mtofell
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2014
- Posts
- 2,648
- Reaction score
- 2,293
- Ram Year
- 2014
- Engine
- Hemi 6.4
I have regeared a few 4x4 and the issue is the gears need to polish and wear in the surfaces. There’s a lot of heat generated in the initial miles, decreasing as they wear in. To some extent towing heavy would change the wear pattern slightly and be a do over if you will of the initial break in.
I use an IR temperature gun to observe the temps on fresh gear sets and it’s remarkable how hot they can get in the first hundred miles. 200+ easily.
If I was towing something smaller like a utility trailer after the initial 500 then IMO it’s insignificant and I’d just saddle up and roll.
On the other hand with brand new trucks pulling larger gooseneck or fifth wheels I’m fairly observant of the factory recommended process. It’s not really difficult to take secondary roads for the first 500 miles in most cases, and save the interstate for later.
YMMV
This makes a lot of sense - the manual give a "one size fits all" for towing and there is obviously quite a variation in trailer size. I'd say the larger the trailer, the closer you should adhere to the manual.