheel feedback over bad pavement

[VSG]

Seems like this is a pretty subjective thing, so hard to know whether what you're describing is expected or not.

I personally would take it in for service. They will go for a drive with you and they will tell you whether your truck is behaving normally or not. If it is "normal" then you can decide whether that's acceptable to you.

But I think this is likely a problem with your particular vehicle. There have been some minor recalls over the past year related to tightening bolts in the suspension and things like that. I assume you don't know whether the previous owner had those done so it would make sense anyway to bring it into the service center and let them verify that all these fixes have been applied. There was also a time last year where a lot of people were experiencing alignment issues. By now the service centers are well versed at fixing things like this and the factory is better at making sure problems like this are taken care of before delivery.

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[JayinNJ]

I think I know what you are talking about. I definitely experience a lot of steering feedback when going over bumps in a badly patched parking lot. You can feel the wheel twist a little. I don't have any obvious alignment issues when driving on a normal flat road. I just assumed this is normal for this vehicle. My other vehicles (Model 3) don't feel like this however.

 

[Kiafoulis]

Get it in for service. They’ll diagnose it asap if it’s out of spec.

If the steering is inconsistent, or easily disrupted by small bumps, or acts erratically esp on road crowns, it is alignment-related. There are myriad underlying causes, most easily solved by adjusting alignment.

If it’s really bad and the alignment isn’t responding to adjustments, it could be subframe, but only your SC can determine this.

I had mine in for alignment 3x, and they fixed it. Some of the earlier trucks were “tricky to align” according to the SC manager I spoke with.

I would imagine mine is an “Early Build”, as it’s 1301 on the vin. Do you believe that there was a change from earlier vins to more recent in respect to setting the alignment?

 

[Kiafoulis]

Seems like this is a pretty subjective thing, so hard to know whether what you're describing is expected or not.

I personally would take it in for service. They will go for a drive with you and they will tell you whether your truck is behaving normally or not. If it is "normal" then you can decide whether that's acceptable to you.

But I think this is likely a problem with your particular vehicle. There have been some minor recalls over the past year related to tightening bolts in the suspension and things like that. I assume you don't know whether the previous owner had those done so it would make sense anyway to bring it into the service center and let them verify that all these fixes have been applied. There was also a time last year where a lot of people were experiencing alignment issues. By now the service centers are well versed at fixing things like this and the factory is better at making sure problems like this are taken care of before delivery.

Great insight - thank you. I went to the local service center prior to purchase to do some snooping about on this particular vehicles history. All of the major recalls have indeed been completed, including the steering bolt torque. I will schedule a meeting with the service center.

 

[Zoidz]

Rivian did change from a welded to a cast front subframe. If I recall correctly, there have been some posts here that a few vehicles had subframe issues (I think cracked welds) and they were changed out. I would ask them to inspect the subframe. If this were my vehicle, I would get out my ramps and look at it myself, I like doing that stuff!

 

[goldburger]

I have had my alignment done three times by rivian. The last was perfect. Then I knocked the rear wheel and now there’s so much play in the wheel and def driving right.

 

[Kiafoulis]

This. The Rivian's steering feedback is quite good compared with most modern vehicles, but still doesn't hold a candle to my C6 Corvette with a proper hydraulic steering rack. And early reviews from folks like Jason Cammisa did praise Rivian for their on-center steering feel, for instance. To others' points, I don't experience anything like the OP mentions. Sounds like an alignment issue or not recognizing that LKA is doing stupid things, as it does.

I knew joining the forum would be helpful! I’m thankful for all of your opinions!!
BTW - I don’t have Lane Keep Assist on - never been a fan. I’m a bit too aggressive a driver to be contained by that system. Although I do see it’s benefits on the highway on long trips, but around town - no thanks.

 

[Mygrain]

Over on Rivian Stories, one owner recently stated that the Service Center was going to replace his steering wheel with an "improved" version. In his case, the steering wheel replacement was in response to the owner's complaint about steering wheel "shake" above 70 mph. How could an improved steering wheel reduce shake? Here's my conjecture: the new wheel has more mass, or more specifically, a greater moment of inertia, which would tend to dampen the sort of sharp feedback that the OP finds objectionable. Replacing the steering wheel may not fix your issues, but it's a pretty simple job compared to replacing the subframe.

