Guys, Picking up my new 2013 Lariat Eco this weekend. My wife wants to hit the horse trails with the trailer. I asked the dealer if I needed to get a few miles on her before I tow and he said no, you can tow right away. Looking for some opinions on that topic. Thanks,

 

Follow the recommendation in your owners manual.

 

not supposed to tow within first 500 miles......I have the 5L and of course I needed to tow before 500 miles, so I played it safe and borrowed my buddies 98 to tow a car 300 miles

 

Read your owners guide very carefully on break in and towing before break in. Your dealer would be the same guy that would deny warranty coverage if something failed while towing before proper break in took place.

I'm glad you came here and posted your question. Better safe than sorry.

 

If I remember correctly, the manual states 1,000 miles on the Ecoboost before towing. I waited until about 1,500.

 

I didn't have a choice. Towed my 16' loaded cargo trailer from day one. I took it as easy as possible. 35K miles later and no issues. Nothing I could do about it at the time.

 

There are varying thoughts on engine break-in. I don't think you'd hurt anything by towing immediately, but the owner's guide suggests waiting 1,000 miles regardless of engine. See page 283:

 

I waited for 1,000 miles, like the manual said. Better safe than sorry.

 

With my 2000 f350 I had 6 miles on it before I hooked it to a 4 place snowmobile trailer and towed it from MInnesota to Montana. I didn't have the truck for 24 hrs and I had 1200 miles on it with a trailer. When I got my 12 F350 I pulled a loaded skid loader trailer to the dealership with my 06 F250 unhooked the trailer, signed the papers, hooked the trailer to the new truck and drove away. The truck has been hooked to the trailer for most of its life. My wife traded her 11 F150 for a 13 Eco boost and I think the truck had about 150 miles on it before we hooked it to our 4 place enclosed snowmobile trailer and took a trip. We buy these trucks to pull and haul things but wait, you can't until you get 1000 miles on the odometer. I say go for it!

 

I practically towed off the new truck lot with mine! Next day after I bought it, we had a 1500 mile round trip with a 12 ft enclosed trailer with about 1500lbs inside. Now with 8000 on the odometer, I see no ill effects. If you make the tow, just take it easy.

 

heck when I got mine new the tires were out of round from sitting so long. felt like bad belt etc. after 400kms it went away, never felt again. probably why they want you to do some driving first. Take the mrs to a dinner in the big city or something. that should be reason enough right??

 

I'm with you on this theory, and used to believe this "Break in 1000 mile" stuff like the rest of the F-150 business commuters here. Then I started a business where I buy new trucks every 2-3 years because we put so many miles on them. Like my business and the countless others that rely on these trucks in day to day "hard" usages. We don't get a "Luxurious break-in" opportunity and in most cases I'm unloading an old truck and hooking up my new ones on the same day and putting them to work. To this day we or anyone else that uses these trucks as they were designed and intended to (Hauling heavy payloads or trailers brand new) has ever had a problem with their trucks because of it.

Even our local city municipals and utility services have a lot with 15-20 brand new never registered 2-3 year old F-150's & Silverado's there may even be a Ram or two in the mix. I've seen them pull brand new trucks out of that storage lot with 5-6,000 lb trailers on them. An old shade tree mechanic once told me the best way to set the rings on a truck made/ designed for towing was to hook a trailer up to it from day one.

Take that for a grain of salt, but remember these are first and foremost trucks and not cars. The commuter duty that I see most owners of these dressed up Lariat, Limited's, King Ranch & Platinum trucks doing is more harmful to the truck then the guy that hooks up a 6,000 lb trailer and "takes it easy" with.

 

^^^^^^

I agree with your post through and through. I had an engine put in my old '88 and the man told to break it in like I intend to drive it.

However, the thing that has people a little concerned in the blurb in the owners guide that states to wait 1000 miles before towing.

We all know it's not going to actually hurt anything buuuuuuut if it did and the odometer showed 900 miles and the dealer asked you if you towed anything and you very honestly said "yes sir", then Ford has yet one more loop hole to deny coverage.

 

Thanks for the replies. Actually did a slight combo for the first 1000 miles. For most of the miles I didn't tow anything and for about 150 miles, just towed my 500 lb utility trailer with maybe another 500 lbs in it. Took it easy but with only about 1000 lbs, I wouldn't say it was working hard anyway. So far so good. Best mileage empty was 23.1 and most combined is around 18.4.

 

I think the one thing I say you need to do is very your speed frequently like Tom posted above, especially during the first several hundred miles. (not even going to get into hen you should change your oil...lol)

The reason they set a milage limit before towing is due to these motors needing to have some time to allow the rings to seat correctly etc. The problem I have with most manufacturers suggestions is that they basically ask you to baby your motor which IMO is the wrong thing!

Like Pool said there are a lot of people buying these trucks and towing with them right out of the gate because they do not have the luxury of waiting for the milage. If they are not towing they are losing money.

So the problem lies in if there is a problem witth the motor when you are towing before that 1000 miles will Ford warranty the repair or not?