6.4L towing break in 50 mph vs 60 mph

[IDoMyOwnStunts]

First, a little background. I just got my new truck last Friday. I've broken my engine in properly for the first 300 miles and will have 500 miles on it by Wednesday. Ok, I cheated a little and had to tow the horse trailer for 35 miles, but kept it really light on the throttle. But now I can finally get to towing my toy hauler travel trailer (10k GVWR). However the manual says that the first 500 miles of towing need to be done 50 mph or less with no hard accelerations from stopped.

That's going to be difficult to do (the 50 mph part) on the freeways around here without big rigs crawling up my rear all day. Since the speed limit in Washington when towing is 60 mph for all vehicles, is 10 mph really going to make that much of a difference breaking in the 6.4L? What are your experiences with breaking an engine in?

Thanks.

[IDoMyOwnStunts]

Thank you all for your input. After consideration of your opinions and some research, I've decided that the most important thing to promote a good break-in is to vary speeds. That's what I'll do on the way up north. I highly doubt that 10 mph is going to break the truck, or even have any effect on it long term. If it does, no whining, but no more Rams.

I'll be travelling from Vancouver WA, to Olympia, then over to Elma. My wife will be pulling her first long tow with the horse trailer using my father-in-law's truck. I will be following her instead of taking the back roads. We want to minimize the time on the road for the horses since one of them is relatively new to trailers. Plus I want to be near her if something pops up. We have 2 way radios to communicate. The back roads would just tend to confuse her, even with GPS. She'll admit that she's a little directionally challenged.

In 2 weeks, I'll be heading to Leavenworth, WA for their spring food festival. I don't have to hurry then and will continue the break-in. After that trip, I should be good to go. Thanks again.

[IDoMyOwnStunts]

DownTheAvenue wrote:

IDoMyOwnStunts wrote:
This is what the manual actually says after the first 500 miles:

Then, during the first 500 miles (805 km) that a
trailer is towed, do not drive over 50 mph (80 km/h)
and do not make starts at full throttle. This helps
the engine and other parts of the vehicle wear in at
the heavier loads.

The differential makes sense. Also, I'm pretty sure what Ram would say.

I'll have to think about this, and that's why I asked for opinions. Leaning toward taking the scenic route, sending DW with the rest of the convoy (she's towing the horses with the Father-in-law's rig), and meeting her there.

What is there to think about? The people who designed and built your vehicle are telling you what you should do. Do you think you or a poster on this forum know more than them?

It is your truck, you should do as you please, and be prepared to accept the consequences with no whining!

How do I put this?

Have you ever heard the term, "It looked good on paper."? I have had countless experiences in my career with things that look good on paper. So, yes, I think that in many instances real world experiences do trump manufacturers' recommendations. In my line of work, things have to be adjusted and fine tuned to work right beyond anything the manufacturer puts in their service manuals. I'd rather have real world experiences. Yes, the manufacturer has insight into how the product is made and how it's expected to perform. But they don't always get it right and many times they are too conservative.

And as far as people on this forum, there is a wealth of knowledge gained from experience to be gleaned here. This isn't your average YouTube comment section. I'm not asking a question about engines and towing on Fark.com. People here have had millions of miles of towing experience in all sorts of conditions. So I will take into consideration people's opinions on this forum and that's why I asked. There are certainly a variety of opinions, but most people here who take the time to answer do actually contribute to the conversation. I can weigh them and thus make my own more informed decision. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be mean or jump on you or anything. I'm just relating as to why I asked here. It really isn't just a no brainer.

[Walaby]

Vanished wrote:
There are many on here that think they will go to jail for removing their mattress tag..

WHAT? That won't happen?!?!?! Dang... Okay... guess I can tag the tags off now.

Mike

[Vanished]

There are many on here that think they will go to jail for removing their mattress tag..

[KD4UPL]

When I bought my Chevy new in '05 I purchased it from a dealer 4 hours away. I hopped in and drove it home on the interstate at 75 MPH. It was July 4th weekend so when I got home I hitched it to the boat and went to the lake.
When I got home I read the manual. It said don't drive over 55 MPH for the first 500 miles and don't tow. Whoops!
The truck now has 207,000 miles on it. I've never had a moments trouble with the drive line or the engine.

