2012 4014LEV Velocity

[Bumper]

We are seriously considering purchasing a 2012 4014LEV Velocity for full timing and are wondering about tow vehicles. We plan on putting a Smart car in the garage as neither of us want to drive a monster truck when we get somewhere and most likely will almost never unhook the TV. We've been considering a Dodge Ram 3500 4X4 crew cab with 8'foot bed dually. Would this be a good safe combination? Any advice would be appreciated since we are newbe's to RV's and I have no doubt most of you know much more about this lifestyle then we do. We are both retired and now are 65, me & 63 her, years old. We've logged a little over 23,000 ocean miles on our old 41' Hans Christian sailboat but it's sold now and we really have no desire to leave the country anymore. But we don't want to just sit around and stare at each other or watch TV just yet. We are in reasonably good health but at our age we know that won't last forever and are thinking the Escapee Care place in Livingston would be a better place to eventually end up then some assistant living apartment. We considered a class A diesel pusher but haven't found any new ones we liked in our price range. And we do want to purchase new as we want as few problems as possible and as much warranty as we can get if we do have any problems on the road. We expect to put between 6 and 8000 miles on the rig for at least the first 3 or 4 years and then probably under 4000 miles after that, summers up north and winters down south. Or what is referred to as snowbirds. Thank you in advance for any advice offered.

[Festus2]

Bumper -

First, "Welcome to the forum". It would help us help you if you were to provide us with some weight figures and related information found on the stickers of both your Tow Vehicle (on driver door panel) or truck owner's manual and in the RV. If you can't access the sticker in the RV, go to Keystone's website and find the GVWR and other weight ratings of the Velocity.
Once you gather this information, post it here for us to have a look at. When our members have had a chance to "see the numbers", they will be better equipped to offer you their advice whether the two are safely matched.
Without knowing these numbers, it is difficult for us to offer any sound advice.

[SAD]

Any dually from the big 3 would handle that Toy Hauler just fine.

I pulled my previous TH (with Miata inside) with my dually and now my (lighter) RE330. Does just fine.

[rhagfo]

That is a big unit!
18,000# GVW and 42' is one big unit, the pin is listed at 3,430# for sure a 1 ton dually with a strong diesel is needed!
You might be better off getting a smaller 5er with a SRW 1 ton maybe even a short bed.

[Bumper]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

That is a big unit!
18,000# GVW and 42' is one big unit, the pin is listed at 3,430# for sure a 1 ton dually with a strong diesel is needed!
You might be better off getting a smaller 5er with a SRW 1 ton maybe even a short bed.

Can't. We have to have the 14' garage because we also have a Blue and Gold McCaw whose large cage as well as a combination washer and dryer (wife insists on that) as well as either my trike or a Smart car will fit into. A 12' garage would put the gage and the smart car touching each other and most likely result in damage to both while on the road. We're having a custom cage made to fit in the back seat of the truck while on the road too. The wife refuses to drive the truck and I DON'T want to have to do ALL the shopping when we stop somewhere. We've looked at quite a few 5th wheels and if we're to do full timing, which is the plan, this is the only one we both liked that fit our needs. Besides, I need that man cave in the back because we don't watch the same TV shows. I also smoke cigars and she'd have a fit if I did that in the main living area. This way I can put a big fan between me and the bird cage, have the back screened with the ramp down and not worry about the smoke effecting the bird too. We've put a lot of thought into this. Now someday, hopefully not too soon, we'll most likely trade to a smaller 5th wheel or trailer without a garage when we end up in Livingston Escapee Care in Texas but by then we won't even need a truck as we won't be going anywhere. And by the time my health fails to that point I'll probably have to give up my cigars too.

[Toy Hauler]

Hey Bumper,

We almost purchased a 2012 Dodge 3500 Mega-cab Dually for our 4014. Be sure to check which rear end is in your vehicle because a 343 has a max tow capacity of 9,600 lbs, a 373 - 13,300 lbs, and the 410 - 17,900. Only the 410 rear end will tow the 4014 with a dry weight of just under 14,000 lbs. Our dealer assured us the truck with the 373 will tow our trailer with no issues but a call to Dodge revealed they would void the warranty if we hooked that truck to our trailer.

[SmittysRV]

I recently traded my 02 F350 CCLB in for an F550 dually to pull our 4014. Man what a difference in the tow with the new truck. We stuff a lot of stuff in our garage. I weighed mine set up without toys, food, water, fuel, gear and clothes. I was at 26k combined. I think I'm prob 29k to 30k loaded down with all our stuff..

[tomsws6]

A very well equiped 3500 will handle it but for piece of mind Id go with a 4500 or 5500. You can get the Dodge all decked out pretty cheap considering and probably the same price or close to the 3500 cost. Or a F450/550 or a GMC/Chevy 4500 would all do the job.

[Jim W]

Hi I am a Ram (Dodge) person now used to be Chevy/GMC truck person only before buying my 08 6.7L truck. I am also a member of Turbo Diesel Register.com and have read about the new 2013 trucks coming from Ram in early January 2013. From what I have read the 2013 Ram 1 ton dually seems like the best truck on the market for the money. The new 2013 1 ton truck will have some major engine improvements over the older 6.7L engines. As posted in TDR by a Ram tech from a dealer who has attended a dealer seminar on the new 6.7L engine, also the 1 ton dually will have a stronger and improved auto transmission the Aisin 6 speed instead of the 68RFE as the older models. The new engine improvements are:

New crank damper
New camshaft with revise intake lobe profiles
New injectors and no need to enter correction codes
Smaller diameter water pump pulley to increase flow rate
revised pistons new bowl design and smaller diameter skirts that have been graphite coated in pick-ups
both c/c and p/up pistons get upper ring gap change for improved sealing
New cooling nozzles
New bedplate that reduces nvh plus acts as windage tray
new flexplates for the aisin equipped trucks
new dual branch exhaust manifold
Dual inlet system for intake air
Turbo actuator has higher torque and will be flash reprogrammable and replaceable
Up to 75 second time for grid heaters
4micron frame mounted fuel filter/water separator with wif sensor
3micron engine mounted filter/water separator with hydrophobic screen to aid water stripping
engine filter must be installed or will not start or run
Fuel filter change warning will be added to evic
pick-ups rated to operate up to 20% bio
C/C must be ordered with sales code xxj to run 20% bio

Ram will now offer three version of the 6.7L engine depending on make 2500 vs 3500 vs CC trucks. With the most horsepower/torque engine going in the 1 ton dually trucks with the Aisin 6 spd transmission.

So I would wait until 2013 to buy a new Ram 1 ton dually truck for your needs.
Jim W.