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Originally Posted by Paytheon
1. Should I do a break in oil change before the 7500 miles?
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No. The factory fill is sorta kinda a breakin oil, and Ford says it's best to leave it in there until your normal oil change interval (OCI).
Ford's recommended OCI is an estimate based on averages. If you are an enthusiast that takes better than average care of your vehicle, then when you change the oil the first time at ~7,500 miles, catch a coupla ounces of midstream drain oil and send it off to Blackstone Labs and have it analyzed. Mainly ask them what should be your next OCI.
Blackstone Laboratories
Then for the second oil change, change it at Blackstone's recommended OCI, have that analyzed too, and ask Blackstone if the OCI needs adjusting. After the third oil analysis you'll know your truck's preferred OCI with your driving conditions, so use that one for a year or so, then check it about once a year to be sure it hasn't changed.
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The reason I'm asking this question is I'm leaving on a 5400 mile road (round) trip next week and have 1400 miles on the truck already. I'm thinking about having the oil changed early but Ford is recommending changing it when I get back. Yes/No?
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I would do what Ford recommends. 1400 plus 5400 = 6,800, so do it when you get back and have the full 7,500 miles on the oil. Buy the oil filter and keep it in the truck, just in case the 7,500 miles rolls over before you get back and you can't find one on the road . Change the oil at close to 7,500 miles. I've found that Wal-Mart Tire&Lube Express will do a good job. The old stores with lifts cannot handle your truck, but any of the newer stores with grease pits can do it. They'll also have at least one brand of oil suitable for your turbodiesel engine. I use Shell Rotella T, but several other brands are just as good, including Wal-Mart's house brand of SuperTech.
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2. I plan on keeping a 5018 pound camper on the truck most of the time.
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Your truck has a GVWR of 14,500. Subtract 5,018 for the camper and that leaves 9,482 for the wet and loaded truck without the camper. Which means you'll probably be close to the limits of your truck's weight capacity when the camper is loaded.
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Is that hard on the truck? Should I pull the camper off and not place it on till I need it? (I'm in the national guard and will be using it one or more times a month. So I would be taking it off and on quite a bit.)
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I would take it off at least a coupla times a year when you know it will be a week or so before you need it again. It won't hurt to leave it on there most of the time, but the suspension should be allowed to decompress periodically so it doesn't take a set and then not be as effective as it should be.
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3. With a camper that's so heavy, is it possible to tow a 14' covered trailer that will weigh about 3500lbs fully loaded too?
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Possible, yes. But you'll need to be aware of how much weight will be on the truck axles and try not to exceed the GVWR of the truck.
A properly loaded 3,500 pound tag trailer will have a hitch weight of about 11 to 12 percent, or about 385 to 420 pounds. So call it 400 pounds. 5,018 pounds for the camper plus 400 pounds for hitch weight = 5,418. 14,500 minis 5,418 = 9,082 pounds max for the wet and loaded truck without the camper or trailer. And I suspect getting the weight of the truck down to 9,082 with a full tank of fuel and one adult passenger will be a challenge. So you'll need to be aware of fresh-water and holding tank contents. Empty the holding tanks before you hit the road, and carry just enough fresh water to flush the pottie until you get camped.
Plus stop at a big truckstop that has a CAT scale, fill up with diesel, and weigh the rig including driver and passenger(s) so you'll know how close to the GVWR you are.
But don't kid yourself. If your cargo trailer is a 7x14 tandem axle, then it probably weighs about 2,000 pounds empty and has a GVWR of 7,000 pounds and a payload capacity of about 5,000 pounds. So it can weigh a lot more than 3,500 pounds without oveloading the trailer if your sweetheart decides to haul more stuff in it. But more weight in the trailer probably means overloading the pickup, so watch your weights.
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