Ok...I know this will probably open a can of worms but I am curious just how many of you followed the manufacturers suggested break in...and how many of you did not.

I will say I am not a fan of easy break-in's. I am a firm believer that during the first 200 miles you need to correctly seat the rings which will give you more power and reduce if not eliminate blow-by from the rings.

I have stated before that I have used the Mototuneusa method for breaking in all my motorcycles and plan to do the same for my future truck.

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

I know that motors have come a long way and the honing of the cylinder walls of these newer motors is much better than it was in the past. Sometimes when I read these posts that say they get bad gas milage or feel like the vehicle they drive doesn't have the power they thought I always wonder how they break in their vehicles.

Now I know all too well that people do not want to void their warranties etc. however I am curious what you all have to say about the subject and how you have broke in your trucks. Give the website a read and see what he has to say about breaking in motors and let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance

Rob

 

Drive it like I stole it !

 

Same here

 

IIRC the only real guidelines the owners guide gives is not to tow in the first 1000 miles and not to drive at a constant during that break in period.

First off, no one is going to get 1000 miles from a tank of gas.

My first 1000 miles consisted of running my truck ***** to the wall tree top tall! It's been said here dozens of times that the six speeds learn our driving habits. Even now as I near 16K miles and if traffic safely permits, i run it hard during a trip to work or home, otherwise, I quite easy on it.

I had the first oil / filter change at 2500 and I've been on a 5K-6K mile dump cycle since.

The fella that changed the engine in my old '88 was a race engine builder. He advised me to break it in the way I intend to drive it. I ran the **** out of that new engine for 130K miles with nary an issue.

 

I just drove mine. I drive 50-70 miles a day on my commute. It is a mix of back roads, city streets and freeway. I just tried to mix it up a bit. Did it work, no idea but it was fun. Steven

 

Haven't bought a new truck ever, but I did a break in on a minivan recently, drove it like I stole it.

 

I will say this 1st in regards to the link, there are many who subscribe to those concepts, but I seldom hear about the longitivity of their drivetrains (as a whole) at the 10 year/150k mile mark...could be good/could be bad....and let me also say, there is a difference between a racing engine, locally built engine and a production engine in terms of machine spec's.......I can still remember my dad (40+ years ago)showing me one of his race engines (flathead) he was building and showing me the difference- he took a butter knife and was able to slide it between the piston & the cyl wall....as he put it, that's just about right, while we still have to set the rings, we want the gap to be a loose as we can get away with to reduce friction but not at the expense of durability, etc.

The machine work in todays engines is excellent overall and the components are essentally seated befor hand (which eliminates the web links directives)
But this is what I do with all my engines......

We drive as a normal person would, but without the use of overdrive, this helps ensure the variation of rpm's and allows me to listen to the drivetrain for "noises".

At 1,000 miles, I dump the engine oil/filter (to remove any residual contaminents/break-in particulates.....plan a 500+ mile trip on the freeways and run the engine at 70 mph+ with overdrive locked out.....

Done.

 

I drove it hard right out of the gate....engines don't like to lug around loaded up all the time....I got on it, let off it, got on it.....no steady driving at one rpm for extended periods. I didn't tow for approx 1500 miles but that was the only babying it got. At 1500 miles I changed the oil/filter and considered it broke in.



As for the warranty it doesn't mean jack to me, they always look for a way to weasel out of fixing crap anyway. I've put tuners in my last two trucks at around 3k...if the engine made it that long it's good to go fro the duration.

 

Drove my '11 5.0 normally, didn't keep a constant speed, or any quick starts, etc.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone...it is amazing to see a lot of you do not take it easy on your trucks. I agree with a lot of you that running it harder is the best way. I am not saying abuse the motor etc. I am talking about deliberate cycles up and down the rev range especially in the first several hundred miles.

 

Drive it reasonably for a few hundred miles... start getting on it a little more, varying the RPM. Dump the factory fill oil at 1K and change to a good synthetic... then flog the crap out of it.

My 09 has 105K on it, still runs like new with zero oil consumption. And I'm not easy on it.

 

I guess I'll play the mayter here.

My 2011 5.0L FX4 currently has 14,500 miles on her, and I generally drive her pretty easy. During my entire ownership of the truck the peddle has only been matted to floor on three occasions.

#1 - To pass a kid an old Impala SS who thought he could make a fool outta me. Needless to say, the only fool made was himself.

#2 - To show off the 5.0L's power to a Chevy loyal friend of mine who was going for a ridealong with me.

#3 - To hear how my new Flowmaster 10 Series exhaust sounded at wide open throttle.

Other than those occasions my trucks never seen past 3,000 RPMS. So far it runs fine! The only issue I've had with the truck so far was a battery that commited suicide prematurly, but the dealer fixed that quick and in a hurry!

 

I've always just made sure I varied the engine speed. Other than that, I drive them like I always would.

 

I drive down the highway, find a safe place and go WOT. I vary the speed, and burn through the gas. at 1,000 miles I do my first Oil Change, then at 3100 I do the second oil change after which I go to a regular Oil change.

All the vehicles I have broken in this way run better than the people I know with like vehicles that broke them in like they were driving to Church on Sunday.

 

To be honest. I'm no expert but from what I have seen motors dont wear out like they used to. I think once you get 150K plus on your 5.0 you are not going to see it burning oil and smoking, you are if anything going to be replacing sensors and electronics. My two vehicles prior to my f150 were great examples. 2001 nissan altima with 150k plus miles, it was not a hot rod so I didnt race it all over, but I drove it pretty damn hard. It leaked here and there and smoked a little when you floored it but i'd drive it anywhere. Next was a 2007 Lexus IS250 that had almost 200k on it when I got rid of it. Ran the crap out of it pretty regularly, did not leak a drop of oil and never burned any. The only problem I had with either vehicle were axles replaced(altima) A/C drain line clog flooding interior(lexus) $250 headlight bulbs(lexus). I cannot remember the last time I saw a mid-2000 vehicle blowing oil all over the place. I was raised by my dad/family that you had to baby an engine, but that is not true. Look at recreational toys like jet ski's and such. You can run a jet ski at WOT all day everyday and it will still last a long time.

That said I drive my f150 pretty normal. But if I need to pass someone in a hurry or am just feeling a little froggy I do not hesitate to stomp the pedal to the floor.