[archiboy]

Has anyone figured out an easy way to put the toothpaste back into the tube? It looks like this would be easy to fix. But I've tried darn near everything I can think of short of releasing the cover from the track.

 

[GringoFeo]

Yikes! If it makes you feel any better, I hear that Rivian will be replacing all tonneau covers via recall very soon (just waiting for new hardware). My truck is in the shop right now and when I mentioned the tonneau cover I was told "we'll look at it, but we're not fixing them until we can replace them".

 

[archiboy]

Yikes! If it makes you feel any better, I hear that Rivian will be replacing all tonneau covers via recall very soon (just waiting for new hardware). My truck is in the shop right now and when I mentioned the tonneau cover I was told "we'll look at it, but we're not fixing them until we can replace them".

I'm not surprised with this (rumor) news. I love the concept of the electric tonneau - but have always felt it was the first thing that was gonna break. It was 100 degrees here last week. The cover would only open about 18" before it would bind. I was highly suspect that the top had expanded enough to cause the problem (having been fully exposed to the blistering sun). Sure enough once the cover was in the shade for about 20 minutes it opened all the way. But it clearly showed the weakness of the design. If that cover is stuck --- so is everything in the bed of the truck. Imagine being a contractor and having critical parts stuck in the bed of the truck with a $500/hour crew waiting for them. I'd be happy with the same cover without the mechanized open/close. Just a manual handle to roll it in and out with some sort of a latch as it hits the tailgate.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

I'm not surprised with this (rumor) news. I love the concept of the electric tonneau - but have always felt it was the first thing that was gonna break. It was 100 degrees here last week. The cover would only open about 18" before it would bind. I was highly suspect that the top had expanded enough to cause the problem (having been fully exposed to the blistering sun). Sure enough once the cover was in the shade for about 20 minutes it opened all the way. But it clearly showed the weakness of the design. If that cover is stuck --- so is everything in the bed of the truck. Imagine being a contractor and having critical parts stuck in the bed of the truck with a $500/hour crew waiting for them. I'd be happy with the same cover without the mechanized open/close. Just a manual handle to roll it in and out with some sort of a latch as it hits the tailgate.

How would a manual roll with same design be better? If it’s binding now it’ll bind then. If you think it’s a bad design then you’d want a different design — not a manual version of the existing tonneau.

 

[Livinginkaos]

If you're feeling frisky, you should be able to remove the rail cover on one side then lift that side of the cover leaf and pull the gasket off the side. Then slide it back in the groove, put the leaf back down and put the rail cover back on.

But if you can wait, they'll fix it when they replace your cover with the upgrade when it's ready.

 

[archiboy]

How would a manual roll with same design be better? If it’s binding now it’ll bind then. If you think it’s a bad design then you’d want a different design — not a manual version of the existing tonneau.

Good point... but my bad for not providing better clarity. I meant a system that is similar in appearance and using the same track system. Just using manual operation to store and deploy. Agreed the expansion/contraction of the panels needs to be addressed.

Un-related but something worth mentioning. Someone somewhere on one of these forums had mentioned using white lithium grease (periodically) on the tracks was recommended by a SC. Not sure if this is an official Rivian position or just an opinion from one employee. Regardless, it seemed like a reasonable suggestion. So I carry a can of white lithium spray grease in my box of truck tools.

 

[atebit]

Sure, and you can always make your own by grinding up leaves of the white lithium tree. They’re all over Adventureland.

 

[Jebinc]

Yikes! If it makes you feel any better, I hear that Rivian will be replacing all tonneau covers via recall very soon (just waiting for new hardware). My truck is in the shop right now and when I mentioned the tonneau cover I was told "we'll look at it, but we're not fixing them until we can replace them".

“Very soon,” you say (back in June’22). 🤣

 

[O. horridus]

“Very soon,” you say (back in June’22). 🤣

You know, RIVIAN never said that. You quote some random post on the internet from someone who "heard" something from some unspecified other person who probably also got it from some random internet post or YouTube video.

This whole "soon" trope is becoming tiresome, especially in cases where it's not deserved.

The other part of the quote, "we'll look at it, but we're not fixing them until we can replace them", is at least consistent with everything RIVIAN is saying about the tonneau. They don't have a fix yet, but when they do they will fix the existing ones.

Rivian took a lot of risks to develop a truly new and unique vehicle. Most of these risks paid off but some, like the tonneau, didn't do so well. But if they didn't attempt these things, if they just stuck with the "tried and true", then the result would be massively disappointing and they would have already failed as a company. In many ways fixing the tonneau is going to be more difficult than the original engineering, because any fix has so many more constraints, in terms of space available, components available, etc. A completely new design probably requires change to the body and would be prohibitively expensive, and a minimal fix like adding a second motor will probably be more reliable than what we have but will still have some of the same problems. They have to find a cost-effective compromise that will make the tonneau more reliable without a requiring a massive expenditure (such as new body panel stampings).

Anecdotally, MY tonneau works fine. And if it ever does break, I fully believe that Rivian will fix it.

 

[Jebinc]

You know, RIVIAN never said that. You quote some random post on the internet from someone who "heard" something from some unspecified other person who probably also got it from some random internet post or YouTube video.

This whole "soon" trope is becoming tiresome, especially in cases where it's not deserved.

The other part of the quote, "we'll look at it, but we're not fixing them until we can replace them", is at least consistent with everything RIVIAN is saying about the tonneau. They don't have a fix yet, but when they do they will fix the existing ones.

Rivian took a lot of risks to develop a truly new and unique vehicle. Most of these risks paid off but some, like the tonneau, didn't do so well. But if they didn't attempt these things, if they just stuck with the "tried and true", then the result would be massively disappointing and they would have already failed as a company. In many ways fixing the tonneau is going to be more difficult than the original engineering, because any fix has so many more constraints, in terms of space available, components available, etc. A completely new design probably requires change to the body and would be prohibitively expensive, and a minimal fix like adding a second motor will probably be more reliable than what we have but will still have some of the same problems. They have to find a cost-effective compromise that will make the tonneau more reliable without a requiring a massive expenditure (such as new body panel stampings).

Anecdotally, MY tonneau works fine. And if it ever does break, I fully believe that Rivian will fix it.

Sure, eventually, they will fix it as it’s under warranty. What they are doing now is just disabling it I either the open or closed position, at customer’s preference.

 

[Louisdeg]

I was advised by my service tec to wait until it breaks because the repair was evolving. Mine works fine except for hitting something- freezing and needing a reset (push button 4 times and hold on the last). I would not use grease- WL or otherwise -it collects grit. I recommend regular treatment of the tracks with dry silicone spray.