[RenovatioLD]

Hi everyone. I have a question for the life expectancy of the RT and it’s not battery related. It involves a four letter word that ultimately sends a majority of our vehicles to the grave prematurely.

Salt.

What is Rivian doing with the undercarriage, and paint?

There is a bunch of aftermarket companies such as Linex and DuPont that offer “armor” coatings and rust proofing but to do it right would require stripping a vehicle down to its bare frame and chassis. Rust typically occurs from the inside and works it way out. Salt dust or residue with moisture getting into the smallest of cavities under or around the car.

Let’s face it trucks are not getting cheaper, they are becoming more and more expensive every year. I just want mine to last more than 10 years without rotting from the inside out on the body...

I’m in Illinois so I hope Rivian is looking into this as their plant is 2hrs south of me and they can see first hand the amount of salt we put on our roads in this state.

 

[Wildabeest]

I believe the body panels are aluminum which should greatly decrease rust and corrosion vs steel. Not sure about the frame.

 

[R99]

Welcome to the forum @RenovatioLD! Here's what's on Rivian's website about what their vehicles are made of

What is the body made of?

The body structures are made from aluminum alloy, ultra high-strength steel and carbon fiber, designed with the highest safety targets in mind.

What is the body made of? - Support Center - Rivian

The body structures are made from various steels up to and including ultra high-strength grades, aluminum alloys and carbon fiber, designed with the highest safety targets in mind. Learn more about the design and capability in the R1T and the R1S.

rivian.com

What is the underbody made of?

Protecting the underbody of our vehicle is a layered shield of high-strength steel, alloyed aluminum and carbon fiber composite. Engineered to absorb, deflect and distribute force from impacts, the shield is designed for maximum protection in the most extreme off-road conditions.

With the Off-Road Upgrade, standard in the Adventure Package, the reinforced underbody shield will extend from bumper to bumper and side to side.

What is the underbody made of? - Support Center - Rivian

Protecting the underbody of our vehicle is a layered shield of high-strength steel, alloyed aluminum and carbon fiber composite. Engineered to absorb, deflect and distribute force from impacts, the shield is designed for protection in the most extreme off-road conditions. With the Off-Road...

rivian.com

 

[RenovatioLD]

Thank you for the replies! Do you know the protective coating, if any, is used on the steel parts or are these wearable items expected for failure and replacement?

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Thank you for the replies! Do you know the protective coating, if any, is used on the steel parts or are these wearable items expected for failure and replacement?

Every manufacturer does something to coat their steel frames, afaik. Of course, the effectiveness does vary, from brand to brand.

 

[RenovatioLD]

Yeah good point I’m just wondering if Rivian went with a cheap manufacturer or something tried and true and reputable guess we will find out. From what is going into their vehicles I would expect reputable fingers crossed!

 

[eHauler]

Yeah good point I’m just wondering if Rivian went with a cheap manufacturer or something tried and true and reputable guess we will find out. From what is going into their vehicles I would expect reputable fingers crossed!

Its unclear what undercoating brand Rivian went with but Wurth is used by many manufactures. We should also get underbody protection that should help keep rocks debris from damaging the undercarriage.

 

[Mr. Gee]

Just got rid of my 2005 Prius (on its second battery). Chicago-kept all that time and rust was never an issue. Rust has not been an issue for me in my vehicles since my 1991 Subaru - which would likely still be running today (boxer engine was great) if the body hadn't dissolved around it.

 

[RenovatioLD]

I’ve had nothing but trucks over 15 of them in the last 20 years (I need them for my business) some brand new some old from Ford F-250-450’s, Chevy and gmc 1500’s, 2500’s and 3500’s. They all start rusting in the same spots. Usually the outside of the truck beds from the inside out around wheel well areas, the bottom of door jams and quarter panels. That’s great your cars have held up! Hopefully Rivian can have the same results as your Subaru and Toyota versus main 3 truck light duty truck manufacturers.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

I’ve had nothing but trucks over 15 of them in the last 20 years (I need them for my business) some brand new some old from Ford F-250-450’s, Chevy and gmc 1500’s, 2500’s and 3500’s. They all start rusting in the same spots. Usually the outside of the truck beds from the inside out around wheel well areas, the bottom of door jams and quarter panels. That’s great your cars have held up! Hopefully Rivian can have the same results as your Subaru and Toyota versus main 3 truck light duty truck manufacturers.

