No longer have a boat. 33' Jayco Octane toyhauler with a Can Am Commander and gear inside, with a Can Am Outlander 800 in the bed. Outlander is 800#, plus the tongue weight of the camper. Overall weight is about 12,000.

Anything over a 3/4 ton may be overkill, but for the prices I'm finding on 1 ton dually's, I can still get into a nicer 4500 or 650 for the same price. Only concern on that would be how these are geared. Most of them are around 4:44 or 4:88 right? 4:10 would be ideal.

Located in Western KY, but will travel since there's nothing close. Not really looking for new though.....

yeah you probably need a diesel. I would take your rig in and get it weighed to see what you need. 12k sounds a little heavy, but it could be right. maybe a 3/4 would work. I dont know what your used price range is but in 2010 I got a 2008 F250 diesel, 4x4, Xlt, off road, extended cab, 14k miles for 30k out the door. I see alot of things in the age price range. used diesels are hot commodity on the dealers lots, but with the price of diesel and people shifting to 1/2tons because of better capability it seems as if diesels are not holding values like they once did.

I know need a diesel, there's no question about that. When I had my last truck, I tracked the weight of the truck empty (with full tank of fuel), and with the camper - hence knowing how much everything weighs. I used a 3/4 ton diesel (like I mentioned above) and it swayed too much. Some of that may have been because of the lift or bigger tires, but I'm set on a dually, whether 1 ton or bigger.

Truck prices right now aren't even close to what they were in 2010. Everytime I look up a value on a truck, it goes up. Used trucks are ridiculous right now.

thats really because all of these guys are going in 0 down on these things and when they trade or sell need top dollar back to satisfy their loan. And dealers figure well give him top dollar and hell back in another big loan and well make money off of that. And chances are they'll still sell the trade and make money as well.

Yeah I mean dually would work great for what you are talking. Friend has an 09 450 and it gets 9.5-10mpg not towing so there might be a sacrafice of a few mpg as well.

Know nothing about it just saw it on craigslist:
http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/3299705384.html

I had the same problem 2 years ago. Had an 05 Dmax 3/4 ton, needed a dually. Shopped the web and bought one near DC. Got an 08 w/24k miles, was around 40k at the time. Prices on used trucks, especially duallys, are crazy.
Was worth the extra $$$, no more sway. Hard to find anything in our area with all the gas drilling going on.

If you have a little cash in your pocket I found you can wheel and deal pretty hard on new vs used prices.

I was looking at used too but bought a CCLB 4x4 3500HD new at around $14k under full retail out the door. Trading another Duramax I'm sure helped too due to the strong trade in / resale value at the dealer.

Depending on your current cash in hand, I'd compare new vs used prices. You might find the lower miles pay off against the extra cost which might not be as much as you think when you figure out what a truck really costs per mile as it gets more miles on it.

If you go in a few days before the end of the month when the dealer is trying to meet quota (shop around to find one who is short) and be patient to purchase with the dealer, there are deals to be had. The last two days of the month if you found the right dealer they will be blowing up your phone trying to get a deal done and thats when the numbers start getting more attractive.

Not every dealer out there is meeting their quota right now. Some of them just need to move floorplan at the end of the month to make the numbers work with the OEM.

If you can figure out how long a particualr truck has been sitting on the floorplan that'll help you too. If you see 90 ish days you could be onto a winner. Those trucks are costing the dealer money just sitting there and the dealer wants to stop that bleeding.

New isn't for everybody, but if you know how the dealer game works sometimes new can look pretty attractive vs used.