Cybertruck bed fully exposed w/ look at storage compartment cubby and LED lighting

[pricedm]

I challenge you to find me one Rivian owner who used this "feature" and could not have plugged the tire more easily and been on their way sooner. Tire plugs, assuming you know how to use them, are a superior solution for 99% of owners.

Just one example, documented on a forum, will suffice. Let's see just how useful a spare tire really is, in the real world. Remember, if the damage could have been more easily plugged, without having to remove and replace the wheel, it doesn't count.

Tesla engineering trip thru Baja: 2 flat tires reported. How many spares did they have strapped into the bed?

Offroading IMHO is folly without a spare wheel. I am certainly not driving something even easy but remote like Canyonlands NP White Rim (100 mile backcountry loop) without a full-size spare wheel.

Ironically, in my Volvo XC70 (retired), driving on my parent's property, I had a rock cut which wasn't repairable. I had to put the car on blocks, load up the wheels into my dad's truck, and return home to Denver to get replacement tires. How lucky I was to have a spare truck to use. This 1,000 mile trip could have been avoided if I had a full-size spare.

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[PilotPete]

So a powered tailgate is a gimmick but the boombox feature isn’t?

Gimmick: a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business

Sorry, incorrect assumption. I never said, nor do I think a powered tailgate is a gimmick.

I'll try and clarify, I think the boombox, fart mode, light show, et al., are software peeps goofing off and the company sharing their "geekiness" with the owners. You can argue that you think it's a gimmick, and maybe it is. But it hasn't always been there, they don't tout it, it draws virtually no sales or publicity. It's like the halloween egg that showed up on our BMW last week. Just software geeks doing software geek things.

You should read some of my error codes over the years... pretty darn geeky and really bad humor... Wait, that't kinda like my posts here!

 

[HaulingAss]

Ironically, in my Volvo XC70 (retired), driving on my parent's property, I had a rock cut which wasn't repairable. I had to put the car on blocks, load up the wheels into my dad's truck, and return home to Denver to get replacement tires. How lucky I was to have a spare truck to use. This 1,000 mile trip could have been avoided if I had a full-size spare.

It was probably field repairable, if only you knew how and had a proper plug kit. I would never make a 1,000-mile trip to fix a flat, I feel like people pull stuff out of a hat to support their preconcieved belief that a spare tire is mandatory. Once someone gets a belief firmly planted in their mind, it can be difficult to let go of it.

A point I don't think most people understand very well, is that most rock cuts on sidewalls can be avoided with more driving skill. The best tire damage is that which didn't happen. Driving off-road requires more skill than many people understand. It always shocks me how some people seem to have no clue as to their tire paths. It's not rocket science, but you do have to pay attention and care about it.

 

[PilotPete]

A point I don't think most people understand very well, is that most rock cuts on sidewalls can be avoided with more driving skill. The best tire damage is that which didn't happen. Driving off-road requires more skill than many people understand. It always shocks me how some people seem to have no clue as to their tire paths. It's not rocket science, but you do have to pay attention and care about it.

just like golf, baseball, drag racing, track racing, etc., people tend to want to buy their way to fun, screw that developing skill stuff. That takes time and effort!

 

[firsttruck]

It was probably field repairable, if only you knew how and had a proper plug kit. I would never make a 1,000-mile trip to fix a flat, I feel like people pull stuff out of a hat to support their preconcieved belief that a spare tire is mandatory. Once someone gets a belief firmly planted in their mind, it can be difficult to let go of it.

A point I don't think most people understand very well, is that most rock cuts on sidewalls can be avoided with more driving skill. The best tire damage is that which didn't happen. Driving off-road requires more skill than many people understand. It always shocks me how some people seem to have no clue as to their tire paths. It's not rocket science, but you do have to pay attention and care about it.

How do most people get that skill without trying and failing first (or sometimes, 2nd, 3rd, ..)

There are also unavoidable & unforeseeable accidents both for those with the best skills and for those with no skills.

If I travel to remote or rugged areas I would carry plug kit AND at least 1 spare wheel with mounted tire.

 

[HaulingAss]

How do most people get that skill without trying and failing first (or sometimes, 2nd, 3rd, ..)

There are also unavoidable & unforeseeable accidents both for those with the best skills and for those with no skills.

If I travel to remote or rugged areas I would carry plug kit AND at least 1 spare wheel with mounted tire.

Yes, that is the real "belt and suspenders" approach and, for those people who are in really remote places, it makes sense. But what I see going on here are a lot of people advocating for carrying a spare tire and wheel everywhere they drive, even if that driving is 99% on public roads. With the reliability of tires these days, and the relative ease with which normal punctures can be repaired with a plug kit (easier than changing a wheel and tire), I don't think that makes sense. Here's why:

A full-sized spare is going to weigh around 80 lbs. Add 25 lbs. for a jack and lug wrench and you're over 100 lbs. The cost for a quality wheel and tire (trust me, you don't want to run cheap stuff) is going to be not a lot less than $1000 once you include the jack and lug wrench. That's a lot of money invested in something I wouldn't use, even if I had a flat tire (because it's easier to plug). You can buy a great plug kit for around $40 and it weighs less than 3 lbs. That nearly $1000 could be offering you a nice return on your investment if you invest it, rather than pack it around with you everywhere you go for a decade. Even if I bought a spare because I took a trip to remote areas of Mexico, I would leave it in my garage for my day to day driving for weight and space reasons. The weight reduces your payload capacity and wears out the four tires you are using a little quicker.

