Brand new truck

[johnad]

Hello, I just bought a brand new base model GMC 1500. It's black on black 5 speed. I love it. I'll post pics when I get them off my camera.

 

I never owned a new truck before, how should I break it in? So far I have 50 Miles on it. I don't drive hard (yet) I haven't gone to fast (70 once just to see what it felt like).

When should I rotate tires? What miles do I change certain fluids?

Most importantly what is the best oil I can use for my v6? I live in Cape Cod, MASS.

Any other good tips i would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks

John

[99silveradoz71]

Tire rotation should be about 5k. I'd try to see if you can find a shop that'll do the balancing and alignment for you as well...a lot of them now are selling 5 year packages, etc on alignments. I did the first oil change at 1500 miles to rid it of any filings that may be left over from the manufacturing process. After that, it's up to you on the interval and oil you use. I've run Mobil 1 5w30 on my 99 since near new and change it out at about 4500 miles or so depending on my driving. The other fluids you've got some time to worry about them.

[facn8me]

Drive it like your going to drive it. No reason to baby it. IMO. Just let it reach operating temp before hammering it.

 

99silverado's suggestions on oil changes is good.

[johnad]

Thanks for the responce.

When do you think I will need to worry about balancing and aligning?

Thanks.

 

also whats the right way to rotate tires?

[atomoverride]

drive fast, and customize.

[Wingnut]

I am in agreement here.

 

Drive it like you stole it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You didn't steal it, did you?

[atomoverride]

I am in agreement here.

 

Drive it like you stole it.

LOL! thats some funny s**t. d**n STRAIGHT!

[phire]

I realize that this thread is very old, but I feel that it's lacking in substance so I'll add in my two cents for other readers wondering the same thing... How to break in the new truck?

 

Well, we start off by trying to understand simple mechanics of the combustion engine. We all know about the combustion chamber, the pistons, the rings, etc. What the owners manual will tell you is to baby it and don't go over 55 for the first 500 miles... Hog wash! In piston combustion engines, there are rings on the pistons that help the piston meet with the cylinder wall to make a good seal. They tell you to baby it so as not to hurt the cylinder wall while any metal shavings are being shaved off and the wall being smoothed down.

 

While this is happening, we aren't working with technology from the 50's and 60's where bored cylinders were sloppy and required a very gentle touch. These things are bored very nicely these days and while you WILL shave off some metal while the rings are smoothing down the walls but not like the days of old. Besides, these engines last for several hundred thousand miles unlike the cars of old.

 

Anyways, the rings require COMPRESSION in order to be pushed against the cylinder wall. The more compression, the more they're forced against the walls and the tighter the seal they will make. Now, the job of the piston rings is to prevent blow-by, which is basically compression blowing by the pistons which equals out to loss of power, efficiency and reduced engine life as extreme blow-by can scorch and warp the pistons... I don't need to tell you that this is bad.

 

Moving right along, as I've mentioned that blow-by will reduce power and efficiency, we need to do what we can to ensure that those rings form the tightest possible seal that they can, right? We know that they require compression in order to be pushed against the cylinder walls, right? How do we give them compression? HIT THE GAS! The most crucial time of engine break-in is within the first 25 miles or so. What you'll want to do when you get your brand spankin new engine is to let it get up to operating temperature and then do several runs with it near redline! Do this for about 10 miles, pull over and let the engine cool down (shut it off). Good place to pull it over is your garage. Change the oil while it's cooling (while it's still hot so as to get all of the debris out of there). After she's cooled off considerably, fire it up and head back out to some open stretch of road and repeat the hard accelerations up to redline. Get it up to a pretty high speed, at least 90-100 and then depress the pedal and let the engine brake the vehicle back down to a low speed of around 20 or so and repeat. What you're doing is placing a load on the engine and then letting it cool. The loading phase is what puts the pressure on the piston rings and the cooling phase, well, you know...

 

Anyways, make these runs for about another 10 miles or so and head back home and change the oil immediately again. You've just completed about 80% of the break-in process. The next 20% will occur over the next 2,000 miles or so. How you'll want to drive for the next 2,000 miles is well, however you want, but try to avoid cruise control. If you do want to use it, alter your speed up or down every 5 miles or so. This keeps the loading and cooling phase going which helps the rings ultimately form a better seal. After 2,000, there are no holds barred. Drive it anyway you want to, use cruise control at the same speed as long as you want... Basically, it's done all the breaking in that it's going to do at this point.

 

Oh, I'd reccomend another oil change at 500, another at 1,000 and another at 3,000. While a good oil filter such as a Mobil 1 filter is efficient at getting particles 8-10 microns, it will miss some and all filters will miss nearly everything below this range so it's a good idea to flush the oil out often during break-in for optimal longevity of the engine as the amount of these particles floating around will be at their peaks during break-in.

 

Anyways, hope this helped someone out. BTW, if you think my method of break-in is crazy, google around and you'll find pictures of breakin methods from both my way and the manual's way... Manufacturer break-ins are usually scorched and in some extreme cases, extremely warped causing bad scarring of the cylinder walls...... which isn't cheap to have a mechanic repair.

 

 

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that it's a proven fact that break-in methods done this way can increase power and efficiency anywhere from 2-10% ! While the manufacturers break-in can cause a LOSS from 2-10% !

[Mark_in_Tulsa]

The motor doesn't need really any babying time to break in. It's the rear end that needs to be be babied for the first 500 miles.

[phire]

The motor doesn't need really any babying time to break in. It's the rear end that needs to be be babied for the first 500 miles.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Well, with factory rear-ends they are manufactured in such a way that you can't really screw up the break-in process. After a while, the rear end will be slightly loose. If I were to build and install my own, I'd machine it to be a little tighter than specs call for because it will wear down quickly within the first 50 miles or so and you'll end up with a rear end perfectly within specs. The reason the manufacturers don't do this already is because it requires extreme attention to detail to break a rear end in if it's built this way. For example, you actually DO need to take it easy, definately keep it under 55 and pull over very often and check to see how hot the rear end is. If it's hot, let it cool down. If it's just warm, keep doing what you're doing. It'll eventually wear into the proper specifications and thus you'll have a tighter rear end that will last you much longer... however, manufacturers don't build them this way because most people wouldn't do this to break them in, it'd be a hassle for most, so just building them to spec right off the assembly line works best for the majority.