First Time Trailer Navigation Away From Home

[GoodTimesNY]

Hello all! Well we have one season under our belt with our travel trailer, all of which was within 30 miles of our house. Now we are looking ot venture out a little further. We just decided this week to take our boys, and dogs, to Williamsburg VA. I have grown very frustrated in researching phone apps and various RV GPSs to help me navigate the roads safely. Today I purchased a Magellan Roadmate RV 9165T-LM RV GPS and after a little time playing with it I am sad to say I don't think it is what I was looking for. I plugged in (for fun) that my rig is 16' tall and 20,000 lbs and drove around. It allowed me to travel on any road I wanted with no warning at all.

My question is, is there a GPS unit or cell app that will navigate me on proper roads given our rig dimensions? Also, I live on Long Island where we can not travel any of the parkways so a unit/app that has the feature to avoid such roads would be exactly what the Doctor ordered.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[Scrapper]

That definitely won't work. I don't believe there is an overpass that will clear 16ft. I think most are limited to 14 - 14 1/2 ft.

[GoodTimesNY]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

That definitely won't work. I don't believe there is an overpass that will clear 16ft. I think most are limited to 14 - 14 1/2 ft.

I only put 16' in to see if the nav unit would warn me to take another route. I am measuring my rig tomorrow but I don't think I am over 10'. I purchased the GPS to avoid roads that do not allow commercial vehicles or to warn of bridges/tunnels to avoid if that exists.

[KDHfan]

There are GPS units designed specifically for tractor trailers. You might want to research those.

[aceinspp]

There are also GPS designed for RVs. Look them up on the internet. Camping world sells them but I'd look else where first. Later RJD

[Capt. Mike]

We had a Rand-McNally 7735 GPS specifically designed for RVs, and sold by Camping World with their Good Sam logo on it. For the most part, it did a good job on navigation, but was very difficult to see on the dash in bright sunlight, even with a sun shade on it. I finally ended up mounting and using it on my console.

Unfortunately, the low-life in Tulsa, OK who broke into our truck apparently wanted it worse than I did.

[Scrapper]

The fact that I think OP is getting at is the GPS unit should not have let them go where ever they wanted to go as they entered a height of 16 ft and weight of 20000#

[Alleyantique]

I think you are going to find that most GPS units will only warn if you have a route programmed in. They don't do anything if you are just driving around except tell you what road or street you are driving on.

[travelwithkids]

We are old school somewhat. We use google maps and verify that against our Rand McNally Motor Carrier Road Atlas. Always carry that every where we go. Never know when an interstate or major road will back up for road construction or accident.

[gectisme]

If you do a search you will find a lot of info on this. An iPhone App I am familiar with is CoPilot, it seems OK, you can put your RV dimensions in and it is supposed to route you around obstacles. We have a Garmin RV760 which is supposed to do the same thing. It has routed us around a low bridge that google would not have. It has also done a weird thing where it rerouted us after I made a wrong turn and then gave a warning about a low bridge on the route it just gave, luckily my DW kept her head and said just keep going because she could see it was taking us to the freeway and there was no bridges up ahead. We end up using both the RV760 and google maps so it was somewhat a waste for the RV760 for us.

[GoodTimesNY]

Thank you all for your replies. All the answers are exactly what all my research has shown; there are "ok" RV GPS units and cell apps to help but nothing that is a reliable unit to assist us that we can rely on in our travels.

I guess we will go by our printed out warnings and rv routes plus our Magellan RV GPS and hope for the best.

[Steveboe]

Legal limit for vehicles is 13.5 feet high.
Personally I do not trust any device to lead me around. Use an old fashioned map and stick to major highways. The GPS is good for the last few miles only.

[A32Deuce]

This is why you cant just blindly follow a GPS. Know your height and pay attention to road signs. If you have a map book and google earth on your computer, then you can get a road side view of your route. I do it all the time. Makes it less stressful traveling.