As to how one gains the off-road skills that make sidewall cuts much less likely, it's by paying attention and caring. I grew up four-wheeling and none of us had money to burn, which means we were careful and meticulous about how we drove. Over time, doing this teaches you where your tires will be. It's called paying attention. You don't need to cut your sidewall to learn where your tires are, you just need to pay attention and know that sidewalls can be cut, if you don't drive well.

As has been pointed out, some people don't want to put in the time, they just want to spend money and be careless, never bothering to gain real skills. I couldn't afford to do that. Now I can afford it, but I already have solid skill sets, and still don't like to waste money on needless expenditures that don't improve my experience or my safety.

 

[kbolt]

LOL. But what about all that excess weight from the internal ramp. Oh, and it will need to have detectors to prevent the closing tailgate from operating when the ramp is out or when there are fingers about to be pinched.

Motor would be good to lock it during boat mode

 

[kbolt]

You think Elon and Jeff are best buddies like that?

Jeff who?

 

[cvalue13]

the tailgate is motorized to go down, if by ‘motorized’ you mean a ‘gravity’ motor

You need a motor only to put a tailgate up hands free

you need only a pneumatic piston etc to let a tailgate down hands free

maybe this is a convo amongst folks without a lot of modern pickup experience, but that tailgate has never been seen going up hands free, and is seen going down the same way most trucks have worked for a decade

only a few recent trucks have a motorized tailgate. CT doesn’t appear to be one of them.

 

[WHIZZARD OF OZ]

Motor down, not up

Maybe a 'motor' but not as we know it!
Otherwise it would 'Up!'

 

[WHIZZARD OF OZ]

Are plugs limited to punctures in certain parts of the tire? I carry around a plug kit just in case, but I've never used it because I can usually go and get it patched.

So what if the puncture was close to the sidewall, is that still pluggable?

Safer to 'Chuck Connor' it!!!!! In THE BIN mate!

 

[WHIZZARD OF OZ]

Meh. If I wanted to feel like a trucker I would have become a trucker. Haha

I’m far too lazy to want to shut my own tailgate. I look at it like the auto closing trunks of S 3 X Y as well as my partners X5 Hybrid. I mean I could just reach up and close those by hand like a commoner but why would I?

I like the idea of having my hands full and being able to touch a simple button and walk away.

As far as breakage goes, I’m not convinced a self closing truck tailgate would be any more delicate or finicky than a self closing tailgate. Maybe I’m wrong but there it is.


As for why? Why not???

You have suggested to your partner the X5 HAS TO GO!
PS. ' l wanna live like common people '
'I wanna do whatever common people do!'
( Pulp )

 

[PilotPete]

the tailgate is motorized to go down, if by ‘motorized’ you mean a ‘gravity’ motor

You need a motor only to put a tailgate up hands free

you need only a pneumatic piston etc to let a tailgate down hands free

maybe this is a convo amongst folks without a lot of modern pickup experience, but that tailgate has never been seen going up hands free, and is seen going down the same way most trucks have worked for a decade

only a few recent trucks have a motorized tailgate. CT doesn’t appear to be one of them.

Just a note here. You DO need SOMETHING to get the tailgate from the vertical position and to start down. Motor, spring, piston, whatever. But the first few inches need "a push" to start using gravity. The only way this works "gravity only" is if the tailgate is locked in a non-vertical position. Maybe 80 degrees or so...

 

[HaulingAss]

I challenge you to find me one Rivian owner who used this "feature" and could not have plugged the tire more easily and been on their way sooner. Tire plugs, assuming you know how to use them, are a superior solution for 99% of owners.

Just one example, documented on a forum, will suffice. Let's see just how useful a spare tire really is, in the real world. Remember, if the damage could have been more easily plugged, without having to remove and replace the wheel, it doesn't count.

^^This^^ is an open challenge, not just to @pricedm , but also anyone who believes the Cybertruck should have done what Rivian did, provide under-bed storage for a full-sized spare.

The R1T has been in production for over 2 full years now and now they are selling the R1S too. With over 50K Rivians adventuring around N. America I wonder how worthwhile it's been to haul over 100 lbs. of wheel changing equipment around (rather than just a plug kit).

Certainly, we can find some Rivian enthusiast bragging on forums how the spare tire saved their bacon over just having a plug kit and compressed air. Am I right?

 

[wanders]

the tailgate is motorized to go down, if by ‘motorized’ you mean a ‘gravity’ motor

You need a motor only to put a tailgate up hands free

you need only a pneumatic piston etc to let a tailgate down hands free

maybe this is a convo amongst folks without a lot of modern pickup experience, but that tailgate has never been seen going up hands free, and is seen going down the same way most trucks have worked for a decade

only a few recent trucks have a motorized tailgate. CT doesn’t appear to be one of them.

I'm definitely just talking out of my ass.

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