Towing before 1000mi break in

[ricko24]

I plan on towing my airstream but read not to tow until after 1000miles. I understand the mechanical reasons why but what’s the difference between a break in of 500mi and 1000mi?

will it really hurt longevity or even performance on any aspect of vehicle? My airstream is 3500GVWR so it’s not a beast to pull.

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[Jus Cruisin]

Just don't hammer it and run for 10 hours straight. If it was me I drive more like senior citizen. Oh yeah, I am one.
You're in Florida so you aren't dealing with big hills and you'll likely hit 1000 miles by the time you leave the state.

 

[don.mullins]

I had to put a 10-15 mile tow with my < 8000# trailer at @ 800 miles on the truck. This that causes a failure in the truck, then the truck is more fragile than is should be.

 

[ricko24]

Thanks guys for the comments...I agree it’s not gonna hurt much unless you totally rag it out towing.

I plan on towing a few 15-25 mile trips in Florida before 1000miles. I will be towing to upstate NY from FL this summer...but should be way past 1000 on the odometer by then.

when I tow the AS I drive like a senior....not towing a teen...I’m somewhere in the middle age wise.

 

[daemonic3]

There is no way 1,000 is exact to 4 significant figures. It is a recommendation, likely at the tail end of the distribution to cover worst case. That being said, I *definitely* want my truck to learn as much about its gears and driving for sure! But more importantly, if there are major mechanical issues in any system I want them to fail without a giant brick of momentum behind me with passengers in the truck. I want enough time to get things fixed.

I have a towing trip on Apr16 and have 441 miles currently, so I'm doing what I can to get some miles on it!

 

[jmacd]

I’ll agree that 1,000 miles of driving before towing is a “recommendation “, but Ford has been building vehicles for a long time. After spending a career in vehicle maintenance from truck washer to fleet manager I’m familiar with the real world of vehicle maintenance. A fleet vehicle; car, truck, backhoe or giant mining dump truck does not get any “break-in” period. They just get put to work. But for us civilians, I think Ford wants the first buyer and subsequent owners of their cars and pickups to have a positive ownership experience. Modern manufacturing technology has provided us with amazingly well built engines and transmissions when compared to past years. Modern engines, built to amazing standards of component machining quality, really don’t need overly careful break-in and special “break-in” oil. From what I understand Honda still does this, most manufactures do not. But by driving our pickups 1,000 miles before towing, we get the differential gears, transfer case gears and transmission planetary gear sets in the transmission “broken-in” a bit before putting a big load on them. Tires need 200-300 miles before they track true and give best handling performance. All of these components obtain smoother “broken-in” performance after going easy on our vehicles during the break-in period. With better MPG and vehicle handling after a short period of care. This minimizes Ford’s warranty expense, but also the first owner and subsequent owners enjoyment of their vehicles without unusual component failures. Fleet and rental vehicles don’t get any careful break-in and generally do just fine. But if you plan on driving your truck for a long time, why not go easy those first 1,000 +/- miles?

 

[ricko24]

There is no way 1,000 is exact to 4 significant figures. It is a recommendation, likely at the tail end of the distribution to cover worst case. That being said, I *definitely* want my truck to learn as much about its gears and driving for sure! But more importantly, if there are major mechanical issues in any system I want them to fail without a giant brick of momentum behind me with passengers in the truck. I want enough time to get things fixed.

I have a towing trip on Apr16 and have 441 miles currently, so I'm doing what I can to get some miles on it!

Same here...gives me time to learn some of the new functionality and capability of this vehicle. I’m a first time Ford owner and haven’t had a truck since I leased a 2007 Tundra.

 

[ricko24]

I’ll agree that 1,000 miles of driving before towing is a “recommendation “, but Ford has been building vehicles for a long time. After spending a career in vehicle maintenance from truck washer to fleet manager I’m familiar with the real world of vehicle maintenance. A fleet vehicle; car, truck, backhoe or giant mining dump truck does not get any “break-in” period. They just get put to work. But for us civilians, I think Ford wants the first buyer and subsequent owners of their cars and pickups to have a positive ownership experience. Modern manufacturing technology has provided us with amazingly well built engines and transmissions when compared to past years. Modern engines, built to amazing standards of component machining quality, really don’t need overly careful break-in and special “break-in” oil. From what I understand Honda still does this, most manufactures do not. But by driving our pickups 1,000 miles before towing, we get the differential gears, transfer case gears and transmission planetary gear sets in the transmission “broken-in” a bit before putting a big load on them. Tires need 200-300 miles before they track true and give best handling performance. All of these components obtain smoother “broken-in” performance after going easy on our vehicles during the break-in period. With better MPG and vehicle handling after a short period of care. This minimizes Ford’s warranty expense, but also the first owner and subsequent owners enjoyment of their vehicles without unusual component failures. Fleet and rental vehicles don’t get any careful break-in and generally do just fine. But if you plan on driving your truck for a long time, why not go easy those first 1,000 +/- miles?

