I'll bet it says to:
Wear your seatbelt all the time....
Change your engine oil every 15,000 miles....
Have trailer brakes for loads over 1K....
Use only dodge approved accessories...

 

I meant in regards to the topic at hand, break in........

 

I bought my 2004.5 3500 DRW 4X4 in Oklahoma and drove sixty miles and picked up a 3500# 24' enclosed trailer then drove 1800 miles home to Los Angeles. No problems at all. I towed the trailer at about 70 to 75 to whole way. I think the wieght actually helped the engine break in because unloaded I get 19mpg and the truck only has 8500 miles on it now.

 

You guys do realize that you dont have to go to St Louis to get the truck, You can have Tomygun's deal and have him dropship it from Mexico to a dealer in your local area. Same exact price. All you have to pay is a delivery fee to the receiving dealer( it covers the cost of preping the truck-washing, vacuming,checking all the fluids ), mine cost me $350. I couldn't even get a one-way plane ticket for that price, plus I then had the 14 hr 1000 mile trip home with fuel. I will be ordering my second truck from him in Feb and will be doing the same thing.

 

That would work. Most rental car companies allow one way trip. Call them first though.

Stay away from St. Louis for a vacation. It ain't no San Antonio.

 

Driveline break in is on ANY auto or truck.I even went easy on my new tractor!

 

Well said Sloppy! What is the big hurry anyway. 500 miles is just a drop in the bucket on a 200,000+ mile truck!

 

I spoke with Tom Chaney (AKA Tomeygun) earlier this week. The price he quoted me is about $2000 less than what I have seen around here so far, but that includes a $500 "Regional Discount" which only applies if you take delivery from him in St. Louis. $1150 is still pretty good savings though for a few extra phone calls! Now only if DC would get their act together with the Power Sunroof.

PS for Fat Framer: Since we're both in New Jersey, to what dealer did you have your truck dropshipped and how did they treat you considering you didn't buy it there?

 

I picked up my '95, went home and hooked up our 4,400 lb TT and took a vacation. Picked up our '98, did the same, bought a 5th wheel a year later. Picked up our '01.5, had over 500miles by the time I installed the hitch, and hit the road. Picked up our '03, also had over 500 miles before I installed the hitch. Hit the road with it and within 44k miles, the rear end howled and on our last trip out, it started sounding like it was thrashing walnuts. With my '05 Hemi powered Ram with the same 10.5" AAM that our '03 standard output Cummins had, I drove over 500miles with an occasional full throttle acceleration as per the manual. Installed my hitch, and started out 55mph. Here in Florida the thing tows so easy and people drive 75-80mph on the interstate, I was a traffic hazard so I crept up to 60mph. Narry a strain to be had sept for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which called for 2nd gear 4200rpm at 60mph. But still an easy task. When we got home from that trip, I checked to see if the paint was burned off the diff cover like the '03 was after our first trip out. It looks like it's never been hot at all after several trips out now. I treated them both the same. I think there was something wrong with the '03 from the get go. With the vibrations and hot rear end, it was doomed from the start. The driveshaft vibration could have been the cause of the early rear end noise too. It was too much to ask for DC to fix it. Point is you can break it in properly and still have a problem. You can have a warranty and DC still won't fix the problem. Or you can get a good one and hang on to it.