krugford
New member
Full load, in this context, is the rated torque output of the engine at it's rated speed. Rated speed being the advertised speed where the advertised power rating is defined. These are not what most people would consider "normal" operating speeds and loads. It's shockingly difficult to actually achieve full power utilization on a vehicle for extended periods of time. For instance, take a inline 6 cylinder diesel engine rated for say, 350hp at 2800rpm. I'm going to bring it to 2800rpm and full load on the base fueling curve and then adjust to produce 350hp. Every engine is slightly different, so they all get a slight bump up or down to achieve the advertised power. Once that's done, it's out the door for the next one on the line.
As for why the manual instructs a break-in period? The only answer I have is that the people writing the manuals are pretty far removed from the people designing the engines, and a break-in period isn't really going to hurt anything. Well, that is until you get the rare engine with it's tolerance stack up near the limits and it doesn't seat it's rings in a reasonable amount of time given it's load profile...
It's a debated topic, even within engineering circles, and there's a lot of what I would call "entrenched opinions" on the topic on both sides of the fence. A break-in period is absolutely a thing, parts have to wear into each other when they're brand new. The actual method of break-in however is the debate. I know what I do and recommend, and although I have torn down quite a few complete engines, what I've seen and what I will personally own will only represent a small number of new engines in my lifetime.
Putting 800lbs into the bed of a new truck? I wouldn't think twice about it from a load perspective. Even from a gearing perspective, it's still not that much additional load relative to what the truck is designed for.
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