 

[Christopher]

I have this in my R1T and the loaners I've driven. My R1S which is 1 year newer isn't as bad. It's definitely bump steer.

 

[bbonkk]

Mine is bad too. Had alignment done which fixed the off center steering wheel and the pulling but going over a bad road the steering wheel almost gets pulled out of my hands. I tried a little lower pressure in the tires. I set the pressure at 46 lbs and it helped slightly. I wonder if it’s the 20 inch AT tires?

 

[Kiafoulis]

Mine is bad too. Had alignment done which fixed the off center steering wheel and the pulling but going over a bad road the steering wheel almost gets pulled out of my hands. I tried a little lower pressure in the tires. I set the pressure at 46 lbs and it helped slightly. I wonder if it’s the 20 inch AT tires?

Dam - that’s bad, and you had an alignment done by Rivian. I will make certain they provide me the before and after settings when I take mine in.
I know something seems a miss here as the other 3 cars I own do not exhibit this at all. Granted that’s not of statistical relevance, as they are not a duplicate of this truck, nonetheless I really hope it can be corrected.

 

[gt28]

Hello Folks,
New to this group, thank you for the addition.
I have a new to me 22 R1T w/20’s. It unfortunately has an unnerving amount of steering wheel feedback over bad pavement, even while driving on a fairly new paved smooth road there is still slight steering wheel feedback. I wouldn’t equate it to ‘bump steer’, it does exhibit some of those characteristics. I can’t imagine that the ride and handling engineers would approve this and call it acceptable for release to production. Having spent months researching this vehicle (expert reviews both white papers and videos) and then finding what I thought was the perfect used one with only 1400 miles - fast forward, I‘m having a bit of buyers remorse. Of course the vehicle is an amazing feat for a start-up, and this isn’t the end of the world, but it certainly does overshadow the great things the vehicle can do and achieve…

I’ve cycled through the suspension full upright position to make certain all of the suspension/steering components are ok (that are actually visible without any teardown), of course everything seems OK. This could simply be a case of an out of specification alignment, I’m curious as to what you members have found with your trucks and whether you found root cause or correction?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Have seen this quite a bit. 2022 R1T. 22s. 23K Miles. My alignment is off, my own fault. Chose a mobile tire rotation over going back to the horrible location in brooklyn. Have noticed this issue get worse as the alignment gets a bit worse. In conserve, its almost a bit extreme.

 

[MidnightRivian]

I noticed this on my R1S with a June 2023 (20" AT) build on roads that have been patched. Not even potholes or anything like that. Just little rough roads and you get the steering wheel feedback you describe. Some of it could be bump steer and some if it could be related to alignment. I will have to check my tire pressure to make sure it matches what is listed on the door.

I have tried All Purpose soft and stiff but neither made too much of a difference.

I plan to take it in for alignment but not sure how much that would help.

 

[Kiafoulis]

I noticed this on my R1S with a June 2023 (20" AT) build on roads that have been patched. Not even potholes or anything like that. Just little rough roads and you get the steering wheel feedback you describe. Some of it could be bump steer and some if it could be related to alignment. I will have to check my tire pressure to make sure it matches what is listed on the door.

I have tried All Purpose soft and stiff but neither made too much of a difference.

I plan to take it in for alignment but not sure how much that would help.

If I recall correctly from my engineering days if you can get to the most positive spec range of caster you will lessen the impact harshness to the tire/wheel assembly and as such it should feel better from the drivers seat.

 

[MidnightRivian]

If I recall correctly from my engineering days if you can get to the most positive spec range of caster you will lessen the impact harshness to the tire/wheel assembly and as such it should feel better from the drivers seat.

Thanks!

I will ask for the alignment before and after printouts. At low speeds you barely get any feedback. It tends to be more pronounced at high speeds and stiff mode. I am still playing around with all the different suspension settings.

For now with the 20" AT, I like to use All purpose stiff or Sport stiff. I am coming from 20+ years of driving sports sedans.

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