ALK releases CoPilot app specific for RV's

racer4 wrote:

az99 wrote:

racer4 wrote:


But in the end I want a RV GPS to provide routing to avoid low clearance for the 13'5" RV I am getting in May.

Where are you going with it that you are concerned? 13'6" is the standard for max height. You should not come across anything lower than that on any main highways.

If you don't trust the mapping, why would you trust the height data in the GPS either. I sure don't.

My recommendation is the Garmin 2797LMT. It has all the features and size of the 760 without the $100 upcharge for Campsites on the main screen and the false hope of getting good routing by entering your RV size.

On trips the last two years, with our 11'6" TT, I was watching for low clearance that a 13'5" FW would not fit under.

On a trip to Lake Placid in the Adirondacks from Albany, I got off I-87 at exit 30 onto Rt 9 to go west. At the end of the exit ramp, ready to turn left and go under the overpass I could see a clearance sign, but could not read it. So I turned and as I got closer I could read the sign, 12'9". And the sign was 10 feet before the overpass. There was not enough room to do a U-turn.

On another trip on Rt 20 through the Finger Lakes region in NY there was a overpass with clearance less than 13'6".

I figure a RV GPS will not be perfect with low clearance, but I want to do what I can to avoid the problem.

I would prefer to know about a low clearance prior to being 10' from the overpass or railroad bridge.

Does anyone know how well the Rand McNally suction cup mount works? Is it going to let loose and drop the GPS?

Thanks,
Chris

Those would be some good tests to see if the GPS is accurate. We have one near us that is 11' something and does not show up on anything I have found and it has been there forever.

You could also go with their RV tablet. That has a magnetic mount, powered mount. It's a much nicer mount than the RVND. Same suction cup though.

Thanks Jeff.

I might go with the RVND, with a bean bag mount that has a suction cup disc to use with the included suction cup mount.

I wish the price was lower. I saw it for $249 last year. But more important is the functionality.

racer4, I never had an issue with the RM suction cup. I never had it fall off.

az99 wrote:

racer4 wrote:


But in the end I want a RV GPS to provide routing to avoid low clearance for the 13'5" RV I am getting in May.

Where are you going with it that you are concerned? 13'6" is the standard for max height. You should not come across anything lower than that on any main highways.

If you don't trust the mapping, why would you trust the height data in the GPS either. I sure don't.

My recommendation is the Garmin 2797LMT. It has all the features and size of the 760 without the $100 upcharge for Campsites on the main screen and the false hope of getting good routing by entering your RV size.

On trips the last two years, with our 11'6" TT, I was watching for low clearance that a 13'5" FW would not fit under.

On a trip to Lake Placid in the Adirondacks from Albany, I got off I-87 at exit 30 onto Rt 9 to go west. At the end of the exit ramp, ready to turn left and go under the overpass I could see a clearance sign, but could not read it. So I turned and as I got closer I could read the sign, 12'9". And the sign was 10 feet before the overpass. There was not enough room to do a U-turn.

On another trip on Rt 20 through the Finger Lakes region in NY there was a overpass with clearance less than 13'6".

I figure a RV GPS will not be perfect with low clearance, but I want to do what I can to avoid the problem.

I would prefer to know about a low clearance prior to being 10' from the overpass or railroad bridge.

Does anyone know how well the Rand McNally suction cup mount works? Is it going to let loose and drop the GPS?

Thanks,
Chris

racer4 wrote:


But in the end I want a RV GPS to provide routing to avoid low clearance for the 13'5" RV I am getting in May.

Where are you going with it that you are concerned? 13'6" is the standard for max height. You should not come across anything lower than that on any main highways.

If you don't trust the mapping, why would you trust the height data in the GPS either. I sure don't.

My recommendation is the Garmin 2797LMT. It has all the features and size of the 760 without the $100 upcharge for Campsites on the main screen and the false hope of getting good routing by entering your RV size.

Thanks for sharing your experience Jeff.

