Is there a break in period before I can tow?
I am buying a new 2017 f250 0 miles on Friday. We leave out for a 3 hour tow 8700 lb travel trailer 6 days after that. Is there a certain mileage I should but on this before hooking and towing?
Forum Discussion
The break in period is for the gears and all new gears need to be broken in no matter the size of the vehicle. It's all about heat. Tons of heat is generated as new gears try to marry to each other within the first few miles. The amount of heat generated during the initial break in period, even from normal driving, can easily exceed normal operating temperatures of the diff.
This excessive heat can cause the oil to degrade and place unnecessary wear on parts, especially on the ring and pinion. Towing during the break in period just makes things a lot worse as it causes even more wear and heat to be generated. This could result in the complete breakdown of the lubricant and the failure of parts. Sometimes the failure isn't immediate with failures showing up thousands of miles down the road. The damage has already been done and can't be reversed. Often people think it's just age related wear, but really the diff has been damaged since day 1.
Follow the manual, but it's always a good idea to baby it for the first few miles, keep the trips short, and allow cooldown time between trips. This will prevent the diff from overheating and give the oil a chance to cooldown. It's not a good idea to try to do the whole break in all at once as this can result in a condition where the diff keeps getting hotter and hotter and eventually degrading the oil. Don't drive it like you stole it. You just need to modulate the RPM just as you would in normal driving.
I would caution you against comparing your F250 to a class 8 rig. Compare how many quarts your diff holds to the gallons of a class 8. The ring gear alone weighs every bit of 50 lbs. The big boys are built to take some abuse.
This excessive heat can cause the oil to degrade and place unnecessary wear on parts, especially on the ring and pinion. Towing during the break in period just makes things a lot worse as it causes even more wear and heat to be generated. This could result in the complete breakdown of the lubricant and the failure of parts. Sometimes the failure isn't immediate with failures showing up thousands of miles down the road. The damage has already been done and can't be reversed. Often people think it's just age related wear, but really the diff has been damaged since day 1.
Follow the manual, but it's always a good idea to baby it for the first few miles, keep the trips short, and allow cooldown time between trips. This will prevent the diff from overheating and give the oil a chance to cooldown. It's not a good idea to try to do the whole break in all at once as this can result in a condition where the diff keeps getting hotter and hotter and eventually degrading the oil. Don't drive it like you stole it. You just need to modulate the RPM just as you would in normal driving.
I would caution you against comparing your F250 to a class 8 rig. Compare how many quarts your diff holds to the gallons of a class 8. The ring gear alone weighs every bit of 50 lbs. The big boys are built to take some abuse.
