01 What KZ publishes for the Venom
K. Z., Inc., of Shipshewana, Indiana, lists 6 Venom toy-hauler fifth wheels in its 2024 Venom brochure. 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 Venom models
KZ Venom · 6 models
| Model | Dry weight | Cargo (CCC) | GVWR | Tongue | Length | Sleeps | On this site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venom V3413TK | 12,540 lb | 3,460 lb | 16,000 lb | 2,310 lb | 40' 11" | 8 | Profiled |
| Venom V3313TK | 12,860 lb | 3,140 lb | 16,000 lb | 2,230 lb | 40' 10" | 8 | Profiled |
| Venom V3916TK | 13,400 lb | 5,600 lb | 19,000 lb | 2,840 lb | 43' 8" | 8 | Profiled |
| Venom V3815TK | 13,760 lb | 5,240 lb | 19,000 lb | 2,620 lb | 42' 10" | 8 | Profiled |
| Venom V3912TK | 14,620 lb | 4,380 lb | 19,000 lb | 3,170 lb | 43' 8" | 8 | Profiled |
| Venom V4013TK | 15,110 lb | 3,890 lb | 19,000 lb | 3,340 lb | 43' 6" | 8 | Profiled |
Read from KZ’s 2024 Venom brochure, 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 10 recall campaigns affecting this line. The earliest was reported 15 Nov 2016 and the most recent 29 Jul 2022.
| Reported | Campaign | Component | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jul 2022 | 22V552000 | Structure | An awning that drops or extends beyond normal operation can increase the risk of injury. |
| 2 May 2022 | 22V289000 | Equipment | A gas leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire. |
| 27 Aug 2021 | 21V670000 | 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. |
| 20 Jun 2017 | 17V387000 | Equipment | In the event of a vehicle safety recall, the missing production date may prevent owners from determining if the recall affects them, increasing their risk of injury… |
| 30 May 2017 | 17V347000 | Equipment | Without the copper pipe, the rubber gas line may be too close to the pilot light and get too hot and melt, increasing the risk of a fire. |
| 14 Dec 2016 | 16V898000 | Structure | If the door does not open as expected, there would be an increased risk of injury to those in the door's path. |
| 15 Nov 2016 | 16V823000 | Equipment | If the hinges separate from the ladder while in use, the ladder may fall from the vehicle, increasing 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.
Campaigns NHTSA files only under KZ’s separate Venom V Series are not counted here.
06 Owner-reported problems
Owners have filed 2 complaints with NHTSA about this line for model years 2005 on. The earliest was filed 24 Apr 2018 and the most recent 3 Jan 2020. The breakdown below is what those owners actually reported, grouped by the component NHTSA assigned.
What gets reported
| Component group | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 2 | 100% |
Most recent reports
The 2 owner reports filed on this line, newest first. Wording is NHTSA’s summary of what the owner described.
| Filed | Component | Miles | What the owner reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Jan 2020 | Structure › Body | — | Tl* the contact owns a 2017 kzrv venom fifth wheel camper. The contact stated that the slide outs failed to extend and open. The camper was taken to lloyd's RV center (7415 TX-62, orange, tx 77632) where it was diagnosed that the frame was flexing. The camper was not repaired and the contact was… |
| 24 Apr 2018 | Structure › Frame and members | — | The 2017 k-z venom 5TH wheel toy hauler has an issue with the frame being weak and flexing. I know of 3 of these units at one small dealership in athens, Texas (athens RV) that a have flex in the frame that according to information from several sources indicate that there is no fix. The frame is… |
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 (Venom): 28 floorplan-year records covering 6 floorplans and the model years 2016 to 2024. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 14,760 lb | 14,760 lb |
| 2017 | 1 | 14,760 lb | 14,760 lb |
| 2018 | 1 | 15,100 lb | 15,100 lb |
| 2019 | 4 | 12,310 lb–15,100 lb | 13,350 lb |
| 2020 | 3 | 12,430 lb–13,470 lb | 13,340 lb |
| 2021 | 4 | 12,740 lb–13,470 lb | 13,075 lb |
| 2022 | 4 | 12,630 lb–13,510 lb | 13,110 lb |
| 2023 | 4 | 12,540 lb–13,420 lb | 13,085 lb |
| 2024 | 6 | 12,540 lb–15,110 lb | 13,580 lb |
Year over year, on the same floorplan codes:
- 2019 → 2020: of the 3 floorplans recorded in both years, the printed unloaded weight went up on 2, down on 0 and stayed the same on 1 (median change +110 lb).
- 2020 → 2021: of the 3 floorplans recorded in both years, the printed unloaded weight went up on 1, down on 0 and stayed the same on 2 (median change zero).
- 2021 → 2022: of the 4 floorplans recorded in both years, the printed unloaded weight went up on 3, down on 1 and stayed the same on 0 (median change +25 lb).
- 2022 → 2023: of the 4 floorplans recorded in both years, the printed unloaded weight went up on 0, down on 3 and stayed the same on 1 (median change −70 lb).
- 2023 → 2024: of the 4 floorplans recorded in both years, the printed unloaded weight went up on 2, down on 0 and stayed the same on 2 (median change +45 lb).