Any advice on 7x14 14K dump trailer for my new truck?

[Lineman North Florida]

Well even though the OP has bought his trailer I'll throw in my thoughts.
I've looked and thought about dump trailers and came to the conclusion the one I'd want is the deckover with the fold down sides so it could be loaded from the side with materials on pallets or anything using forks.
View attachment 3803272

Lou, Who makes that trailer?

 

[Peter 315]

Lou, Who makes that trailer?

Looks like a Maxx-d..https://maxxdtrailers.com/d9x-96-deckover-dump-trailer

 

[LouNY]

Lou, Who makes that trailer?

Yes, it's a maxxd unit there are a few others that make them. Diamond C, and Iron bull also.
https://maxxdtrailers.com/d9x-96-deckover-dump-trailer

 

[Fxfymn413]

My Iron Bull has a telescopic ram which I like very much. But, if you are planning to install a hydraulic jack you will need to add another hydraulic pump since the pump for a telescopic ram only supplies pressure to the up side of the piston and uses gravity for the lowering side.

I used an inexpensive pump and jack which allowed me to add the jack for around $300.00 The additional pump easily fit into the existing tongue box.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Gotta say I'm pretty happy with the truck/trailer. So far I've picked up 15 yards of mulch x 2, which would be close to the ~11,000lbs capacity of the trailer, per load.

The truck towed it no problems. Like I said, I have a 4 mile climb @ 25mph which gains about 2,000ft. The truck was pulling it in 2/3/4th gear around 2,000 rpm. Not going to win any races, but I'm not holding anyone up either.

The round trip yielded around 8.2-8.4 mpg. Not too bad as 85 is under $3.00/gal here.

 

[dodge man]

I want a dump trailer but when I do the math it doesn’t pencil out. I just had roughly 70 tons of gravel delivered. Cost me a little less than $1400 and the cost of delivery was about $600.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

So a little update since I've hauled some roadbase and have actual weights to go by.

I asked for 5 ton, both times and the first was right around 10,000lbs and the second time was 12,000lbs of material. That put me at a GCWR of 23,420 which is about 1,600lbs over the weight rating for a bumper pull for my truck. The truck is right around 7K.

It struggled both times trying to pull those loads. I was down to 1st & 2nd gear on the 25mph climb. Which would be OK, but the trans kept unlocking the torque converter. Not sure why because I wasn't at WOT or anything. Just keeping it at about 4K rpm's in first. The trans temp started to climb at that point, but never got close to hot.

The other disappointing realization is that 10 ton of road base is only 3.5 yards. For some reason (grok) I thought I'd be getting 5 yard @ 5 ton.

So with that in mind I will be getting most of the rock delivered. Which is fine I have hauled a lot of mulch/compost and RR ties for my wifes garden project. In fact I'm yet to disconnect the trailer from the truck lol.

Also worth noting is that the trailer dumped every time, even when it was (over) loaded with 12Klbs of roadbase.

 

[dodge man]

Does your truck have tow haul mode? I’m surprised it kept locking and unlocking.

 

[WM75Guy]

Thanks for the update. It would put a strain on your truck for sure but that sounds extreme. A cubic yard of road base typically weighs around 2,600 to 2,860 pounds, which would be about 3.5 yards for 10,000 pounds. I could certainly tell when I had 6 yards of topsoil, at least 12,000 pounds of material, in my dump trailer behind my GMC 35000HD with the 6.6 Duramax/10 speed Allison combo. In Tow/Haul mode it pulled it without issue, running up through the gears to 55 MPH. Stopping was my concern but that was enhanced with the trailer brakes and exhaust brake.

I learned my lesson. I now limit my topsoil loads to 5 yards to avoid any issues. For reclaimed asphalt, 2,700 to 2,800 pounds per yard, I only get 4 yards. I have 11,250# of payload capacity so I am maxed out on weight, but it is only 6 miles to the yard to load on flat Farm to Market roads, no highway travel. I also upgraded to Hartland Load Range G tires after 2 of the Load Range E tires failed after a trip, fortunately after I got home.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Does your truck have tow haul mode? I’m surprised it kept locking and unlocking.

Yes, it has tow/haul and it was in in T/H mode when the TC kept unlocking.

I asked AI and it said the following. But I wasn't lugging the engine when it was unlocking. It was about 4,000 rpm is 1st.

Your 2022 F-350’s torque converter unlocks under heavy towing—especially on steep grades—for a few mechanical and thermal reasons, all tied to protecting the transmission and maintaining usable power.


Here’s what’s happening under the hood:

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1. Heat Management​

• When you’re towing heavy up a mountain, transmission fluid temps rise fast.
• Unlocking the torque converter lets the transmission slip a little, which:
  • Lets the engine spin faster for more cooling (water pump + fan move more fluid/air).
  • Spreads load across the torque converter fluid coupling instead of locking solidly and potentially overloading gears.

---

2. Power & RPM Optimization​

• Locked converter = direct connection to the wheels, which is more efficient but also harder on the drivetrain at low RPM.
• Unlocking lets the engine rev into its power band without downshifting quite as far, giving more torque to the wheels.
• It’s like momentarily letting a manual transmission driver feather the clutch to keep momentum without lugging the engine.

---

3. Preventing Lugging & Knock​

• On a long steep climb with a heavy trailer, lugging the engine at low RPM while locked can cause:
  • Higher cylinder pressures
  • Potential detonation (spark knock) in a gas V8
• Unlocking prevents this by letting RPM rise.

---

4. Tow/Haul Mode Logic​

• The Ford 10-speed transmission’s tow/haul programming is designed to unlock under high load to balance:
  • Transmission temp
  • Engine power curve
  • Vehicle speed stability
• The computer is very conservative on grades because replacing a burned-up torque converter or cooked transmission is far worse than a little fuel economy loss.

---

Pro Tip​

If the unlocking feels excessive or happens too often:

• Make sure transmission fluid is fresh (even under 30k miles, heavy towing can cook it faster).
• Check your axle ratio — if you have 3.31 or 3.55 gears and tow near max GCWR, the converter will unlock more than with 4.30s.
• You can also try manually selecting a lower gear before the grade so the trans stays in the power band without hunting.