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sheridany · 05-22-2019, 12:21 AM

Hi RB,
i had to input the addresses as those two campgrounds were not in my db searchable on the CG name. Nevertheless, it would appear that it avoided the underpass you referenced earlier as it sends you out a long way to the end point. See image from iphone photo.

Go West on Lindhe Ave
Turn Right on Meade St
Turn left on Montana Ave
Turn right on US 2
Take roundabout to 3rd exit
Take third exit to US 89
Turn onto road towards East Glacier
Turn right on Hwy 49
Arrive at destination @ 1023 Hwy 49 on right.

Important disclosure: I do have the height limits loaded on the Garmin from the POI factory. Not sure if this made the difference or not.

redbaron73 · 05-22-2019, 04:18 AM

That is amazing.

The road it is sending you down is not legal for anything over 21ft. It is worse than needles highway.

vettenuts · 05-22-2019, 06:34 AM

I am currently GPS shopping so find this thread very informative. Would love to see someone with the Sygic truck GPS and the Garmin 770 run the above scenario in East Glacier. I currently have Copilot but they removed the RV configuration forcing me to buy the annual license. Hence looking at other options before making a decision. The Garmin is high on my list.

Boomer · 05-22-2019, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redbaron73

In the example I gave from East Glacier, there is no safe route to get to that park with the profile I have setup. I would expect a warning on the GPS while I was planning the trip to tell me that.

I was surprised that RVTripWizard did not give such a warning. This is the best time to use the phrase "You cannot get there from here"

All of this planning software and GPS routing is only as good as the data that can be obtained by the software at the time of the routing. Not making any excuses (excuses don't help if you run into a bridge) but I doubt you will find anything out there that is perfect. I, for one, really appreciate what you are doing here and am impressed with your ability to even find these situations, especially the 'can't get there from here' case.
I am going to send this information to RVTripwizard people to see what they say.

A word of caution however, even if RV Trip Wizard caught the problem, there is no guarantee that a GPS unit would steer you away, but you would at least be aware of it.

redbaron73 · 05-22-2019, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomer

All of this planning software and GPS routing is only as good as the data that can be obtained by the software at the time of the routing. Not making any excuses (excuses don't help if you run into a bridge) but I doubt you will find anything out there that is perfect. I, for one, really appreciate what you are doing here and am impressed with your ability to even find these situations, especially the 'can't get there from here' case.
I am going to send this information to RVTripwizard people to see what they say.

A word of caution however, even if RV Trip Wizard caught the problem, there is no guarantee that a GPS unit would steer you away, but you would at least be aware of it.

I agree no software is going to handle all situations. I am trying to decide if a garmin is worth it for me. Based on the evidence, Garmin is not going to be the magical solution.

As I have said in other posts, we tend to "wander" travel with a destination in mind, but not a route. We like to take off on state highways and lesser traveled roads and explore.

Usually being observant is good enough. Looking at an overview map helps and so does Google earth.

There have been many times where we have sent a driver a head in a toad to check out the path we are about to take. Especially on BLM lands. Dirt roads from satellite all look the same. What you need to know is can a 43ft motorhome do it without damaging it or the contents.

The Garmin appears to be a great unit, but it does not replace other safety precautions.

One of the major reasons I started this thread was to make people aware of times it will fail. That way you know what to look for while planning your trips.

What I find interesting on the rout Garmin took is they clearly are avoiding certain damage, being the underpass, while not alerting you to the danger of routing you on a weight and length restricted road that has many sharp turns that a large vehicle simply cannot do. An observant driver would see the many signs warning of this fact, and hopefully wont believe the GPS knows better.

sheridany · 05-22-2019, 09:34 AM

Having been in the wrong place twice that could have been very bad I learned the hard way without a really bad outcome. Garmin is not bulletproof as it recently routed me to a rv resort in Paso Robles that ended on a dirt road and a gate with no access. Unhook and back out was the only way. I sent the map error to Garmin and weeks later they responded with the following:
/*
Thanks for the report and I apologize for the delayed response.

Our data provider has made this update to the maps. We do not have the road listed as a through road, this update will be available in a future release.
*/

Nothing is perfect so I keep a binder in my rig with pages for western states mountain roads and restricted length road pages from caltrans and a trucker atlas. I check all three before going anywhere I have never been before.

What’s interesting in the test that RB used is I searched on google for roads in MT with vehicle length restrictions and could not find anything for the road that garmin routed on. There is content on overall vehicle lengths etc. I also checked
East glacier park road restrictions and the content is not road specific. It just says 21 foot length restrictions etc.

