Rivian upper control arm failures cause alarm - service centres seemingly to blame

As far as EV startups go, the Rivian R1T and its sister, the R1S, have been impressively unafflicted by major issues and recalls. A new report out of Carscoops, however, shines a light on a particularly annoying and frustrating issue Rivian R1T owners are experiencing of late.

It turns out that Rivian service centres may not be tightening bolts on the front upper control arm correctly when performing services on the electric pickup trucks. The issue doesn't appear isolated to owners taking their EVs in for service, either. At least one user on Reddit complained that they received their new R1T with an upper control arm bolt that was almost completely falling out.

The first poster on Reddit to suffer from the recent issue stated:

Just had our R1T serviced for Tonneau cover and a few other things. The following day, went over railroad tracks and the wheel completely went sideways.

This suggests that something happened at the Rivian service centre or factory that resulted in the upper control, bolt to come loose, which then completely fell out when the driver crossed over the railway track. 

Fortunately, nobody seems to have been injured by the upper control arm failure just yet, but the problem echoes a 2022 recall issued by the NHTSA. Similarly, the previous recall the upper control arm and its connection to the steering knuckle, which could potentially cause a dangerous situation if the connection came apart at even modest speeds.

As yet, there have been no updates about any resolution for the owners that have posted about the issue online, although it seems likely that Rivian will replace any damaged components — especially in the case of the newly delivered R1T. 

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