I like the Rand McNally RVND except for the mount choice, which is a suction cup only and the display which washes out in the sun. I wish Rand McNally would offer another mount like Garmin's bean bag with snap together connection and upgrade the display. Having to use a sun shade looks like a nuisance.

I am considering using the RVND with a bean bag mount with a disc for the suction cup to stick to. How well does the suction cup hold on or how often does the GPS fall down?

Thanks for posting your experience Jeff. I found also that my Copilot App was more up to date than my Garmin's but not as up to date as Google maps. I found in a new development last week I couldn't find a condo address with Copilot but found it with Google maps. For main roads the Copilot app is fine. I use it in conjunction with Wazes for live traffic updates and Google maps just to check route. Google and Wazes uses data but Copilot does not. Using it this way I have not had a problem with it.

The least bad choice is unfortunately a very good way to say it right now. I've owned them all and beta test for 3 different brands. No one, in my opinion, has gotten this right. If you must have a solution that routes based on a restricted height then I'd either go with the Rand McNally RVND (I own it) or ALK CoPilot on a nice 7" tablet (like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2). Both will be within about $100 of each other for cost.

ALK CoPilot: Has very good real time traffic (requires Internet connection) from Inrix and very good ActiveRoute traffic (historical traffic) for better ETA calculations. Historical traffic basically works by knowing the typical speeds on road segments during different times of day. The downside of course is map quality as we've been discussing. I personally like the user interface of CoPilot and find it easy to use. The POIs are likely as old as the maps and so I don't rely on those much. Using ALK CoPilot will require a little more pre-planning to determine if there are newer roads that you could take advantage of that CoPilot doesn't know about.

Rand McNally: Not the freshest interface in my opinion but very good feature set. Uses HERE maps which are first class but updates are only annually I believe. Still better than the multiple year old omissions I am seeing in CoPilot. Very strong POI collection with campground and truck stops attributes. Live traffic is information only and doesn't base ETA on the traffic or adjust the route enroute based on traffic. Don't bother even hooking up to the Internet in my opinion.

Garmin: I personally would never consider Garmin anymore. I don't find any evidence that they are putting any real effort into advancing their product and you seem to get about 1 year of effort from them for updates and enhancements and then they move on to the next model number.

Personally, I drive a 23' class C so RV specific routing is not critical for me. I've actually decided to run with Google Maps on my Samsung Tab S2 tablet (using a MIFI for Internet access) for it's very good traffic, accurate ETA and ability to search along routes with my voice. I'm going to use CoPilot as a backup on my smartphone just in case it helps me with streets that are not suitable for even my small RV in bigger cities.

If I were driving a big RV where the route really mattered, honestly, I'd stay with my Rand McNally RVND. HERE maps are just too good to put up with ALK CoPilot. I'd also use Google Maps on a smartphone to help with traffic, wrecks, etc. But I'd put Google Maps on the "alert only" mode so that both of them aren't chirping turn directions at you.

That's my opinion. Glad to offer more input.

racer4 wrote:
jeffcarp and all,

What do you think is the least bad (best) choice for a RV GPS? I need to buy one now.

Map accuracy problems seem to affect all GPS brands. They all buy various (price and detail) levels of maps from a map company.

All brands of GPS get complaints, with map accuracy and routing being frequent. Of course there are other features that make a difference.

My only GPS experience is two Garmin auto GPS. The newest Garmin RV GPS, RV 660LMT is getting poor reviews.
Garmin RV 660LMT amazon reviews

But in the end I want a RV GPS to provide routing to avoid low clearance for the 13'5" RV I am getting in May.

Any suggestions/opinions as to the least bad RV GPS? I need to order soon and value the experience of those who have used RV GPS.

Thanks,

Chris

With any GPS it is a good idea to "Fly the route" using any program that lets you do that.. Sometimes you may decide to Adjust.. I was a bit (one trip) late learning that. Oh, I got there, but .. I was using Microsoft Streets and Trips. And it was most surely a TRIP (Think bad acid).

Actually I'd like to drive that road again.... IN A JEEP.