Photo: u/kugelvater via Reddit | Edited
Disgruntled Rivian R1T owners are tired of waiting for Rivian to fix the powered tonneau cover or offer a manual option and have taken the matter into their own hands. Many started looking for aftermarket or DIY solutions to protect the beds of their trucks.
Despite its success when it launched as the first electric pickup on the market, the Rivian R1T wasn't spared the drama. One of the most common problems is related to the powered tonneau cover, which started breaking prematurely. Rivian promised a fix last September, but we're seven months away, and there's still no update. Since then, Rivian removed the powered tonneau cover from the configurator, offering a manual option instead.
Even though the manual cover consists of four aluminum panels that you need to install and remove by hand every time, Rivian is still unable to ship it. In an update sent to owners last week, Rivian promised to send the manual tonneau cover this summer. As you can imagine, this angered people waiting to get their manual tonneau cover instead of soothing them. It's not a cheap option, at $800, and is now the only hope that people can cover the bed of their trucks.
Some owners, tired of waiting for Rivian to get its act together, took the matter into their own hands and looked for an aftermarket solution. This is painful because you must pay for whatever cover you can fit over the R1T's bed on top of the $800 Rivian asked. The Rivian is not shipped with bed side rails if you order it without a tonneau cover. This complicates things a little, as installing a cover requires additional work to attach it to the truck.
With the side rails, it's only a matter of inserting the panels into the rails and closing the tailgate. This can be done as a DIY project with off-the-shelf aluminum panels. One owner shared on the Rivian Reddit channel how to pull it off with ACM panels found in a hardware store. User u/kugelvater used eight 6-mm (0.24-inch) ACM panels stacked in two layers so that they overlap and offer some weather protection. The panels are 54 3/4" (1,391 mm) by 13 7/16" (341 mm) if you're interested.
User u/Even_Tourist7429 opted for an aftermarket roll-up tonneau cover, which took less than 30 minutes to install. It wasn't cheap, at $625, but it has the advantage of being compatible with trucks that don't have side rails, lowering the bill by $800. It's also designed to take advantage of the R1T's factory mounting points, so it doesn't need modifications. It's easy to remove and stow in the gear tunnel, so it might be worth a try.
It's a shame that Rivian doesn't understand how important this feature is for its customers. It's puzzling as it's not expensive to offer, and it's not rocket science. The EV startup could simply instruct users to look for an aftermarket solution instead of keeping them hooked on a solution that is not even on the horizon.
Even though the manual cover consists of four aluminum panels that you need to install and remove by hand every time, Rivian is still unable to ship it. In an update sent to owners last week, Rivian promised to send the manual tonneau cover this summer. As you can imagine, this angered people waiting to get their manual tonneau cover instead of soothing them. It's not a cheap option, at $800, and is now the only hope that people can cover the bed of their trucks.
Some owners, tired of waiting for Rivian to get its act together, took the matter into their own hands and looked for an aftermarket solution. This is painful because you must pay for whatever cover you can fit over the R1T's bed on top of the $800 Rivian asked. The Rivian is not shipped with bed side rails if you order it without a tonneau cover. This complicates things a little, as installing a cover requires additional work to attach it to the truck.
With the side rails, it's only a matter of inserting the panels into the rails and closing the tailgate. This can be done as a DIY project with off-the-shelf aluminum panels. One owner shared on the Rivian Reddit channel how to pull it off with ACM panels found in a hardware store. User u/kugelvater used eight 6-mm (0.24-inch) ACM panels stacked in two layers so that they overlap and offer some weather protection. The panels are 54 3/4" (1,391 mm) by 13 7/16" (341 mm) if you're interested.
User u/Even_Tourist7429 opted for an aftermarket roll-up tonneau cover, which took less than 30 minutes to install. It wasn't cheap, at $625, but it has the advantage of being compatible with trucks that don't have side rails, lowering the bill by $800. It's also designed to take advantage of the R1T's factory mounting points, so it doesn't need modifications. It's easy to remove and stow in the gear tunnel, so it might be worth a try.
It's a shame that Rivian doesn't understand how important this feature is for its customers. It's puzzling as it's not expensive to offer, and it's not rocket science. The EV startup could simply instruct users to look for an aftermarket solution instead of keeping them hooked on a solution that is not even on the horizon.
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