How to break in a new truck

Used to work with a guy who advocated taking a ball peen hammer and giving the fender a good whack any time you buy a new vehicle. Dings are inevitable...and now you can quit worrying about when/where that first one is going to happen.

Take it for what it's worth, though...he drove around in an old POS.

 

Driving home from the dealer with my brand new pete I heard a rock nail the back of the sleeper while doing 75mph. Had 15 miles on the odo.

 

Not new anymore. You can now drive relaxed. That sucks big time (the rock thing).

 

Do not baby it
The piston rings need to seat properly so it won't be an oil burner. Need heat to do it. For mine, I noticed a marked difference as the motor seemed to loosen up around 100,000 miles. Fuel mileage improved about .5 compared to new and the rpm doesn't drop off as fast as when it was new. So far, only at about 190,000 miles, and it burns maybe .5 gallon of oil between changes of approximately 15,000-18,000 miles. Using shell rotella 15w40 dino oil.

 

Yea but its a side effect of big open lug drivers and only running 1/4 fenders and living up here in the northwest. Lots of dirt/gravel lots and roads.

 

About any tire will chuck a rock at the absolute worst moment.