The 2026 Rivian R1T Quad Max offers a galaxy of chassis and drive-mode adjustments via its RAD Tuner menu, which invites owners to play vehicle-development engineer—and more likely than not, conclude that the pros know what they’re doing when they calibrate a drive mode. And although Rivian has an impish sense of humor about some features (its yeti mascot, Gary, appears on the dash screen holding a video camera when the security system is recording), its chassis-adjustment options are pragmatic rather than whimsical.
Consider Camp mode. It uses the height-adjustable air springs to level the vehicle on uneven ground, making your truck-mounted tent that much more comfortable. Practical! Or, hear us out, you could use that feature in an off-label way to do something dumb. Like tee up a Carolina squat.
If you’re blessedly unfamiliar with the Carolina squat, that’s the questionably legal trend of jacking a truck up in the front and lowering it at the back to achieve the look of a Baja prerunner that’s just landed tail-first off a five-foot tabletop jump. If a truck looks like there’s an invisible load of bricks in the bed, that’s the Carolina squat. Since the cops got clearance to crack down (at least in North Carolina), Squatters have resorted to air-bag suspension so they can set up the squat when parked and restore a more-or-less level attitude on the road, thus avoiding a ticket.
To Carolina squat a Rivian R1T, you need to find a steep hill and park with the rear end elevated above the front. Select “level truck” from the Camp mode menus, and over the next couple of minutes, the Rivian will do its level best to put the truck’s body on an even keel. That means squatting the rear end and jacking up the front.
Now, you can’t drive in Camp mode—at least, not very far nor fast. Nor would you want to drive a squatted R1T anyway, what with the hood pointed toward the sky. But it takes a Rivian a while to extract itself from Camp mode, so you can putter around a bit looking both tech-forward and culturally confused.
If we can find a hack to get rid of mandatory regen, we’ll share that next. This truck actually exhibited a temporary glitch that caused it to coast downhill without one-pedal interference, but alas, the regen reawakened a little later in the drive. Dare to dream, though. As we discovered, we’re still unlocking Rivian’s possibilities.
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Ezra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He’s now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.