First Road Trip, Towing & Breaking In

[Matt42]

After sitting in the garage for a while, we finally got to take the office's new 2004. 5 3500 DRW on a road trip, which also resulted in the first (big) dent. We had to drive to Las Vegas, with a 6K lb equipment trailer behind it. It's to be used there for a while, and then returned.



So, as we were heading up the pass from Golden Valley to Bullhead City, supervisor driving (of course), I decided to have a look at the owner manual again. The truck at this point has maybe 700 miles on the clock, and supervisor has it in 6th at 65 mph. I note that the truck shouldn't be used to tow until it has 500 miles on it (oops), and for the next 500 miles, if towing, should be kept under 50 mph. I mentioned that to Mr. Supervisor, who replies (roughly) "Is that a fact" and kept on.



I broke in my 1996 in under very similar conditions. What's up with the HO? We got 9 mpg on the trip.

 

[GCross]

MPG sounds a bit low. The overhead is usually 1-2 miles off. Or, if you hand calculated there is the possibility that it didn't fill all the way on the start fill. These engines are tight, and so is everything else, and you pulled a trailer from the get go. The MPG will improve with a few miles. I'm up to 17. 5 empty with 5800 miles, started with 14. I have not had the flash for improved MPG yet, I'm waiting to hear a few results first.



-George-

 

[klenger]

The brake in period is for the rear end gears to break in. Your 6000 lb load isn't all that much, so I wouldn't worry about it.



Given that you were towing, and the truck is not broken in, 9 MPG is reasonable. There is a reflash for improved milage. Most who have had it done are seeing improved milage. You can see the TSB at http://www.klenger.net/dodge/3rd-gen-reference/tsb-18-037-04_pg1.pdf

 

[Matt42]

Thanks. I'll look into the reflash when we get the truck back from Nevada. The truck is a very basic one, rubber floor mats, manual windows & so on. There's no mileage calculator thingy on the headliner. There IS a headliner, though, and it also has nice cup holders and a place to hang a Wal-Mart bag for trash.



We calculated the mileage from fill to fill on one tank, so there's definitely going to be some error. Under the circumstances, though, we thought that 9 mpg wasn't bad. We were on a tight deadline, and keeping to strictly legal speeds, buit wasting no time. So we used all available torque on upgrades. We compared that 9 mpg to the 7 or 8 we got with a 1998 Chebby 6. 5, which labored up hills and tended to strand us in scenic locales across the West.

 

[LightmanE300]

Matt - it sounds like this is not your truck and the supervisor isn't too keen on your recommendations regarding it - so why do you care? Just curious.

 

[Matt42]

He Likes It, Too

Hmmm. I didn't mean for my postings to imply that my supervisor didn't care much about the truck. He was in many ways instrumental in getting the Dodge insetad of the competition. He also enjoys driving it.



The boss got stranded with me at least once that I can recall with the 1998 Chebby 6. 5. He also had to deal with the issues that the other strandings caused. (And he recalls the massive unreliability of the 1993 Chebby 454 that the 1998 replaced. )



He'd already made a few inquiries as to break-in, which were similar to the replies here. Both of us expect this truck to last until we both are eligible to retire. For me, that's not soon.



M