DayTripping
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There are lots of threads here on wind noise as I can't stand the wind noise. It ruins an otherwise amazing truck. At times, it has bothered me so much I've thought about dumping the truck. Even to the point of buying a Cyberdumpster. I do mean that seriously. I even drove one again to see if its wind noise is as bad as most of the Rivians Iāve driven.
TL;DR I never found a magic bullet. I adopted the "Atomic Habits" approach; many little incremental improvements add up. All Rivians I drove had wind noise issues. The Cyberdumpster is better with wind noise. Still work to be done.
Some things to note. Rivian limits the trucks during demo drives to 80 mph in my area. That may seem like a reasonable speed for a test drive. My issue is that the wind noise doesnāt manifest itself until an airspeed of at least 75 mph. So, if you have a slight tail wind, even if youāre doing 80, you wonāt get the wind noise. Factor in the hours the Rivian store is open, and you typically have a clogged highway, so it might be hard to get over even 60 mph.
Where I live, the speed limits are relatively high, and traffic can be running 80 mph or more. So, depending on my trip, I can spend a lot of time at these higher speeds where the wind noise is really bad. Add in a crosswind and itās even worse.
I combed through all the wind noise posts, looking for what might be a magic bullet. Thereās a lot of talk about the little triangle window being an issue, other fit issues, window calibration, etc. I doubt anyone has read more pages of wind noise mitigation than me on this forum. Not to mention all the other Internet sources I read.
Since obviously a lot of trucks have issues, I took my truck to Rivian to have them look at it, of course, they did nothing. They will not drive it on the highway fast enough or long enough to reproduce the sound. It is possible but unlikely. Theyād have to find a gap in the traffic to even do it. Basically, I got the truck back in the same way as I did before, too noisy to tolerate at higher speeds.
The noise was so bad that whenever I started to hear the noise, I would subconsciously slow down. So that meant some days Iāll be driving 80 mph on the highway when I have a tailwind, other days 65 mph when I have a headwind. The wind noise impacted my speed more than traffic did.
I had a chance to drive some other Rivian, and I found out that every one I drove did it, even Gen 2 trucks. They all could be pretty quiet at lower speeds and some worse than others, but I could hear it in all of them. For me, it is one of those things that once I hear it, I canāt un-hear it if you know what I mean. Maybe youāre lucky to have one that doesnāt have a lot of noise, or maybe it doesnāt bother you.
I tried some of the fixes I read about. Actually, I tried a lot of the fixes individually, and none of them were a magic bullet. So I decided to start from scratch. I went through and inspected all the seams along the windows, the sunroof, the windshield, etc. What I learned is Rivianās quality control in these areas is pretty crappy. Worse than any of my Teslas TBH. When I went to address the issues, I found it was was even worse than what I initially thought.
To cover the wide variance in gaps, I bought every EPDM foam tube size from 2 mm to 10 mm and started working every gap along the windshield, sunroof, windows, etc. Thatās when I realized that they couldnāt even get the gap even on a lot of the places.
There might be a section along the windshield where I needed a 6 mm piece of foam to fill it at the bottom but would taper so much at the top a 2 mm one wouldnāt even fit. I had sections along the sunroof that it was so tight on one side I couldnāt even fit a knife blade, while on the other side, I had about a 6 mm gap. If the gap isnāt consistent, I would have to step the size as a foam because it was too tight that I couldnāt squeeze in a bigger piece. So every gap, because of the step in tubing size, would create an area of turbulent air on top of it.
I even went to the trouble of shimming the window and door seals on the driverās door. Then I added additional sealing around that, then added another seal outside of the seal that I put in.
I basically took the approach of Atomic Habits. A great book if you havenāt read it. Taking the approach that a lot of small gains might add up to something substantial, even though one on its own might not really matter that much, but cumulatively it would make a difference.
I spent over five hours yesterday going through my truck and trying to seal every gap that I possibly could. I had EPDM round foam tubing, I had a little rubber T seal, rounded weather stripping, L-shaped seals, and more, and a variety of sizes. I bought over $200 worth of materials from Amazon to attack this once and for all.
A quick sidebar on the Cyberdumpster that I drove. I drove it up to about 85 mph, it had wind noise too. But it was markedly less than what Rivian had. It was less intense and at a more tolerable frequency. It did start a bit earlier, about 60 airspeed, but a lot less intrusive, even if it was noticeable.
I let everything set overnight to make sure it would bond. I took great care to clean all the surfaces and wipe with alcohol. This morning I had the opportunity to go out and try it out on the highway. It was hard to wait to see if it had made a difference. Would the wind noise still be there?
Simple answer is ā yep, the noise is still there. Can Rivian kick rocks? Yes! Were the five hours I spent and $200 worth of material worth the effort? I would have to say itās a qualified yes. It didnāt reduce the noise a lot at 75 mph airspeed, but it is noticeable. There was an unexpected result. I did reduce it at 75 mph. Instead of the wind noise really ramping up as I went faster, it seemed more like the wind noise had sort of plateaued and didnāt get any louder (or marginally so) than what it was at 75 mph. If I drove 75, 80, 85, or 90, the wind noise was still pretty much the same as it was at 75. The frequency of the sound was a bit lower, which also made it easier to tolerate. On the flip side, the road noise is more obvious now. I donāt really want to load my truck up with Dynamat if I donāt have to.