[nevadanick]

Forever we have bought work trucks, loaded them up, pulled trailers etc from day one. Never had to replace a rear end, never blew up an engine or transmission until some had a couple hundred thousnad miles on em. I personally just drive em like i intend to. Do you do full throttle starts eveytime you take off ? Probably not.

[spoon059]

Is it a multi lane highway? If its a minimum of 3 lanes, I would just hop in the far right lane and do 50. Minimum speed is likely 40 mph, and you are allowing 2 lanes of traffic to your left for people to pass you. I would try to follow their directions as much as possible.

There is a reason they recommend slower speeds for set mileage...

That being said, I got issued my last police cruiser with 87 miles on it. I can promise you that I didn't follow any break in procedure with the engine or the brakes. The first day I got that car it got abused... high speeds, hard braking, long periods of idling, etc. 15 months ago I turned it in with 120K miles on it and it was re-assigned to a rookie officer and is still on the road. I'm sure it has over 150K HARD miles on it and hundreds of hours of idle time. Never had a mechanical issue with the engine, transmission or rear axle.

The police car was bought and maintained by the county... my truck is bought and maintained by me. I would follow the directions as best I could...

[jerem0621]

I'd just go...50-60 is reasonable and the truck will tell little difference.

Been buying used cars all my life up till the last few years...never had a single problem related to break in on any of them and I had zero control over how they were broken in.

What about when you trade it in in the future...will they ask you for a detailed list of your break in procedure? Nope.

Hook it up...vary the speed...and enjoy your new Hemi!

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[DownTheAvenue]

IDoMyOwnStunts wrote:
This is what the manual actually says after the first 500 miles:

Then, during the first 500 miles (805 km) that a
trailer is towed, do not drive over 50 mph (80 km/h)
and do not make starts at full throttle. This helps
the engine and other parts of the vehicle wear in at
the heavier loads.

The differential makes sense. Also, I'm pretty sure what Ram would say.

I'll have to think about this, and that's why I asked for opinions. Leaning toward taking the scenic route, sending DW with the rest of the convoy (she's towing the horses with the Father-in-law's rig), and meeting her there.

What is there to think about? The people who designed and built your vehicle are telling you what you should do. Do you think you or a poster on this forum know more than them?

It is your truck, you should do as you please, and be prepared to accept the consequences with no whining!

[blt2ski]

For some with the 50-55 in a 60 mph zone. Really no different than the towing limit of 60 on interstates, where the car limit is 70 imho. You go into the right lane, and drive at the slower speeds.

As I noted earlier, as some others have pointed out better later. The key initially is not doing a constant speed for a long time, but varying the speed during break in. No cruise, if in a pack doing 60'ish, speed up a bit, when the pack leaves, slow down to 55 or so. Then speed up a bit when another pack goes thru. Some of this will depend on if driing thru downtown Seattle or Bellevue. One could be going 35 in the middle of the day, or on a 2 lane north or south of Everett and Olympia to the state borders, or East of Issaquah towards Spokane on I90 where the roads are down to 2 sometimes 3 lanes. Few vehicles. So going 50-55 in these stretches is not as big of a deal as some will say. These stretches are also where it is legal to do 70 in a car.

Choose the poison, there is not a right or wrong answer, other than, it depends!

Marty

[mkirsch]

Hmm? When I say that driving slower on the roads is dangerous, I get beat up!

"IT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM IT'S THEIR PROBLEM!" Maybe so, but I don't want to get hit, especially in my new truck!

...and they will hit you, either because they "didn't see" you, or in retaliation for some perceived wrong that you caused them by driving slow. There are some really stupid people out there, and some really evil people out there.

Frankly, I would keep up with traffic where I had to, and lollygag where the traffic is lighter. Varying the speed is more important than the actual speed.

[SouthpawHD]

I have to agree that towing at 50mph on major highways can be a hard proposition to follow, and quite frankly, a little dangerous.

If it were me, I would be trying to find some sort of middle ground. Maybe towing at 50-55 on some back roads for a as many miles as possible. And then when hitting the super-slabs, start towing at 55-60 for as many miles as possible and start creeping up your MPHs after that. Maybe start in very early AM without any traffic. Good luck.

[owenssailor]

Well - I'd consider "when all else fails - follow the instructions"

[blt2ski]

Then there is me, hook it up and go! I would tow a 60, altho I would not use cruise for a bit, only your foot, which should keep you up and down on the speed, not constant rpm.

Marty