Too much steering wheel feedback over bad pavement

[EricM]

Well Ladies and Gents - I would love to report that an alignment made a world of difference but it hasn’t changed or improved one bit! The Caster and Toe was indeed out of spec, albeit slightly. The service center was able to get everything in spec, except for the left/front wheel - apparently the cam is maxed out and can’t move past 4 degrees.
Although I just can’t believe that at this price point, and level of engineering, Rivian would design such a horrible driving experience where every little nuance in the road translates straight up and into your steering wheel, I don’t think there is a fix! I will give them another shot but if there is no improvement in this thing (my unit specifically), this will be a very short ownership experience because I’m going to sell it! We drove it for 250 miles and I asked my adult kids and wife if this seems right (hands off the wheel to monitor impacts) needless to say they were as well quite surprised.
I’m so bummed about buying this thing!

If your vehicle cannot be aligned to spec, then you have a lemon (unrepairable issue). Ask Rivian to buy it back.

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[twvette]

Might be able to at least mimic a fix with much lower tire pressure to give the additional "weight" to the steering.

Well, I went down to 30 PSI and it helped a little but all the signs of original problem are still there. Looks like will proceed with the rack replacement.

 

[twvette]

Another update on mine ...

Did 1500 miles of driving on vacation from AZ to CO. Wife drove up as I was in the second row seats healing from a back injury. I realized about half way up she never mentioned anything about wheel vibrations etc. even though we had already hit about every type of imagineable road surface conditions and she confirmed the wheel had been rock solid. We paid a bit more close attention to this the rest of the way up and zero wheel shake. The primary difference is we were loaded to the roof in the back with 3rd row seat down. The frunk was also completely stuffed full with some fairly heavy gear too. Probably an extra 500+ lbs total plus two dogs and two adults. Was driving in Conserve mode for the long journey at standard ride height and aired up to the maximum of 65 PSI for best range on my non-stock tires. On the way back I drove and also noticed it was greatly improved but did have a slight wheel shake every now and then, but only on very specific type of road conditions again (generally somewhat pitted pavement with some minor cracks that had been sealed or similar). It came to mind that only other difference would be her driving profile vs. mine but I highly doubt something it in is different and seemed to rule this out in some brief testing as I switched to her profile briefly. I can think of many things related to suspension geometries/tire contact patch that could possibly explain this with the extra weight but its all very complicated. My best guess is its the extra weight in the frunk really helps. Would be interesting to throw a few 50lb dumbbells in the frunk and do a test run. I have not ruled out it being something with Conserve mode helps to since motor usage is different. Also, since the trip it seems the wheel shake in general happens much less so maybe something is just "breaking-in" too on the steering rack or similar. For now its not happening near as much so cancelled my service appointment.

 

[twvette]

Another update if anyone is following still LOL.

Had service appointment over a month ago and even though tech agreed it was excessive and thought could get me taking care of they just chalked it up to normal essentially and gave it back.

I was not too happy and was reminded of the service bulleting for the heavy steering wheel so booked another appointment couple weeks later. The result in this was they would not do it since diagnosis would be the same

I threw in the towel as just not a big enough problem to waste more of my time. There was a software update just after this and I have not driven on the same roads in a while where it normally bothered me but did the last week and it seems WAY better now! Still a little just like the R1T loaner had they gave me though. NOTHING has changed in settings, road conditions, pressure, etc. Maybe my steering rack or tires just settled in or got lucky and hot something just right to "fix" it . They would not check alignment so perhaps something there and now tires have finally worn in but I see no strange wear on them. Makes me wonder if there was an unannounced power steering change via software update to perhaps firm it up a little as even my utv has setting for how much steering assist the motor gives the rack.

 

[bbonkk]

I can't resist asking @bbonkk -- how does the Rivian compare to the Citroen 2CV?

The 2CV is a lot better going across a plowed field with a basket of eggs when I wear a 10 gallon hat!!!

 

[twvette]

Fairly sure found fix so created new thread:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...e-feedback-on-minor-road-imperfections.28853/

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