Truckers/RV GPS

[blyons]

Well, our conventional Garmin Nuvi just took us down a wrong street again that was almost impossible to get out of in our 43 ft Monaco pulling a toad. Someone just told us that there are GPS's designed for truckers that won't take you down roads your rig can't handle or under bridges with low elevations, etc., etc, etc.

Can anyone recommend one and share your experiences?

[450Donn]

The Dezi 465T It has a 5 inch screen and three modes. Car, truck and pedestrian. Mine is too new to give you much. But I think it is far better than my only 265W Nuvi.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

Rand McNally just released a new 5-inch GPS designed for RV's. Do a search, there's some good information about it on these forums. Also, just read where Magellan with input from Good Sam is releasing a new 7-inch GPS for RVer's.

[Warden]

I have the 465T and have been to Tenn and Florida using it and have had no problems at all.

[JMonroe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob (WA0MQE) ... Also, just read where Magellan with input from Good Sam is releasing a new 7-inch GPS for RVer's.

Magellan RV/Truck GPS

The infortation says it will included the Trailer Life campground directory information, pet friendly park info and RV service and parking info.

[Billieg]

My Garmin is really missed up. It will tell me to get on say 75 north. When I do it says recalculating and says stay on "route" for x miles and shows us on a road next to 75. After 40 or so miles it will recalculate and then show us on 75....

[bthomforde]

I have a Garmin 465T and am not overly thrilled with it. In truck mode it does avoid low clearness but also will route you on truck routes, how many campgrounds are on truck routes?
finding campgrounds is next to imposable, the screen doesn't show which direction you are traveling (north, south, ect), it often tells you to turn the wrong way when you can see the on ramp it says go the other way.
Not sure if every 465T user has had the same results but my old Garmin street pilot was better in a lot of ways.

[Chuck 1935]

I have an old Garimin 360 and also have Trailer life CD on my Laptop. I just put in the address of the campground the night before and off we go. I also have the capability of using my laptop as my GPS , but that is not always convienient.
For some reason (Murphys Law) my laptop always has a hiccup when we are a mile away from our destination. So in lieu of littering the streets with electronics, I put it in my GPS the night before. I'm happy, my wife is happy and I don't get a ticket for littering.

[njs42]

The Magellen 1700 7" screen and less expensive than the new one, they go on sale all the time, allows you to download the CoPilot RV program---I just discovered that when researching this thread-----I have one so it may be of interest to me. Maybe you too???

[OldHiker]

I have a Garmin 465T and a Kenwood 7160 with Garmin navigation.

When searching for campgrounds on the 765T, I switch it to car mode. After finding campground, I then switch to truck mode. The Kenwood is programmed at the same time. Rarely have they disagreed. I have used them for over 20,000+ miles, from New York to Alaska last year over a 4 month period and New York to Redmond so far this year, almosts 3 months so far. Oh, when I was at the Good Sam in Redmond, I bought the new Megellan. But.....

The Megellan was progarmmed for the same destination in Portland as were the Garmins. I'm glad I did not give up the Garmins. Megellan locked as we came into Portland. Had to turn it off but it would not turn back on until I reached the campground 15 minutes later. I'm returning it.

Garmin allows downloading of POI's. Megellan does not. Will Megellan charge for Trailer Life updates?

Just my 2¢.

[buck454]

Interesting thread, I'm in the market for GPS for MH and car. Rand Mc sounded like just the ticket at first except for 5" screen then I read of some disappointments. Now the new truck/RV Magellan 7" seems attractive. I notice the Magellan seems to have the backing of Good Sam so I am wondering if camp ground listing may be geared to GS camp grounds only. Does Trailer Life list all campgrounds whether, GS, Passport, or independent?

[OldHiker]

Magellan has Trailer Life campgrounds and other poi's. Their software, Campground Navigator, has both Good Sam and others, but I did not have the Magellan long enough to see what else it has loaded.

The fact that it froze within 2 hours of using and the fact I can't download poi's was enough of a turnoff for me. BTW, a friend of mine had the same experience that I had with it freezing.

At this time, not a product I can recommend.

[sam-tip]

Software upgrades have really helped my Garmin 465T. I got mine early with lots of bugs. They are fixed now. Love it.

Doug

[Mysplashpad]

We have been using Co-Pilot for the laptop. It is the one for rvs and truckers. I had to get a gps for the laptop and the cost of Co-Pilot it was about 150.00 all together. Already had the laptop, might as well put it to use. We like it allot the only thing is that the voice tells you to "take exit" it doesn't give you exit number or anything but it just takes some getting use to. The software is very easy to use and tech was very helpful when I could not figure something out. We just bought some Velcro on bottom of laptop and some on our shelf beside driver and it has not fell off, works out perfect. Sometimes sunlight hits screen wrong and hard to see it, but it is better then a 5 or 7 in screen and the same problem. I know u can get it for an iPad if it is a 3G one with gps and I think it's 30.00. Hope this helps. I did a ton of research before I got it so just google and find what fits your needs.