It remains to be seen whether I can live with it long-term. Iām going to have to drive it some more and see. I have a few other things to try. I havenāt done any wind tuft testing to check the airflow. I can also change out some of the molding with a different style to see if that helps. There is another door seal I ordered that hasnāt arrived yet that I wanted to try.
I believe almost all of my noise issues are due to the sloppy way the glass and trim were put in. My truck is a 3/2023 build and they clearly didnāt have they sht together yet. I am not sure they really do yet either based on the G2 trucks I drove. To make most of this right, my windshield and pano roof would need to be reset. I didnāt have some of the other trim issues people have but these are two big ones. Most of the noise seems to be coming from the top of the windshield and the A pillars. You can hear the buffeting outside the truck. It isnāt from any sort of air gaps that I can hear, or the driver's door window not sealing.
If my truck was at this noise level to begin with, I probably wouldnāt have started chasing it. Now I am sensitized to it after 6k miles and I have to do all I can within reason to eliminate it. I am sure there will be a bunch of people who come along and say their truck has no issue. Well, good for them. Based on the amount of content on the Internet about this, I am clearly not the only one. Even on this forum, search for wind noise in the thread title and there are multiple pages of people with issues.
My Model S Plaid has less wind noise at 200 mph than my R1T does at 75 mph, literally. For those of you that have this issue, Iād say there is hope. Just be patient, and look for all the gaps and start filling them. For anyone considering buying a Rivian, drive it at higher speeds into a headwind and a crosswind. Iād say mine is now amongst the better ones Iāve driven but that is damning it with faint praise. The improvement Iāve realized is significant, but there was a long way to go. Iāve talked to many other forum members who just gave up. For such an aerodynamic truck, this shouldnāt be such an issue. The noise is typically indicative of turbulence or boundary layer issues. This hurts the efficiency of the truck. The changes Iāve made could improve efficiency at higher speeds. Likely to be no difference at 50 mph, but around 70 and up, it might be measurable.
If youāve stuck around this far, and have successfully treated your noise issue, Iād love to hear what you did in case I missed anything. I am going to chase the seal under the hood as well, and a few other areas. Iāll be doing yarn tuft testing when I can get someone to video the truck as I drive. I might need to put in vortex generators to help.
Here is a great vid to help you visualize the airflow of the truck. I referred to it many times as I was creating my plan of attack.
TL;DR I never found a magic bullet. I adopted the "Atomic Habits" approach; many little incremental improvements add up. All Rivians I drove had wind noise issues. The Cyberdumpster is better with wind noise. Still work to be done.
Some things to note. Rivian limits the trucks during demo drives to 80 mph in my area. That may seem like a reasonable speed for a test drive. My issue is that the wind noise doesnāt manifest itself until an airspeed of at least 75 mph. So, if you have a slight tail wind, even if youāre doing 80, you wonāt get the wind noise. Factor in the hours the Rivian store is open, and you typically have a clogged highway, so it might be hard to get over even 60 mph.
Where I live, the speed limits are relatively high, and traffic can be running 80 mph or more. So, depending on my trip, I can spend a lot of time at these higher speeds where the wind noise is really bad. Add in a crosswind and itās even worse.
I combed through all the wind noise posts, looking for what might be a magic bullet. Thereās a lot of talk about the little triangle window being an issue, other fit issues, window calibration, etc. I doubt anyone has read more pages of wind noise mitigation than me on this forum. Not to mention all the other Internet sources I read.
Since obviously a lot of trucks have issues, I took my truck to Rivian to have them look at it, of course, they did nothing. They will not drive it on the highway fast enough or long enough to reproduce the sound. It is possible but unlikely. Theyād have to find a gap in the traffic to even do it. Basically, I got the truck back in the same way as I did before, too noisy to tolerate at higher speeds.
The noise was so bad that whenever I started to hear the noise, I would subconsciously slow down. So that meant some days Iāll be driving 80 mph on the highway when I have a tailwind, other days 65 mph when I have a headwind. The wind noise impacted my speed more than traffic did.
I had a chance to drive some other Rivian, and I found out that every one I drove did it, even Gen 2 trucks. They all could be pretty quiet at lower speeds and some worse than others, but I could hear it in all of them. For me, it is one of those things that once I hear it, I canāt un-hear it if you know what I mean. Maybe youāre lucky to have one that doesnāt have a lot of noise, or maybe it doesnāt bother you.
I tried some of the fixes I read about. Actually, I tried a lot of the fixes individually, and none of them were a magic bullet. So I decided to start from scratch. I went through and inspected all the seams along the windows, the sunroof, the windshield, etc. What I learned is Rivianās quality control in these areas is pretty crappy. Worse than any of my Teslas TBH. When I went to address the issues, I found it was was even worse than what I initially thought.
