Taking my brand new T4R on a road trip right away....

[LSUMBA]

I am planning to pick up my new truck tomorrow. I am selling my old truck in Nashville, TN this weekend. That is a 248 mile trip each way from Atlanta. So before I embark on this 500 mile trek, what suggestions do you all have?

Some believe you should not go on a long road trip before you can break in the engine. Others believe that today's modern enginies do not need to be broken in. I am thinking that as long as I do not maintain a contant speed for more than 20 minutes at a time, I should be fine.

Plus, when I get back to Atlanta, I will be ready for my first oil change.

 

[Koz]

Vary the RPMs and avoid hard acceleration.

Koz

 

[LSUMBA]

Vary the RPMs and avoid hard acceleration.

Koz

Do you think the 20 minute rule is a good idea? Changing the driving style, speed, etc every 20 minutes.

Also, how do you advise varying the RPMs? If I go from 70MPH to 80 MPH on the highway, the RPMs will not really be that much different.

 

[OUTRNNR]

The owner's manual provides some tips for breaking in the drivetrain on the new vehicle. It explicitly states to vary speeds if driving long distances. Read the other tips too, as I can't remember off the top of my head. I'm sure the truck will be fine whatever you do though...

 

[Mr. Lambdebois]

I picked up my 4runner in Kansas City. Drove it to St. Louis and then 2 days later down to Miami.

Just make sure you vary the rpms and not let it cruise at the same rpm for long periods of time and you'll be fine. 60-80 will be enough differance and at times you will go even slower due to traffic

I would guess the engines are run on a engine dyno to seat the rings but do not know for sure.

4500 miles in 2 monthes and loving every bit so far......

 

[LSUMBA]

The owner's manual provides some tips for breaking in the drivetrain on the new vehicle. It explicitly states to vary speeds if driving long distances. Read the other tips too, as I can't remember off the top of my head. I'm sure the truck will be fine whatever you do though...

Yeah, I am not paranoid that I will destroy the engine with a 500 mile jaunt to Tennessee, but I want to do as little damage as possible.

Thanks for the tip on checking out the manual for the break in tips. I will be sure to look at that when I get it.

 

[dingo]

You should be fine. As long as you don't drive too extreme and avoid jack rabbit starts. I'd be more worried about paint chips and those damn gravel trucks. Either way have fun and drive safe, LSUMBA.

You did lick the door handle and fart in the driver's seat like I told you right?

 

[Jeff Kleb]

You'll not have any trouble taking a new vehicle on a long trip. I had my 4Runner 1800 miles before taking it on a long trip through MD, PA, NJ, NYC and part of upstate NY. My mileage up until that point was varied - about 60% highway and 40% city.

I changed the oil & filter and then hit the road. I varied my speed quite a bit and did some urban driving in some of the towns along the way - sightseeing, etc. The 4Runner never missed a beat and I then took it to Michigan at the end of last summer.

Newer cars are not as 'finicky' as they used to be, and your 4Runner should perform well for several years and a few hundred thousand miles. Just don't abuse it a lot for the first 1000 miles, and it'll be fine.

Switch to Mobil-1 synthetic after 5,000 miles and you will be rewarded with good performance and excellent reliability.


:

 

[RickyCRX]

By the time you have a couple of hundred miles on the vehicle, it's pretty much broken-in.... Here's what I would do...

Start out the first couple hundred miles going easy.... 70mph or so.... Every once in a while, while still maintaining 65-70mph, just drop it down into 4th gear... This will get the RPM's up around 3,000 or so, which will be varying it... Once you run it in 4th for a few minutes, go back to 5th for a while... Just keep switching back and forth.

Also, despite what others have told you on this thread, it is NOT a bad thing to do **BRIEF** periods of near-full-throttle acceleration on a new engine. By brief, I mean no more than going through 1st and 2nd gear... Or no more than 5-10 seconds at a time. This will actually HELP the break-in process by seating the rings better.

Believe me, I broke in two new Hondas that way before and they were faster than any other ones that were broken in 'by the book' that my friends owned. They both also had no oil consumption.

Ricky

 

[ShadowRunner]

I bought my 4Runner in Richmond, VA and live in Charlotte, NC. The salesman knew this and told me to vary the RPMs (I believe he said every hour) I did it about every 30 mins. I am pretty sure he told me to keep it under 80 MPH as well. That proved to be harder than expected in some of the 70MPH zones between Richmond & Charlotte as smooth as the truck was riding.

I also got off the interstate to get gas (I really didn't need to) about half way to add even more variation in RPM and speed.