GPS Garmin

There should be preference settings like "shortest route" which may be taking you down the back roads. There should also be something like staying to the "fastest route" which is usually the free way, but not always. And there may be one like "no dirt road, paved only" You'll have to look for the preference settings.

On my Garmin 760 for trucks and RVs it does let you put in the weight, height, length, etc. It has kept me off of the real back roads so far.

It gets interesting when the 760 wants me to go one way for the MH settings and the DW's cell phone GPS doesn't care and wants to go another way. And then for laughs, I'll turn on my smaller Garmin if I want to look for a third set of directions.

Bill

Check your settings. Maybe there is a setting to request mainly interstates.

There should also be a setting for the type of vehicle, eg. Trucks, Cars and Motorcycles, Bus, etc. We always set it on Truck. I think if you choose Fastest Time it will keep you off the little roads.

I bought a Garmin 465T a couple years back on sale because they were pushing the new 760T. It has trucker/RV routing based on length, width, height, and weight. I've updated the map and added some special POI from a site online. It's works well when towing my 37' Columbus.

wildtoad wrote:
Check your settings. Maybe there is a setting to request mainly interstates.

Ditto x2

I have been on the road with the same GPS for 8 years. IMHO you don't need a 'special' GPS for RV's.

That salesman should have showed you how to set it for 'fastest' route. Shortest route will take you every which way but sunday. Your settings may use a different word than shortest or fastest but ALL GPS's have this setting to keep you off the secondary roads if you choose.

As a newbie GPS user on my first trip out. All it took was one time going around and around within a subdivision with a 31 ft MH towing to get back up on an interstate for me to get REAL serious about knowing how all the the settings work on my GPS!:B

That's a reason I do not use one for normal travels.

Really the way to use one for rv travel involves using the trip planner and then reviewing the trip to make sure it doesn't route you poorly. If it does you add weight points that keep you on a safe route. Just selecting a destination and pressing go will lead to many problems if not disaster with a large rig.

Just at tip on GPS settings. I found that they put settings within settings under a generalized subject headers.

And MANY times what you are looking for is tucked under a subject heading that in your wildest dreams would you ever think it would be found there.

I sat down one day and clicked on all the headings and then clicked on all the subheadings subheadings and found about 40 more settings that really fine tuned my GPS.

I have an older TomTom with a huge screen and talk to speech so I don't have to hunt and peck to put my destinations in. And with the settings programmed correctly I use the GPS exclusively without incident now for 7 years on the road full timing!

After listening to all the problems every one is having with garmins I sure hope my TomTom lasts another 10 years!

Paul Clancy wrote:
Really the way to use one for rv travel involves using the trip planner and then reviewing the trip to make sure it doesn't route you poorly. If it does you add weight points that keep you on a safe route. Just selecting a destination and pressing go will lead to many problems if not disaster with a large rig.

There is exactly the right answer. Just putting a destination into a GPS, any GPS, is not the best way to use them. Treat it just like a map: plan your route out on a larger map, transfer the route to the GPS, and then double check to make sure it goes the way you planned. The 5 P's come into play here. :)

A GPS is great but they are a navigation tool, and as a tool they can be used incorrectly. Plan your route in advance and you'll rarely go wrong.

I have found it best to look online a maps so I have a basic idea of the route I want to go. I do not rely on GPS 100%. Garmin is really good for taking you someplace one way and taking you back a completely different route