To cover the wide variance in gaps, I bought every EPDM foam tube size from 2 mm to 10 mm and started working every gap along the windshield, sunroof, windows, etc. Thatās when I realized that they couldnāt even get the gap even on a lot of the places.
There might be a section along the windshield where I needed a 6 mm piece of foam to fill it at the bottom but would taper so much at the top a 2 mm one wouldnāt even fit. I had sections along the sunroof that it was so tight on one side I couldnāt even fit a knife blade, while on the other side, I had about a 6 mm gap. If the gap isnāt consistent, I would have to step the size as a foam because it was too tight that I couldnāt squeeze in a bigger piece. So every gap, because of the step in tubing size, would create an area of turbulent air on top of it.
I even went to the trouble of shimming the window and door seals on the driverās door. Then I added additional sealing around that, then added another seal outside of the seal that I put in.
I basically took the approach of Atomic Habits. A great book if you havenāt read it. Taking the approach that a lot of small gains might add up to something substantial, even though one on its own might not really matter that much, but cumulatively it would make a difference.
I spent over five hours yesterday going through my truck and trying to seal every gap that I possibly could. I had EPDM round foam tubing, I had a little rubber T seal, rounded weather stripping, L-shaped seals, and more, and a variety of sizes. I bought over $200 worth of materials from Amazon to attack this once and for all.
A quick sidebar on the Cyberdumpster that I drove. I drove it up to about 85 mph, it had wind noise too. But it was markedly less than what Rivian had. It was less intense and at a more tolerable frequency. It did start a bit earlier, about 60 airspeed, but a lot less intrusive, even if it was noticeable.
I let everything set overnight to make sure it would bond. I took great care to clean all the surfaces and wipe with alcohol. This morning I had the opportunity to go out and try it out on the highway. It was hard to wait to see if it had made a difference. Would the wind noise still be there?
Simple answer is ā yep, the noise is still there. Can Rivian kick rocks? Yes! Were the five hours I spent and $200 worth of material worth the effort? I would have to say itās a qualified yes. It didnāt reduce the noise a lot at 75 mph airspeed, but it is noticeable. There was an unexpected result. I did reduce it at 75 mph. Instead of the wind noise really ramping up as I went faster, it seemed more like the wind noise had sort of plateaued and didnāt get any louder (or marginally so) than what it was at 75 mph. If I drove 75, 80, 85, or 90, the wind noise was still pretty much the same as it was at 75. The frequency of the sound was a bit lower, which also made it easier to tolerate. On the flip side, the road noise is more obvious now. I donāt really want to load my truck up with Dynamat if I donāt have to.
It remains to be seen whether I can live with it long-term. Iām going to have to drive it some more and see. I have a few other things to try. I havenāt done any wind tuft testing to check the airflow. I can also change out some of the molding with a different style to see if that helps. There is another door seal I ordered that hasnāt arrived yet that I wanted to try.
I believe almost all of my noise issues are due to the sloppy way the glass and trim were put in. My truck is a 3/2023 build and they clearly didnāt have they sht together yet. I am not sure they really do yet either based on the G2 trucks I drove. To make most of this right, my windshield and pano roof would need to be reset. I didnāt have some of the other trim issues people have but these are two big ones. Most of the noise seems to be coming from the top of the windshield and the A pillars. You can hear the buffeting outside the truck. It isnāt from any sort of air gaps that I can hear, or the driver's door window not sealing.
If my truck was at this noise level to begin with, I probably wouldnāt have started chasing it. Now I am sensitized to it after 6k miles and I have to do all I can within reason to eliminate it. I am sure there will be a bunch of people who come along and say their truck has no issue. Well, good for them. Based on the amount of content on the Internet about this, I am clearly not the only one. Even on this forum, search for wind noise in the thread title and there are multiple pages of people with issues.
My Model S Plaid has less wind noise at 200 mph than my R1T does at 75 mph, literally. For those of you that have this issue, Iād say there is hope. Just be patient, and look for all the gaps and start filling them. For anyone considering buying a Rivian, drive it at higher speeds into a headwind and a crosswind. Iād say mine is now amongst the better ones Iāve driven but that is damning it with faint praise. The improvement Iāve realized is significant, but there was a long way to go. Iāve talked to many other forum members who just gave up. For such an aerodynamic truck, this shouldnāt be such an issue. The noise is typically indicative of turbulence or boundary layer issues. This hurts the efficiency of the truck. The changes Iāve made could improve efficiency at higher speeds. Likely to be no difference at 50 mph, but around 70 and up, it might be measurable.
If youāve stuck around this far, and have successfully treated your noise issue, Iād love to hear what you did in case I missed anything. I am going to chase the seal under the hood as well, and a few other areas. Iāll be doing yarn tuft testing when I can get someone to video the truck as I drive. I might need to put in vortex generators to help.
Here is a great vid to help you visualize the airflow of the truck. I referred to it many times as I was creating my plan of attack.
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