Got a new 2018 Nissan Titan XD in late January. The truck only has 2,600 miles on it now. We are going camping this weekend with a 25ft Airstream travel trailer. The trailer weighs around 7k dry. Im wondering if I should change the oil in the truck before putting 300 miles of towing on it?

I would make the first oil change early, then each 3,000. Definitely change the oil before the next trip. Always use a high quality oil filter, for oil I prefer Chevron Delo for longest engine life.

The manufacture will tell you that you don't need to but it certainly can't hurt. For piece of mind I always do my first oil change at 1000 miles.

You probably don't need to these days, but I always do my first oil change at about 500 miles. The theory is that all the sharp microscopic metal ridges are broken off the cylinder walls, bearings, rings, and other moving parts, and are floating around in the new oil. Changing it after break-in (about 500 miles) gets rid of the particles and avoids premature wear.

These particles are so tiny they can only be seen in an electron microscope, so it probably doesn't matter, but it's cheap insurance to me.

I would check the manual. New vehicles oil change frequency in much greater then it used to be. Some calling for 10,000 or 15,000 change frequency.

Your towing with it so will want to change it more often then if you didn't tow.

I think it also depends on oil. Synthetic or not.

At 2600 and a 300-mile trip I wouldn't worry about it but check the manual.

I think the manual calls for an oil change every 7k.

Let the truck tell you when the oil needs to be changed. It will do its calculations based on your usage and send you hate mail via the dash when its time.

I, similar to Intrepid, do an initial "break-in" oil change by 1000 miles and then after that every 3K. To answer your question, I would change it before the trip.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
The manufacture will tell you that you don't need to but it certainly can't hurt. For piece of mind I always do my first oil change at 1000 miles.

Did this too. I run some commercial mowing equipment, and always do a break in oil change early. Open up a oil filter from its first oil change, and you can find "glitter". All the break in metal fragments.

There is no question that the break in oil that comes in a new vehicle has a measurably higher amount of wear material, in parts per million, than the oil in an engine that is broken in.

This is not speculation, it is a fact, proven by lots of used oil analysis that I have done on my vehicles and others.

What I cannot say factually is how significant this additional metal is. In theory, anything large enough to cause engine wear should be caught by the filter - and the additional metal that shows up in a used oil analysis is too small to do anything significant.

So chances are, you really don't need to change the oil, as long as the oil is the right quality, viscosity, and is changed with the right interval specified in the manual for the type of service it is in.

Having said that, I change break in oil early in my personal vehicles, even though I really can't prove it's better to do so. It gives me piece of mind.

If it was me, I’d change it.

Change the oil. It's only money.

I always change mine within 1000 miles. The filter won’t catch all of the small metal pieces from break in. I don’t have pics but every new car/truck I’ve owned had particles in the oil when I examined the old oil in the drain pan.

Most Owners Manuals state 2 schedules. One for normal duty and one for Heavy duty service. IIRC /Towing usually put it in the heavy service class and requires shorter oil change intervals...

At the recommendation of the machine shop that did the machine work for me... the last engine I built, got changed at...

45 minuets at 2k RPM
500 miles
1,500 miles
3,000 miles
Then 3k to 5k afterwards.

After personally talking to an engineer at the Mazda Factory about it, he said there was no special oil in a new Mazda, and no spacial additives for break-in were added. He also said that there was no harm whatsoever in changing it early, so my last new car got changed at...
1,500
3,000
6,000
10,000
All using the official Mazda oil and filters until the warranty is out.

I guess you can figure which camp I fall in...

Break in oil may be of a different viscosity than normal. Prelube and metal particles wouldn't help the bearings either.

Will you still own it 300,000 miles from now when it might make a difference? Will the engine be the item that likely quits first with or without the early oil changes? I get that it's a cynical question but really, how likely are you to benefit from this expense?

A selling tool for dealers is to point out how far the vehicle will go between oil changes. Some people buy into that, end result is that the engine lasts a semi-reasonable amount of time and dealers sell more cars.

If you can get 50,000 or more miles out of an engine by frequent oil changes, why not do it. It will run better at a given interval than a vehicle with less maintenance.

I was a mechanic for 25 years, and have a fairly good understanding about engine wear.

I think your towing is a factor here. If I was towing anything regularly, I would exceed the manufactures guidelines for oil changes. My Silverado uses synthetic oil and has a long duration between oil changes. Since I dont tow, I keep to manufacturers specs.

If you are changing it yourself and have selected a special elixir and filter, go for it. If you’re having it changed, just wait because what goes in may not be as good as what’s in there.

I like to change out the break in oil fairly early. I would change it out before the trip.