Just traded my 05 Silverado for a 2016 Silverado. (2500 D/A) This thing is so quiet it scares me a little.:) Lots of bells and whistles I'm slowly but surely mastering. The manual says to not tow till at least 500 miles are on the odometer. No problem doing that. It also says that during the first 500 miles of towing the speed should be kept to no more than 50mph. My first tow, in about two weeks, will be up a very steep grade. (for you west coast folks, up 168 to Shaver lake) Should I have any concerns that this may be too much for a first tow? I know some of you have said, "Drive it like you stole it" when discussing new trucks. I don't want to sound overly cautious (paranoid?) but I do want to break it in correctly. Am I worrying too much? I would love to hear from you new Chevy owners, or anyone for that matter.

Yep, you're worrying too much.Let her rip tater chip. I keep my trucks a longgggggggggggg time and none of them have ever burned oil or had break in related problems!Varying speed is a good thing though.

salem wrote:Just traded my 05 Silverado for a 2016 Silverado. (2500 D/A) This thing is so quiet it scares me a little.:) Lots of bells and whistles I'm slowly but surely mastering. The manual says to not tow till at least 500 miles are on the odometer. No problem doing that. It also says that during the first 500 miles of towing the speed should be kept to no more than 50mph. My first tow, in about two weeks, will be up a very steep grade. (for you west coast folks, up 168 to Shaver lake) Should I have any concerns that this may be too much for a first tow? I know some of you have said, "Drive it like you stole it" when discussing new trucks. I don't want to sound overly cautious (paranoid?) but I do want to break it in correctly. Am I worrying too much? I would love to hear from you new Chevy owners, or anyone for that matter.Can't say whether you are worrying "too" much, but given what we pay for our trucks these days, some caution makes sense. It's also really good to follow the makers guidance for break in, especially if you need to get warranty work done because you may have overworked the truck.

I believe you've misread the part when towing to keep it under 50mph. I believe that applies if you have to tow with less than 500 miles. My owners manual (Ford Power Stroke) states to have a minimum of 500 miles before towing. I personally like to have 1k miles before towing.Congrats on the new truck...

I bought my '05 Chevy dually new from a dealer 4 hours away. I got in it and drove it home on interstate at 75 MPH. I was going to the lake the next day and could have taken the old truck. But I decided I just got a new one, I'm going to use it. So, I hooked up the 4,500 pound boat and towed it 1.5 hours to the lake and 1.5 hours back. Then I finally got around to reading the manual that says not to tow in the first 500 miles and not to exceed 55 mph. Whoops! I now have 208,000 miles on the truck and it's been the most reliable vehicle I've ever had. Absolutely no rear end problems at all.I do recommend following the manual but in my experience I didn't do any harm.

The salesman drove my 2016 from Indiana for 13 straight hours at highway speed. I put 3500 more miles on it and then towed my fiver. No issues. I did get the oil changed at 4500 miles. A little early, but that is so we are ready for the summer of hauling the fiver.

New truck towing question | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

KD4UPL
Explorer II
May 15, 2016
I bought my '05 Chevy dually new from a dealer 4 hours away. I got in it and drove it home on interstate at 75 MPH. I was going to the lake the next day and could have taken the old truck. But I decided I just got a new one, I'm going to use it. So, I hooked up the 4,500 pound boat and towed it 1.5 hours to the lake and 1.5 hours back. Then I finally got around to reading the manual that says not to tow in the first 500 miles and not to exceed 55 mph. Whoops! I now have 208,000 miles on the truck and it's been the most reliable vehicle I've ever had. Absolutely no rear end problems at all.
I do recommend following the manual but in my experience I didn't do any harm.
FishOnOne
Nomad
May 15, 2016
I believe you've misread the part when towing to keep it under 50mph. I believe that applies if you have to tow with less than 500 miles.

My owners manual (Ford Power Stroke) states to have a minimum of 500 miles before towing. I personally like to have 1k miles before towing.

Congrats on the new truck...
1ofmany
Explorer
May 15, 2016
salem wrote:
Just traded my 05 Silverado for a 2016 Silverado. (2500 D/A) This thing is so quiet it scares me a little.:) Lots of bells and whistles I'm slowly but surely mastering. The manual says to not tow till at least 500 miles are on the odometer. No problem doing that. It also says that during the first 500 miles of towing the speed should be kept to no more than 50mph. My first tow, in about two weeks, will be up a very steep grade. (for you west coast folks, up 168 to Shaver lake) Should I have any concerns that this may be too much for a first tow? I know some of you have said, "Drive it like you stole it" when discussing new trucks. I don't want to sound overly cautious (paranoid?) but I do want to break it in correctly. Am I worrying too much? I would love to hear from you new Chevy owners, or anyone for that matter.
Can't say whether you are worrying "too" much, but given what we pay for our trucks these days, some caution makes sense. It's also really good to follow the makers guidance for break in, especially if you need to get warranty work done because you may have overworked the truck.
Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
May 15, 2016
Yep, you're worrying too much.

Let her rip tater chip.

I keep my trucks a longgggggggggggg time and none of them have ever burned oil or had break in related problems!

Varying speed is a good thing though.

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New truck towing question

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