500 miles under 50 mph

[TBammer]

Sooo, I posted in an other thread about the new 2500 HD I just bought. Great truck, nice truck, could not ask for a better truck. Buuuut, I'm reading the break in requirements and it says drive 500 miles without towing. No problem, not my first new vehicle and I expected such an instruction.

It's the next part that got me, the manual says to then not exceed 50 mph for the first 500 miles of towing. :E Going to be some slow paced trips. Are they kidding (rhetorical, I know they are not)? That's my rant. Thoughts? Comments?

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

CarnationSailor wrote:
If I'm driving 50 mph in the right lane of an interstate and the average speed of traffic is 70+ mph, everyone approaching me from behind is going to want to pass me.

If I'm driving 50 mph on a two-lane road and the average speed of traffic is 60+ mph, everyone approaching me from behind is going to want to pass me. (Note: Corrected above paragraph since a two-lane road has no right or left lane.)

The percentage of cars that want to pass me is the same - 100 percent in both cases.

However, passing on a two-lane road requires getting in a lane where you could encounter oncoming traffic as well as traffic entering or leaving at intersections. Passing on an interstate is always done with the flow of traffic and there are no intersections.

I don't believe the only factor involved with safety is the speed differential. I think passing against traffic versus passing with traffic has to factor into the equation.

Consider this: California limits vehicles towing trailers to 55 mph including on their interstates. If I'm on I-5 where the speed limit is 70 and people are driving 75+, I am expected to observe the 55 mph limit for trailers.

Did the state of California make an incredibly unsafe decision when they made this law?

If you are driving in the far left lanes on any California highway towing anything you will be ticketed won't you? Trucks or vehicles towing a trailer are limited to the right two lanes right?

[badercubed]

CarnationSailor wrote:
If I'm driving 50 mph in the right lane of an interstate and the average speed of traffic is 70+ mph, everyone approaching me from behind is going to want to pass me.

If I'm driving 50 mph in the right lane of a two-lane road and the average speed of traffic is 60+ mph, everyone approaching me from behind is going to want to pass me.

The percentage of cars that want to pass me is the same - 100 percent in both cases.

However, passing on a two-lane road requires getting in a lane where you could encounter oncoming traffic as well as traffic entering or leaving at intersections. Passing on an interstate is always done with the flow of traffic and there are no intersections.

I don't believe the only factor involved with safety is the speed differential. I think passing against traffic versus passing with traffic has to factor into the equation.

Consider this: California limits vehicles towing trailers to 55 mph including on their interstates. If I'm on I-5 where the speed limit is 70 and people are driving 75+, I am expected to observe the 55 mph limit for trailers.

Did the state of California make an incredibly unsafe decision when they made this law?

I am not going to get into it, but yes, I would argue that California made statistically the wrong choice in having alternate speed limits for those driving on the same road.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_curve

[spoon059]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
By '2-lane highway', he's talking about one lane in each direction, not 2 lanes in each direction. There is no right lane on a 2-lane highway, thus, it is far less safe to pass on a 2-lane highway, versus a multi-lane interstate.

You are right, I mis-read it. He wrote 2 lane road, I assumed 2 lane highway. 2 lanes in each direction is a "2 lane highway". Only 1 lane in each direction would be a "1 lane highway" or "2 lane road". My apologies =)!

The rules of the road would dictate that you travel at or near the speed limit on a 2 lane road and pull off to the shoulder to allow traffic to pass if you are traveling below the limit.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

So when did the gear manufacturers stop heat treating the gears!? I can tell you that this is total BS "The concern is that early on they heat up from the friction as the gears mesh and surfaces harden. If the oil overheats the process is corrupted and can compromise the strength of the parts." If this was true then the gears would become annealed no mater the time. You can anneal steel anytime after it is heat treated. So unless the gear lube is reaching 1400* min (1550-1650) you will never hurt the gears!

Not sure why they are requiring speeds under 50 when towing but it has nothing to do with harming the heat treatment of the gears! My 04 has 210K now and it still has the same rear end as when it left the factory. And no I didn't follow the "no towing before 500 mile rule or under 50 mph" either.

Here is some reading on the Heat treatment of gears if anyone whats to read it.

[PA12DRVR]

Last new vehicle I bought (circa 2008) had the same instructions. Being a largely by the book guy, how can I tow for 500 miles at 50 mph without being bored?

DW and I took a leisurely weekend trip from Ewe-stun to San Antonio with the commitment to only go on FM roads. Worked out perfectly and, yes, there were several places where could have gone quite a bit over 50, but it wasn't required and made for a scenic and enjoyable trip.

