01 What KZ publishes for the Sidewinder
K. Z., Inc., of Shipshewana, Indiana, lists 6 Sidewinder toy-hauler fifth wheels in its Sidewinder brochure (filed in KZ’s 2018 brochure folder; the brochure prints no year). KZ prints a dry weight for every one profiled here, and each has a page of its own. It prints a GVWR for every one too. It prints a net carrying capacity for 6; on the 6 that carry both that and a GVWR, the dry weight plus the carrying capacity equals the GVWR exactly on 6. (How the data is verified.)
02 KZ Sidewinder models
KZ Sidewinder · 6 models
| Model | Dry weight | Cargo (CCC) | GVWR | Tongue | Length | Sleeps | On this site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidewinder 3214DK | 10,470 lb | 4,525 lb | 14,995 lb | 2,780 lb | 34' 11" | — | Profiled |
| Sidewinder 3517DK | 10,780 lb | 4,215 lb | 14,995 lb | 2,640 lb | 37' 11" | — | Profiled |
| Sidewinder 3511DK | 11,370 lb | 3,625 lb | 14,995 lb | 2,390 lb | 38' 4" | — | Profiled |
| Sidewinder 3610DK | 11,640 lb | 3,355 lb | 14,995 lb | 2,430 lb | 38' 11" | — | Profiled |
| Sidewinder 3814DK | 12,430 lb | 4,570 lb | 17,000 lb | 2,620 lb | 41' 4" | — | Profiled |
| Sidewinder 3914TK | 13,500 lb | 3,500 lb | 17,000 lb | 2,600 lb | 46' 6" | — | Profiled |
Read from KZ’s Sidewinder brochure (filed in KZ’s 2018 brochure folder; the brochure prints no year), 5 Nov 2026. “Not published” means the maker prints no figure; nothing is filled from another model, year or dealer.
03 Reading KZ’s figures
A maker’s published weight is for a base trailer; options and dealer-installed equipment add weight to any particular unit. The federal weight label inside the trailer carries its own unloaded weight, cargo carrying capacity and GVWR (49 CFR 567 and 571.120): read it on the unit itself before any towing decision.
05 Recalls
NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns affecting this line. The earliest was reported 21 Nov 2017 and the most recent 4 Jun 2021.
| Reported | Campaign | Component | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Jun 2021 | 21V426000 | Equipment | Increased propane pressure can enlarge the flames in gas appliances, increasing the risk of a fire. |
| 16 Aug 2018 | 18V540000 | Equipment | The incorrect information may result in the incorrect tires being installed, increasing the risk of a crash. |
| 17 Apr 2018 | 18V242000 | Equipment | If the awning deploys while moving, there would be an increased risk of a crash. |
| 21 Nov 2017 | 17V749000 | Equipment | In the event of a fire, if the fire extinguisher does not function properly, it can increase the risk of injury. |
Coverage is not complete: this list is a starting point, not a clearance (how it is built), so check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy and again before you tow.
06 Owner-reported problems
A sweep of NHTSA’s complete complaint file — every safety-defect complaint NHTSA has received since 1 January 1995, matched on NHTSA’s own model field under every name this site publishes for the line — found no complaint naming this line. Treat that as no report found, not as a clean record: owners file under whatever name they were sold, and a newer or lower-volume line simply has fewer owners to file.
How this count is drawn. A report is counted here only when NHTSA’s own model field names this line. What the owner typed in the description is never used to attribute a report: our line names are ordinary English words, and an owner writing “imagine my surprise when the axle went” or naming the state of Montana is not reporting a Grand Design Imagine or a Keystone Montana.
Read these as reports, not as findings. Complaints are submitted by owners and NHTSA does not verify them; no complaint here has been confirmed as a defect, and none of them is a recall. The sample is also self-selected — only owners motivated to file appear in it — so a high count tracks how many units a line sold at least as much as how well it was built. Use the pattern, not the total: a component that keeps recurring is worth inspecting on any used unit. File or search complaints at NHTSA.
How these floorplans changed, model year by model year
This summary is built only from the maker records this site holds for the floorplans this page lists (Sidewinder): 11 floorplan-year records covering 6 floorplans and the model years 2017 to 2018. Each floorplan page shows its own record and its earlier-year records in full. A model year with few floorplans here means this site holds few maker records for it, not that few were built; weights are the unloaded (dry) weights each record prints.
| Model year | Floorplans recorded | Unloaded weight range | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 5 | 10,470 lb–12,430 lb | 11,370 lb |
| 2018 | 6 | 10,470 lb–13,500 lb | 11,505 lb |
Year over year, on the same floorplan codes:
- 2017 → 2018: of the 5 floorplans recorded in both years, the printed unloaded weight went up on 0, down on 0 and stayed the same on 5 (median change zero).