Maintenance before long tow?

You shouldn't tow with you vehcile for the first 500 miles when it's new and not get over 50 miles an hour.You have 18 k on the clock and I wouldn't worry about a thing. I would go get it come back and then get things changed out if it bothers you. Keep an eye on the Temp guage and let the big dog eat. If it starts to overheat just drop down a gear and let the rpms go up . This will cool things off for you. This truck is a towing beast and likes rpms, so dont be scared to drop down a gear and let the big dog eat.:cheers:

Even with 18K miles, I would go through the break in procedure for towing as suggested in your owners manual.

At 18k I'd change the diff fluid for sure!
Don't forget to run synthetic...
I also don't see a whole bunch of break-in issues at 18k...

Just a thought here though. With the added load of towing, you will still be seating the rear gears more deeply. You might not want to really get on it too much for those first few hundred miles. Easy acceleration. Just my .02. :dunno:

I agree with following the break-in procedure for towing as specified in the manual. There seems to be quite a bit of talk with respect to heat tempering / gear seating of the differential gears when under heavy loads for the first time. Especially if you’ll be pulling 5,000 lbs or more your transmission will heat up easily on steep grades if you don’t down shift as well as your differential will heat up more than its seen in the 18K miles you’ve driven so far. I’d also recommend changing the differential fluid before your trip since it’s so easy to do.

before my long haul, i changed the oil, rear diff. fluid, and rotated the tires and was good to go, and that was around the 23,000 mile mark