Hey Ram 2500 owners..

[ronheater70]

My new ram says for proper break in not to tow any trailer for the first 500 miles.. O.k I can handle that, then it goes on to say the first time you tow, not to exceed 50 MPH, or any WOT from starting out.. O.k, easy enough on the WOT part, but WTH about the 50 MPH..By the time I get my first tow inin a few weeks I should have about 1300 miles or so on the truck..the first tow is 250 miles or so with 75% of it down the interstate with 70 MPH speed limits.. No way can I go 50 MPH..
How have you dealt with this?

[sellis1053]

I ignored it.

[2Evil4U]

I'd drive it normally, but just watch your engine oil temps. They run high enough in my 5.7 when towing that I installed a large Derale Oil cooler with a fan on it.

[B and B]

Don't drive on the interstate or play this song and ignore it ....

https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k

[HyperCamp]

All the above, great answers! Just ignore it, and use common sense. I've been in the Dodge business all my life, and have never known anyone to "break in" by these rules.

[MacDR]

X5 on the Ignore it...Love my Cummins also love the 5 year 100,000 mile warranty.. I'm on my 2nd DEF system with only 46,000 miles on my TV.. That's why I hate California... but I'm kinda a tree hugger.

[Kimber45]

break in? what break in? bought my 16 new in november with black friday pricing as the 17's were coming out. Was never told/read/heard about a break in. I had about 3k miles on it before I towed with it.

I dont believe break in periods are as important as once was with advancements in machining and tolerances.

drive it like you are going to drive it has always been the best break in policy I was told about (mostly pertaining to sport bikes when I was young)

[Iwannacamp]

I am not a conformist in any fashion, but if I pay 40-50-60K for a piece of equipment I will TRY to follow manufacturers instructions. Guess what? They know more about than I will ever know. If they use CG oil...I am there, etc... My opinion. Your truck.

Ohhhh I think never exceed deal is more important to NOT maintain a constant speed(meaning to vary speed on the highway like old people do) for a certain period of time/miles

[helicowboy]

I have had four Dodges, Ram whatever they call them now and loved them all drive them like you stole it. And I do delete kits to them all and chip them sorry California we do things different in TEXAS. No break in !!!

[Iwannacamp]

...one more thing. With the computers/electronics world out there now. They can access that information through the BCM/ECM of the vehicle. Towing? I am not sure it could tell that.

[rthomaslyons]

Originally Posted by ronheater70

My new ram says for proper break in not to tow any trailer for the first 500 miles.. O.k I can handle that, then it goes on to say the first time you tow, not to exceed 50 MPH, or any WOT from starting out.. O.k, easy enough on the WOT part, but WTH about the 50 MPH..By the time I get my first tow inin a few weeks I should have about 1300 miles or so on the truck..the first tow is 250 miles or so with 75% of it down the interstate with 70 MPH speed limits.. No way can I go 50 MPH..
How have you dealt with this?

Gas engines need more of a break in but your likely good to go. If you think that 50 mph is slow, do some research on trailer tires and rims and you'll find they are only rated for 60 mph. All the stuff you read on trailer forums blaming cheap tires is mainly caused by people towing over 60 mph with improperly inflated tires and overloaded trailers. I've followed a trailer that blew 2 tires on the same side at the same time because when you blow one tire the second tire is suddenly extremely overloaded. Travel safe, arrive alive and enjoy your new truck and trailer.

[ronheater70]

Yea, so my tires say they are rated at 75 MPH on the side of them.. which is of little consequence because I would never do more than 62-65 MPH anyway. But 50 MPH on an interstate just isn't realistic expectations..My trailer is only 1/2 the towable limit anyway, its not going to be a heavy hard pull. I think I'll just be as gentle as I can. nice and easy, no full throttle accels from stops, etc.. an on the interstate I'll just cruise along in the 60,62 or so.. I cant imagine having any issues.

[Joe-Barb]

Have 2013. 2500 mega cab 5.7 hemi towing Rockwood 2608ws. TV had 30Mi on it when I started towing TT. And have toad TT over 30,000Mi in the last 3 years and not had any problems towing 65 mph all over the states including mtn routes. So I wouldn't worry about it. Your truck will do just fine. In fact you hardly will know your towing only the gas mileage will let you know your dragging something behind you lol. Enjoy your rving trip.

[2Evil4U]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

...one more thing. With the computers/electronics world out there now. They can access that information through the BCM/ECM of the vehicle. Towing? I am not sure it could tell that.

On the latest gen RAMs they'll know. Mine has a mileage counter on it that shows miles with a trailer hooked up. It can be reset, but I'm sure its latent in the memory somewhere.

The 50mph on first tow is just silly though. What if I don't hook it to a trailer until it has 40,000 miles on it? (Like I did with mine.) They can't mean it has to apply then. I would think they probably mean if you tow with it within the first 500 miles, but it may not be worded properly.

[ronheater70]

Originally Posted by 2Evil4U

On the latest gen RAMs they'll know. Mine has a mileage counter on it that shows miles with a trailer hooked up. It can be reset, but I'm sure its latent in the memory somewhere.

The 50mph on first tow is just silly though. What if I don't hook it to a trailer until it has 40,000 miles on it? (Like I did with mine.) They can't mean it has to apply then. I would think they probably mean if you tow with it within the first 500 miles, but it may not be worded properly.

yea you really hit it in a nutshell, I mean techically a 5x10 utility trailer with 1000 pounds on it is being "towed" am I limited to the 50 mph then?

And you and I had the exact same though, I presented the same question on a ram forum, what if I buy the truck new, own it for 10K miles and THEN decide to make my first tow with it, is the 50 mph restriction still in place?


I think its a cumulative number, meaning, that dont tow for 500 miles, THEN tow only at 50 mph for 500 miles, so I'm thinking as long as you have a cumulative 1000 miles on there your good? I should be around 1300 miles or so when I tow.

[2Evil4U]

Yep. I wouldn't think twice. Might switch it to Amsoil at 1k like I do to all my vehicles, but otherwise, I'd run it.

[Hugeez]

On the same topic... I recently purchased a 2017 Ram 2500 6.4 HEMI. Do I have regular oil in my engine or is there such thing as break in oil? Should I have it changed before we do our first towing, which we plan on doing this weekend.

[2Evil4U]

For my 14 with 5.7, there was no indication that an early oil change was required. I just always do it anyway. If it doesn't say anything in the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual, it shouldn't be a problem.

[HyperCamp]

It is regular oil, there is no such thing as "break in oil".

[Stovebolt]

Drive it like you stole it. These vehicles today are made to run normally from the first day. The days of break in oil and all the other nonsense are over. The auto companies are just trying to get out of any warranty claims.