The punchline in this I may not know I am headed for trouble (outside of California) until I am there. Not a very comforting feeling. You would hope a list of restricted roads would be available in POI Factory etc but there isn’t from what I can find.

twogypsies · 05-22-2019, 02:42 PM

During our 16 years of full-timing we traveled back roads, including gravel roads to boondocking spots 95% of the time in the West with our 40' motorhome. Honestly, our first reference used as we planned our routes with a paper atlas (Benchmark is excellent) and never got into trouble on the roads. Using this you soon get to know the types of roads you should be on. The only time we used a GPS was after we had the route planned out on Delorme's Street Atlas and then transferred it to the Garmin for use when driving the route. We never relied on the Garmin to plan our route.

Nowadays, just plug in the road number into Google & Google Maps and lots of information comes up. Also do YouTube with the road number and you will most likely find someone driving it & you can drive along. We didn't have these when we full-timed.

People are just relying on technology and forgetting about common sense.

sheridany · 05-22-2019, 09:36 PM

RB
I updated my copilot app on my iPad and changed my RV profile to match a 4369 DS specs. I plugged in those addresses and it calls out the the height and length restriction but yet still sent me the way you had in an earlier post.

I opened a ticket with Trimble to see what they say.

Boomer · 05-22-2019, 09:45 PM

I posed the example to the people at RV Trip Wizard and this was their response:
Start of RVTW Quote

Thank you for contacting RV Trip Wizard.

Our current routing will not route you safely to that location, it will route along the screenshot shown.

We will be releasing some new routing options in the next week or two, I have asked the programmer to look at that post and try it with our routing options. In a case like this with no acceptable options, the routing should route you directly to the location but with a warning indicating the problem with the route selected.

I have no problem with you sharing my comments. Have a great day!

End of RVTW Quote

turbopilot · 05-22-2019, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redbaron73

I was tempted to use the RV Trip Wizard software, and decided to do a demonstration with it.

I added a second test. This is located in East Glacier, MT along US HWY 2.

When you get to East Glacier, there is an amtrack station at the park entrance, and US49 turns off of US Hwy2. heading North. This underpass of the railway is 13Ft tall. Not possible for my rv profile of 13.5". https://goo.gl/maps/mgTyJD3Ue7d9UH9x6

I am also over length, as this road is limited to 21Ft max length.

On the southside of US Hwy 2 is Y Lazy R RV park (202 Lindhe Avenue, East Glacier Park, MT 59434).

This is easily accessible.

Using this as a start point, and using Sears Motel (and campground)
1023 Hwy 49N, East Glacier Park, MT 59434 as the end point should take you via a very safe, yet long detour.

RV Trip Wizard takes you right there without any warning about the underpass.
Attachment 246751

CoPilot fails this new test, using the RV profile.

I would be interested in how a Garmin works. If Garmin can pass this test by default, then I will be convinced to buy the garmin.

As for the branson route, RVTW suggests main street as an exit from US65, before routing down to long street. This is not an ideal route, but will not cause damage.

My New Aire is only 12'3" but with some antennas it is 12'8'. Both my Garmin 780RV and CoPilot let me through this posted 13' underpass. Only problem is it is a arch and the road is displaced because of the walkway. As you can tell by the damage and the scrapes it has claimed some folks. This underpass is well under 13' on the side.

sheridany · 05-22-2019, 10:57 PM

Just looking at the picture I would hesitate and say no go. To think anyone even would try makes you wonder . “Ouch”.

NealC · 05-23-2019, 01:15 AM

This is where HWH Active Air can save the day. Lower the suspension and crawl!

redbaron73 · 05-23-2019, 05:47 AM

Having driven under this in my truck, I can tell you the angle of the road will also cause a problem. I believe it is closer to 10ft for a 35ft length.

I like how copilot and rvtw are going to handle this. A warning is better than what I posted, and is all we could hope for.

tnedator · 05-23-2019, 07:08 AM

I signed up for RV Trip Wizard last year, but didn't use it much. It wasn't clear to me that it was attempting to avoid height/weight restricted roads. So, I might have to give this another go.

I just tried to common routes I run, which is Coachlight RV (carthage, MO) to Branson and home to Branson.

On the Coachlight run, it picked what I think is the best route and what Garmin picks, which is much better than the small, back roads that the Xite/RM picks.

On home to Branson, it picked a safe route, but wouldn't be a pleasant one, as it takes me from Mt. View to Leslie, AR, which is doable (I did it in my ACE), but it's very windy and steep and would be slow going in a DP pulling a Jeep.

If you setup a trip in Trip Wizard, how easy is it to get to the RV770 (or Google) and then does it follow the route faithfully?