[Mark Ulmer]

Originally Posted by GoodTimesNY

Hello all! Well we have one season under our belt with our travel trailer, all of which was within 30 miles of our house. Now we are looking ot venture out a little further. We just decided this week to take our boys, and dogs, to Williamsburg VA. I have grown very frustrated in researching phone apps and various RV GPSs to help me navigate the roads safely. Today I purchased a Magellan Roadmate RV 9165T-LM RV GPS and after a little time playing with it I am sad to say I don't think it is what I was looking for. I plugged in (for fun) that my rig is 16' tall and 20,000 lbs and drove around. It allowed me to travel on any road I wanted with no warning at all.

My question is, is there a GPS unit or cell app that will navigate me on proper roads given our rig dimensions? Also, I live on Long Island where we can not travel any of the parkways so a unit/app that has the feature to avoid such roads would be exactly what the Doctor ordered.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

I have both the Garmin RV760 as well as the CoPilot RV app. The Garmin has the more polished user interface and better POI database. However, the Copilot RV app does a much better job with RV routing.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by Mark Ulmer

I have both the Garmin RV760 as well as the CoPilot RV app. The Garmin has the more polished user interface and better POI database. However, the Copilot RV app does a much better job with RV routing.

I have the Garmin 760 also. I tested it in Chattanooga set for my 5er. It routed me around 2 low underpasses and in PA kept from a bridge I was too heavy for. So far I give it A+. Bought it from TheGPSStore.com.

[Vengance5er]

First off, I don't think the GPS would even recognize a height entry of 16'. I would think that height, even on a tractor trailer, would need oversize permits almost anywhere in the U.S. Probably escort vehicles, too. I also agree with the other poster who noted that the GPS isn't going to navigate according to the size and weight parameters you enter, unless there is a route programmed into it. Another thing to think about...on my Garmin RV 760, I can switch it between towing mode and automobile mode, where it navigates like a regular GPS.

[BGinVA]

Originally Posted by Steveboe

Legal limit for vehicles is 13.5 feet high.
Personally I do not trust any device to lead me around. Use an old fashioned map and stick to major highways. The GPS is good for the last few miles only.

Some misinformation in these posts. The U.S. Federal government (i.e., Federal Highway Administration) does not dictate height limits on vehicles (just width, length, and weight). They leave height limits to States to determine. RVs are not considered Commercial Motor Vehicles by the Feds, so their limits don't apply. Would have to consult State laws.

The FHA does set highway design & policy requirements in association with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Department of Defense. Interstate highways must meet DoD specs (that's why they were built in first place), which require 16' clearance shoulder to shoulder. Federal specs are set in theory, so that they allow 1' clearance and allow provide wiggle room for repaving, etc. Rural and urban bridges can vary widely, but design specs usually require 14-16'.

You can consult several trucking association sites to learn what they tell their operators. (Here's one: Trucking Legal Height Limits Map - Heavy Haul Trucking). East of the Mississippi, most States limit height to 13'6", Most of the West is 14'. NE and CO are 14'6" and AK is 15".

Most RV manufacturers design to max height of 13'5". But it is always good idea to verify your rig if you have any concerns at all. Especially if you have done any mods to equipment on your roof that was not factory installed.

Have fun out there!

[bwodom]

I had always used maps, but as I get older, I find them harder and harder to read. I use them primarily for pre-trip planning, and really like the ease of updating the GPS vs. buying already out-of-date maps each year.

We have the Good Sam (Rand McNally) RV-specific GPS and we can set it not only to avoid certain bridges, overpasses, etc. but also toll roads, tunnels, ferries, dirt roads, etc. It also has a lot of routing information built in --- nearest propane, diesel, campgrounds and points of interest that are specific to campers. Also can be customized -- we downloaded the coordinates for military campgrounds since we often use those. You can also use the web-based Good Sam planner and then download directly into your unit -- a feature we love.

While no GPS is perfect, we have never had to turn around because the overpass is too low, etc. However, it will take you a route that may not seem to be the most efficient...usually because of something you have programmed it to avoid! Because of the many features, there is a learning curve and most of our early mistakes were our own user error. (We use ours in our auto as well, and there is a setting for car as well).