How important is it to Break-In your truck?

I find it amazing on how many people ask for help and how to do this and that with their brand new truck. Do you not read your owners manual?
It is nice to hear different views but be careful OP on who is giving you the advice.

 

Owners manual is a valuable resource. And following it is always reasonable for many.

But never forget, for things like this, it's written by uber conservative engineers, audited by bean counters, both with the goal of JDPowers initial quality awards.

Real life is not measured by JDPowers.

Another perspective. Any used car we buy, it's a rare day you know the original owner and even more rare to know the break in procedure they used, the actual OCIs they used, the actual lubricants they chose, etc. And there are millions of them out there running just fine.

 

Lets be honest. Whether it's the lot porters, the managers loaner car he drives home at night or just a few test drives. I would doubt any new vehicle has been babied those first 25-to a hundred miles by any stretch of the imagination. I wouldn't let it idle overnight in my driveway or tow the max limit right out of the gate but I also wouldn't overthink it either.

 

My Tacoma was made in Texas so it more than likely made to my dealership via highway hauler car carrier and driven carefully on and off its trailer.

 

I'm following the manual on this issue. Why risk it?

 

No risk it, no biscuit

 

My Tacoma is breaking me in.

 

I drove mine with something like 100 miles on it from California to Massachusetts.

 

I’m in this camp:
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Never had any issues.

 

Agree with this, any new car at the dealership has not been babied.

There was a strong burnt clutch smell when my truck was pulled up after I purchased it. Asked the salesman if anyone at the dealership knows how to drive a manual........answer was "no"

 

Oh good, so they glazed over your clutch with only single digit miles on the truck? Idiots.

 

Lol . I have alway started my vehicles and let idle till the tach settled at least , never just took off .

 

I'll be another to confirm the beating they take before they see the dealer. Start cold, press gas at the same time dropping in to gear, then floor it, bounce on lot/grass/dock/car hauler/etc, slam on brakes and in to park at the same time, shut off cold. Luckily it's only a few times.

 

My truck had 1 mile on the odometer when I left the dealership, don't think it had too rough of a time in that period.

 

Never thought about that .

 

You would think that in terms of safety and longevity the aircraft industry standards for breaking in new or rebuilt piston engines could be used as a good standard. And that is somewhere around no less than 75% power over the first few hrs of operation until the rings seat and oil consumption becomes stable.

 

Well guess I did not break in my truck properly. Towed and reved the shit out of it. Accelerated fast, and went 4x4 on some sandy trails. Less than 200 miles on my truck lol

 

I worked for an outfit that gave all the foremen trucks and we towed tool trailer's and heavy material . We live in a mountain area and It didn't matter if the truck had 1 mile or 150K miles they ran them hard . They was all F150'S but no problems beating them brand new . My old school boss said to break them in how you was going to run them . Me I like to go by the manual .

 

We found the one guy that actual read the manual.

 

Just my .02 cents. I had a friend that did not follow the break in procedure on a Land Cruiser that he bought new back in the day. He drove it pretty hard in fact. Well, the engine had a major issue at about 5K miles. The dealer said that they would not warranty the vehicle since he did not follow the break in procedure. It turned into a major ordeal that he fought for a few months. Toyota finally fixed it under warranty but he was without a car for quite a while. Because of that I usually try to follow the break in procedure just so I don't have to go through the hassle if something breaks.