Well said and I agree with a lot of what you stated...will be taking it easy to start. For longevity sake If this goes well especially for the actual use of the 7.2kw propower maybe I forego my $100 CyberTruck deposit.

 

[i2oadi2unnei2]

And don't forget a follow up of your pic and setup

 

[currybob]

I’ll agree that 1,000 miles of driving before towing is a “recommendation “, but Ford has been building vehicles for a long time. After spending a career in vehicle maintenance from truck washer to fleet manager I’m familiar with the real world of vehicle maintenance. A fleet vehicle; car, truck, backhoe or giant mining dump truck does not get any “break-in” period. They just get put to work. But for us civilians, I think Ford wants the first buyer and subsequent owners of their cars and pickups to have a positive ownership experience. Modern manufacturing technology has provided us with amazingly well built engines and transmissions when compared to past years. Modern engines, built to amazing standards of component machining quality, really don’t need overly careful break-in and special “break-in” oil. From what I understand Honda still does this, most manufactures do not. But by driving our pickups 1,000 miles before towing, we get the differential gears, transfer case gears and transmission planetary gear sets in the transmission “broken-in” a bit before putting a big load on them. Tires need 200-300 miles before they track true and give best handling performance. All of these components obtain smoother “broken-in” performance after going easy on our vehicles during the break-in period. With better MPG and vehicle handling after a short period of care. This minimizes Ford’s warranty expense, but also the first owner and subsequent owners enjoyment of their vehicles without unusual component failures. Fleet and rental vehicles don’t get any careful break-in and generally do just fine. But if you plan on driving your truck for a long time, why not go easy those first 1,000 +/- miles?

Well said!

With your experience, I would be interested in your opinion on dumping the so called, break in period oil. I know oils are better and engines tighter and have closer tolerances than ever but I still just have to drop the oil at 1500 to 2,000 miles. There are still contaminates that come off a new engine that I just don't want left in my oil that long.

 

[ricko24]

And don't forget a follow up of your pic and setup

 

[Jus Cruisin]

I'm pretty sure your truck doesn't even know that little guy is back there.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

I'm not going to have a choice - no break-in miles for my incoming truck - will have to hitch up our 8,000-pound boat and trailer rig that we've previously towed behind a '17 F-350, and tow from South Florida to upstate NY (Lake George), directly after taking delivery of our ordered King Ranch Powerboost. In fact, I'm going to be hanging around South Florida simply waiting on the truck's delivery to start the tow. The boat will be "late" to the lake in May and I will take delivery of the truck and go straight to the trailer storage, go directly to the boat ramp, load the boat at the Boynton Beach boat ramp, and head North on I-95. Can't say I'm happy about this, but I've already given the F-350 trade-in to the dealer, so don't have an alternate tow vehicle. I get that break-in is perhaps a bit more important on gas trucks than on the traded diesel beast, but I really don't think it should cut the truck's life if we're careful about acceleration, given that it will be all highway for the first 1300 miles.

 

[ricko24]

I'm not going to have a choice - no break-in miles for my incoming truck - will have to hitch up our 8,000-pound boat and trailer rig that we've previously towed behind a '17 F-350, and tow from South Florida to upstate NY (Lake George), directly after taking delivery of our ordered King Ranch Powerboost. In fact, I'm going to be hanging around South Florida simply waiting on the truck's delivery to start the tow. The boat will be "late" to the lake in May and I will take delivery of the truck and go straight to the trailer storage, go directly to the boat ramp, load the boat at the Boynton Beach boat ramp, and head North on I-95. Can't say I'm happy about this, but I've already given the F-350 trade-in to the dealer, so don't have an alternate tow vehicle. I get that break-in is perhaps a bit more important on gas trucks than on the traded diesel beast, but I really don't think it should cut the truck's life if we're careful about acceleration, given that it will be all highway for the first 1300 miles.

Safe travels.

 

[jmacd]

I really understand the desire to dump the “break-in” oil early. I’ve done it myself. But an engine manufactured today isn’t the same motor as 25 years ago. It wasn’t as well built as current production engines. Our new truck engines are more well designed and built to higher standards. I well remember when a gasoline engine achieving 100,000 miles was a big deal. Today, abused, long idled, high RPM police vehicle engines regularly exceed those miles. We’ve all been in old Ford Crown Victoria taxi cabs which once were those abused police service patrol vehicles, still on the road as taxi cabs, with over 200,000 miles of service! So do what makes you happy. I’ll probably change my new F150 at 5,000 miles. assume the “servere service” interval. Then just follow Ford’s OLM and use oil and filter to meet the owners manual specification. Ford and other vehicle manfacturers really can be trusted on this.

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