Rivian is using Aluminum for the bed, afaik, so that should stand up pretty well for the use case you describe.

 

[RITVT]

I believe Rivian also scrapped the paint bay from the old Mitsi plant b/c it was too small to accept Rivian trucks/SUVS, and was considering integrating massive 30+ foot dunk tanks that could "roll" the body multiple times to ensure full coverage and eliminate air bubbles. I think that they actually had to dig a pit in the facility to accommodate the MHE and roof height restrictions to make the whole thing work. Not sure if that is in place now or not, but that should, in theory, be better than spraying as you will get excellent coverage

 

[Rivian-WI]

I believe Rivian also scrapped the paint bay from the old Mitsi plant b/c it was too small to accept Rivian trucks/SUVS, and was considering integrating massive 30+ foot dunk tanks that could "roll" the body multiple times to ensure full coverage and eliminate air bubbles. I think that they actually had to dig a pit in the facility to accommodate the MHE and roof height restrictions to make the whole thing work. Not sure if that is in place now or not, but that should, in theory, be better than spraying as you will get excellent coverage

The size issue was not with the R1T and R1S. It was with the Amazon vans. They need a much bigger tank to do those too. And yes, they needed to dig out a pit to get the needed room.

 

[Sultanum]

The size issue was not with the R1T and R1S. It was with the Amazon vans. They need a much bigger tank to do those too. And yes, they needed to dig out a pit to get the needed room.

I wonder how you guys get these type of information!🤯

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

I wonder how you guys get these type of information!🤯

Rivian Preparing to Build EVs for Ford/Lincoln, Amazon, and Itself

Rivian's CEO discusses producing his R1T and R1S, plus we get details on Ford's "Impressive" EV and Amazon's Prime delivery vans.

www.motortrend.com

The existing paint shop at the Rivian plant had to be scrapped; designed for littler cars, it was many sizes too small. Scaringe could probably sell tickets to watch the new e-coating process that dips vehicle bodies to prevent corrosion. Like BMW does at its Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant, Scaringe wants vehicles to enter the tank and flip, end over end, four times, to prevent air bubbles that could lead to rust—picture that body ballet with a 30-foot-long delivery van. The plant ceilings aren't high enough for this, though, so to solve the problem Rivian lowered the floor, digging an eight-foot pit with giant moorings to house dip tanks that stand about 33 feet tall. Scaringe thinks this makes it the world's largest dip-process setup.

 

[Rivian-WI]

I wonder how you guys get these type of information!🤯

There are a lot of nuggets of information out there in various forums, videos, websites, etc. The hard part is trying to remember where you saw it so that you can properly quote the answer. And luckily, CommodoreAmiga's memory is much better than mine.

 

[BillGo]

I am interested in more information about the aluminum steel composite material they are using for the frame. I had a F150 that was totaled when the steel frame rusted out due to New Hampshire road salt. :-(. I was thinking / hoping that this frame would not rust because of the composite which makes me surprised that they are talking about dipping to prevent corrosion. Are they worried about the batteries?

 

[BillGo]

I know at one point Elon claimed that there is no reason that Teslas would not last "a million miles". With so many fewer moving parts to wear, aluminum body parts that won't rust, etc... Has RJ made any statement of this type? I am wondering what their design center is...

 

[ERivTruck]

I know at one point Elon claimed that there is no reason that Teslas would not last "a million miles". With so many fewer moving parts to wear, aluminum body parts that won't rust, etc... Has RJ made any statement of this type? I am wondering what their design center is...

Yes, and "St. Elon" also said that its Autopilot system was infallible. Now we shall see now that NHTS has opened up an investigation on its 2018 and newer vehicles on this matter.

Bottom line - I would not trust anything that St. Elon "tweets" out because Elon is a modern day huckster in a fancy suit schmoozing the media with his brand of special Kool-Aid.

 

[BillGo]

Yes, and "St. Elon" also said that its Autopilot system was infallible. Now we shall see now that NHTS has opened up an investigation on its 2018 and newer vehicles on this matter.

Bottom line - I would not trust anything that St. Elon "tweets" out because Elon is a modern day huckster in a fancy suit schmoozing the media with his brand of special Kool-Aid.

Fair enough... I certainly approach anything they say with a healthy dose of skepticism. However, it is still helpful to know what they might have in mind as it does affect nearly every decision for materials, and parts as the day-to-day choices are made by the line engineering teams.