Well it's been awhile since I've been on this board. I was here a couple of years ago with my 97' F150, then I went with the following vehicles:

2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab (Loved it!)
2001 Dodge 3/4 Cummins 4x4 (Loved the motor, hated the chassis)

and walla...traded in the ole dodge for my new ride...2001 Supercrew Lariat. Great truck. Anyway I purchased the Superchip for my truck today, and was wondering if I should wait till the engine is well broken in before I use it? Right now I only have 500 miles on her. Is it okay to put it in as soon as I get it (hopefully this week )) or wait a bit? THanks for any input you can provide, and it's great to be back.

Blake L. Bowden

 

You spent the money, Stick it in.

 

Hi Blake,

Welcome back! Glad you decided to go with Ford again.

To answer your question, we generally recommend having at least 300-500 miles on a brand new vehicle before doing any modifications. This is just so that you can make sure that there are no immediate problems with the vehicle that require service, and to a lesser extent, so you'll know just how your new vehicle performs. Since you already have 500 miles on it, as long as there are no problems with the vehicle, you can do your modifications at any time you want to.

Today's engines do not have a traditional break-in period per se, so that in itself is not an issue anymore like it was years ago.

Have fun & enjoy your new Ford!

 

Hey Blake, is that 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab you had the four door pickup. If it is, can you compare the 2 of them in the SuperCrew board. I'm sure alot of SCrew owners would like to see how they compared.

 

Yea...it was the 4 door. Was one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. I traded my 97' F150 after the check engine light kept coming on, and I had the door crack. Here's the specs:

2000 Dodge Quad Cab 4x4
Black and Silver
Black Interior
4.7L V8
etc.

I didn't have a single problem during my time with it. I bought my wife a 2001 Lincoln LS which she's extremely happy with, so I thought it would be my turn. I saw a 2001 Dodge 2500 4x4 with 35' tires, 5' Skyjacker Suspension lift, along with the cummins 24 vavle. Man, I thought that it was a beast. I had nerf bars installed, new tailights, bumpers, rhino liner, etc. Spent about $2000 on it. For some reason the suspension in the front was screwed. If I went over a bump the entire truck would shake VIOLENTLY to where you couldn't steer...all you could do was slam on the brakes. It felt like having 1 loose lug nut per tire, no shocks, and dual flats. It was horrifying! I was told the rams have a very poor trackbar. I had it all check out and replaced the track bar ($350), tie rods ($250), and replaced the single steering stabilizer with a dual Skyjacker one ($200). After all that work I was driving down the road at 70MPH and the same thing happened!! Dammit! I pulled over, and my steering stabilizer was bent, and my tie rods could be rocked by hand a good 2'. I said to hell with that. I've replaced everything a 4x4 shop said, and the manufacturer (Skyjacker). I "patched" it up, took it to a ford place, and crossed my fingers that they would give me a decent trade in and hopefully not test drive that POS. Well, after getting accepted through FordMoCredit I got my new 2001 screw. Here's the pro's and con's compared to my previous-previous Dakota:

Dakota:
Pro's: Great chassis, excellent power, good gas mileage, roomy for a midsize

Con's: Can't pull a big travel trailer, little bumpy, dodge makes it, questionable quality. My 2 tone paint has some "overspray". The silver bottom looked like it was masked poorly.


Super Crew:
Pro's: Love the ford interior, Power, excellent, excellent, excellent room, hauls good, like an expedition with a pickup bed. What more could you ask?

Con's: Kind of an "older" person truck, previous issues with the F150 platform ie cracks, poor paint. Kinda flaky over bumps. Drivers side seat sucks. The left edge sticks up alot farther than the right side, even compared to the passenger seat. Can't wait till the leather starts breakin down. And those annoying "rust" spots on my new white truck...argh.


I wanted a SUV, but I NEED a pickup, so for the money I decided to go with the Screw. I looked at an F250, but it rode pretty harsh, and the interior was...well...crappy looking.

 

Hi Blake,

Very informative post, descriptive comparison, etc., thanks for the info. I'm sure a number of us here will appreciate those comments.

Sorry to hear you had such a fiasco with that lifted 2500, sounds like a complete unmitigated disaster, ouch! Lucky you didn't have an accident, it sounds like.

Well, you're back in a Ford now, so hopefully things are looking up a bit, at least, we're certainly happy to see you back here with us!