My '08 has less that 200 miles on it now. Driving company vehicle all day, can't drive it enough at night to put any miles on it. Dealer says vary throttle, don't use cruise for 3000 miles don't go over 60mph for first 1000 miles, and change oil at 3000. Sounds a little high doesn't it? Anyway, how many miles should I have on it before I tow some weight with it? Planning on pulling a 31ft camper (loaded around 8500lbs) in two weeks. Will I be safe doing this if I only have 500-700 miles on it? By the way, I'm pulling it to the mountains, about 200 miles each way from here. Secondly, how many miles should I put on it before I put a programmer on it? I've heard if you do it too soon it won't break in properly. I've heard as much as 10K miles???? Dealer didn't seem to know all that much. I have friends that say "drive it like you stole it" but I don't think I'm going that route. What's your expert opinions?? Thanks.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123484

Thats a good start...Years worth of discussion on this with widely varied opinions.

Everybody that I have known with a Duramax has waited until 500 miles before towing, going over 55, etc. About a half dozen of us. We're all between 50k and 100k miles and no problems.

some posted this a while back... i did it with my elky after i dropped the 427 in...not sure if it applies to diesels and the parts though....


http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

My manual says 500 miles before towing. I wasn't able to do that with my new truck. I bought it right before Labor Day and had camping reservations out of state. Although I was apprehensive about it, I hitched up my 10,000 lb trailer with just over 200 miles on it. So far, so good. No worse for wear. Maybe something will rear it's ugly head down the road, I don't know... I wouldn't recommend doing this if you don't have to, but for me it was either tow with low miles or stay home.

Got my truck one week before heading out on my vacation. Manual says 500 miles before towing anything, so I put 800 miles on... just the way it worked out for me.
I just returned from 3200 mile trip towing my trailer with no problems. Runs and sounds great.

Thanks guys. Blueheron & Z71, how do you like the integrated brake controller? I'm used to Voyager and Prodigy. Does the factory one work good? Also, if you can tow after 500 miles, is it safe to get into the throttle pretty good at that point too? Right now I'm babying it and haven't had it over 1500rpms (only 240 miles on it). When would it be considered fully broken in?? I've heard it takes several thousands miles for that to happen. Thanks again.

The integrated brake controller worked great. Very similar to my old Prodigy. Just took a few minutes to dial it in, but after that, smooth sailing. I believe the manual says 500 miles for the break-in, so I guess that means you can put your foot into it a bit at that point. Good luck keeping the RPM's under 1500 when you're hitched up. I guess I did everything wrong because not only did I tow with about 200 miles on the truck, I was well into the 2,000's and over 60MPH a good part of the time. I babied my '04 with good results during the break-in and actually was getting real good mileage (finally) when I traded it in.