I suspect there are several spots in Michigan where one can take a similar trip.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

By '2-lane highway', he's talking about one lane in each direction, not 2 lanes in each direction. There is no right lane on a 2-lane highway, thus, it is far less safe to pass on a 2-lane highway, versus a multi-lane interstate.

[spoon059]

CarnationSailor wrote:
Did the state of California make an incredibly unsafe decision when they made this law?

I have no dog in this fight, but do you really want to pick California as the example for an intelligent law design?

All joking aside, 55mph max towing is probably safer, albeit more annoying.

In reference to going slower than the rest of traffic, it really doesn't matter to me which option you chose, so long as you are in the RIGHT lane. 2 lane secondary highway is a fine place to go slower in the right lane. 4 lane interstate is a fine place to go slower in the right lane. One being safer than the other... you could make the argument for or against, but I'm not certain one option is better than the other. Drive safe and at the speed that you feel comfortable with... but like you said, stick to the RIGHT lane if you are going slower than the flow of traffic.

Stay safe everyone!

[CarnationSailor]

If I'm driving 50 mph in the right lane of an interstate and the average speed of traffic is 70+ mph, everyone approaching me from behind is going to want to pass me.

If I'm driving 50 mph on a two-lane road and the average speed of traffic is 60+ mph, everyone approaching me from behind is going to want to pass me. (Note: Corrected above paragraph since a two-lane road has no right or left lane.)

The percentage of cars that want to pass me is the same - 100 percent in both cases.

However, passing on a two-lane road requires getting in a lane where you could encounter oncoming traffic as well as traffic entering or leaving at intersections. Passing on an interstate is always done with the flow of traffic and there are no intersections.

I don't believe the only factor involved with safety is the speed differential. I think passing against traffic versus passing with traffic has to factor into the equation.

Consider this: California limits vehicles towing trailers to 55 mph including on their interstates. If I'm on I-5 where the speed limit is 70 and people are driving 75+, I am expected to observe the 55 mph limit for trailers.

Did the state of California make an incredibly unsafe decision when they made this law?

[badercubed]

CarnationSailor wrote:
I followed the owner's manual and didn't tow above 50 mph for the first 500 miles, but contrary to the advice on this thread, I favored interstates over secondary roads. My thinking was that those wanting to go faster could get around me more easily and much safer on an interstate than on a two-lane road where they would have to hang it out there against oncoming traffic.

What an incredibly unsafe decision.

Studies show that it is not the rate of speed you travel as it relates to the speed limit that is more likely to cause an accident but the rate of speed you travel as it relates to the average speed of the vehicles around you.

[tatest]

I bought a new car in a town 50 miles away in the 1990s, found a warning like that (not 50 MPH, but don't maintain steady speeds) when I read the manual after getting home. Also learned it wanted 89 octane gas but would degrade max performance to run on 87.

If you can do the 500 before towing, don't sweat the first 500 of towing. Especially if you can do 1000 miles of varied driving before towing. Break-in "restrictions" are actually a lot less strict than they were 50-60 years ago, but we ignored them back then as well. We did usually do the 500-1000 mile break-in oil change (seldom required now and 3000-5000 more likely) before going to the regular (1000 or 2000 mile) schedule.

With modern metallurgy and lubricant technology, the break-in period for some components will be a few hundred to a couple thousand miles, for others (engine particularly) it will be in the tens of thousands. However, today, there are no longer issues with break-in lubricants that allow fast wear then need to be changed, although my Dodge dealer pulled that one on me with a one-time need to change the axle lubricants on a 2004 4x4 vehicle.

And who, besides us OCD engineering types, actually reads owner's manuals? My daughter just bought a car with 137,000 miles on it, I was the one who read the manual. She didn't know she got one with the car, so she didn't know it wanted 89 octane.

[Passin_Thru]

Drive it like it's paid for.

[TBammer]

Yeah, thanks far all the offers, but I'll be handling the break in myself. :B

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Dadoffourgirls wrote:
TBammer - I have taken next week off as vacation. I will come get your truck this weekend, finish putting the 500 miles on it, and be willing to tow my trailer up north with your truck and not exceed 500 miles. I will then return the truck for you ready for Labor Day weekend.

Just let me know what time works!

What a great job description! Cruising around in other folks' brand new trucks! :B

[SoCalDesertRid1]

deltabravo wrote:

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
... because you were too stupid to break it in the way they tell you...

Not a very nice comment.

I'm known be a bit abrasive at times, and very to-the-point. I make no apologies for that.