RV GPS

2oldman wrote:

PenMan wrote:
I have the Garmin RV760LMT with up to date maps. .. if you program it to go to Alaska you'll probably find yourself heading south into Florida as it takes you around the world to Alaska.

It's the worst GPS I've ever owned, and it's designed for RV use!

I agree. Total waste of money. Putting the name RV on it has sold a lot of totally overpriced units for them.
Mine was so accurate it had me crossing the river on a bridge that never existed a mile from my home. It would be the last thing I would depend on.

What I really like about the GPS is the ability to know a couple miles ahead what lane I need to be in when I have a exit ramp coming up on the interstate.

I usually plan out the whole trip and then break it down into individual days. That way I'm always somewhat ready in case the GPS changes the route for some reason, which it has done a time or two. Letting the Nuvi decide the route just isn't in the cards for me. "Trust, but verify."

I prefer to let the GPS guide me city by city, not me planning a thousand-mile trip all at once.

rockhillmanor wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
My main complaint with those types of GPS is that they may not allow you to create a route that includes roads/streets not truck friendly. It then will change the route regardless of how you have it.

I can put in a destination and the GPS creates the route. ...

Oh yeah, the Nuvi I have will do that, but no thanks. I prefer to determine my own route, double check it, then load it on the Nuvi from Basecamp, and the check the route on the Nuvi. That lowers the chances that the Nuvi will think it can do a better job than I at calculating routes. That's about the only way I'll use a GPS. I hate not knowing the route in advance.

rockhillmanor wrote:
Regarding getting sent in circles when all it really would take is one turn? That means your GPS is set on "Shortest Route".

Not mine. It's even tried to get me to drive over rivers.

fj12ryder wrote:
My main complaint with those types of GPS is that they may not allow you to create a route that includes roads/streets not truck friendly. It then will change the route regardless of how you have it.

I can put in a destination and the GPS creates the route. That said.

At ANY time if I change the route while driving by turning on a different road other than the one GPS the has planned, it will re calculate the destination route, ETA, etc. right then and there without me touching it, based on where I am at.

Regarding getting sent in circles when all it really would take is one turn? That means your GPS is set on "Shortest Route".

I think they all come with shortest route pre-set.
All it took was one time going around and around a subdivision with a 31 ft MH towing to get to an interstate, that was actually one turn from my starting point, to pull over and find how to change it from "shortest route".

Shortest route setting needs to be shut off when you are RV'ing.

These GPS's also have a very strange way of listing all the options.

First they are listed under icons that sometimes are not even close to representing what you are looking for. AND they list options within options within options. It did take me a bit if time to realize that to find the options I wanted to turn on or off.

I think thee protest too much - Purchased new RV660 on 5/17/16 and used it now for 18,156 miles - never had any problems described but I did not drive in the Bermuda Triangle

PenMan wrote:
I have the Garmin RV760LMT with up to date maps. All I have to do is turn it on and it will get me lost...... I never trust it any more but use the trucker's atlas and it has never been wrong. The Garmin was wrong many, many times. Can you tell I really don’t trust the Garmin?

I'm still using one of the oldest first large screen talk to speech TomTom's and everything works just fine on it. I don't even update it. It updates itself regarding new roads etc.

From what I read on forums the newer the GPS's got and with requiring updates every other week, the stupider they got.

That said please do not trust ANY GPS regarding bridge height when driving your RV!

In Chicago alone 80% of the bridges are NOT as high as what they are marked for. And that is where GPS's get their info from.

The majority of bridges are old. They were marked with their height when they were built. AND the streets have been resurfaced over and over and over again sometimes adding up to 2 to 4 inches or more of road material which equals far LESS clearance. And no one goes back and remeasures them to enter into the county records.

I think the trucker maps have access to actual heights on bridges but I'm sure not for all of them.

That is why you see so many trucks on the news every week getting stuck under them!

PenMan wrote:
I have the Garmin RV760LMT with up to date maps. .. if you program it to go to Alaska you'll probably find yourself heading south into Florida as it takes you around the world to Alaska.

It's the worst GPS I've ever owned, and it's designed for RV use!

It will take me around blocks to enter a business rather than a simple left turn. I can be sitting in the parking lot of the destination business, and it will tell me to leave, go around the block and come back.

If I want reliable directions I use google maps on my phone.

I have the Garmin RV760LMT with up to date maps. All I have to do is turn it on and it will get me lost. I never really trust it now. I use a trucker's atlas to plan my route and use the GPS to look ahead for diesel, food, etc. My phone has a better map program. The last time I was on I40 going through Oklahoma City it kept telling me I had to exit as there was a low clearance ahead (I'm under 12 feet high). I noticed the 18 wheelers were not exiting so I decided to take a chance but the Garmin kept telling me to exit. It even got to a point where it had a screen pop up that made me hit a button to confirm that I was ignoring the Garmin directions. Made it all the way to New Mexico and never saw a low bridge. It has done similar mis-directions many times but this was the craziest. I still use it when on the interstates to look for services at upcoming exits. My guess is if you program it to go to Alaska you'll probably find yourself heading south into Florida as it takes you around the world to Alaska. When I want to get lost I program the Garmin to head to Dallas, Texas so I can find all the dirt roads on the way. I never trust it any more but use the trucker's atlas and it has never been wrong. The Garmin was wrong many, many times. Can you tell I really don’t trust the Garmin?