GPS System for RV or Truckers?

[Mayberry32]

Today, I was following my gps to get home and took the route suggested. About 15 minutes down a road trying to get to the interstate, I came to a left turn...1 lane dirt road around a mountain. That was not going to happen pulling a 32' travel trailer. I drove a little further, had to do a 4 or 5 point turn into another side road, and backtracked a totally different direction. Our last trip, the gps also led us down a small, one lane dirt road in the mountains. We made it...but it was not a comfortable experience. Talking to other people in the campgrounds, this seems to be a common occurrence in the mountains around north GA, eastern TN and western NC. Is there an RV specific GPS that will help not lead you into tight, sketchy spaces? At this point, even if it's a few hundred bucks, I think it would be money well spent, just for peace of mind.

[tbos1958]

I'll be following this one to see what people say. I've heard mixed reviews on just about every model out there.

[Mayberry32]

Just doing a little internet serching tonight, I've rn across the Garmin 760 and 770 models. Both have lifetime map updates and traffic included. Garmin generally has very good maps. I prefer Google Maps, but my phone gps is going to end up getting me into a bad situation with the camper behind me. Anyone have a review of the Garmin products and if they will keep me from accidentally finding a tiny road while towing?

[Off Road]

Is there a preference setting where you can tell your gps or phone what roads to avoid? I have had this option in the past. Apple maps lets you avoid tolls and highways but doesn't have a way to avoid dirt or one lane roads.

[SailorSam]

On my current Garmin GPS (not one of the RV models), I can tell it to avoid dirt roads and it seems to do a good job of that.
On a trip from NJ to MI, I set it to avoid toll roads and it generated a route that was 100 miles longer than needed to avoid going over a toll bridge,

[parkerbill]

We've been using a Garmin RV760 GPS for several months now and it works very good, but I almost always preview the routes it comes up with to see if they make sense for us. On long trips I usually use Basecamp to build my main routes, then download to the 760. We never blindly follow a GPS without previewing the route.

[SailorSam]

Originally Posted by parkerbill

On long trips I usually use Basecamp to build my main routes, then download to the 760. We never blindly follow a GPS without previewing the route.

Verifying in Basecamp prior to following a route should keep you off of really bad roads. I will say that I prefered Garmins City Select over the newer Basecamp. I think Basecamp is a lot less intuitive on how to use and much more cludgy and I end up swearing at it quite a bit.
One other suggestion on using the Garmins. If you are searching for some destination, it is better to be LESS specific. That is, if searching for a restaurant, only enter a small part of the name - entering "RED" is more likely to find what you want than entering "RED STATE BAR-B-QUE". MY DW likes to enter whole names and then ends up with a list of places 200 miles away, then I retry with just a part of the name and get what we are looking for.

[LandKO]

We use a Garmin RV 760LMT which is made for RV's. It has a large 7" screen, has lifetime updates, is programmed with Specialized RV routing based on how you customize it for your RV (including height, weight, width and length). And we interface it with a Garmin BCTM 20 Wireless Backup Camera. Which for us, works great.

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

We fulltime and I have been using a gps app called Co-pilot for years now. They recently came out with a RV version of the app but the premium also has a RV setting I used before it.

https://copilotgps.com/

"Happy a Trails"
Chiefneon

[Pricejh]

I use a Garmin Dizel 760 LT. It has 3 types of vehicle directions, auto RV or semi. I usually select the semi function when pulling the trailer. Been using it for the last year on three trips. Never lead me astray. Plus, I could add on s back up camera on the trailer that works perfectly for parking.

[RadioRanger1]

Now and then Garmin will send you on a wacky route. When it does you can help make things better by reporting the error to them at this link.

https://my.garmin.com/mapErrors/report.faces

It helps make the product better for everyone.


John

[KD4UPL]

You may need to change some setting in your GPS. Mine can be set for fastest route or shortest route, they are rarely the same. Also can be set to avoid tolls, u-turns, interstates, etc.

[schrederman]

I got the Garmin 760 RV version. I've used it for several trips and have had it help me avoid a couple of low-clearance situations that my air conditioner would not have survived. So far it hasn't led me down any dirt roads. It tells me that certain routes haven't been verified for RV suitability, so I avoid those. All in all, I like it.

[BuzzWolfAR]

I've used Co-pilot to route my trips, and then use my Ford map. When the disagree, I use the data from Co-pilot. It has my height in it and is set for RV.