Tight Windy Roads

[ChristyFord]

I heard on an RV-ing vlog that those towing a long rig need to be aware of the roads they travel ahead of time to avoid bends that are too sharp for their setup. Is there a particular method for doing that or do you just have to eyeball it on your map and hope you're good? ...dare I say, is there an app for that?

[LVJJJ]

Not being a GPS user (that's cheating), most paper road maps have notes on them noting steep and narrow roads. I will use Google maps once in a while. Then there are the signs on the narrow road "suggesting" that trailers aren't recommended or even prohibited. Blew by one of those in southern Utah and they weren't kidding, very steep, almost lost the brakes.

On Route 66 east of Oatman, the road is narrow and curvey, semi's aren't supposed to be on it, but met one on one of those curves. Or for fun you can go thru Jerome Arizona squeeze around corners in town, then head south on 89 and hit more tight curves and steepness. Then there's the highway that heads south from I-70 near Green River Utah down to Monument Valley where the signs say no trailers. They are right on this one cause as it descends off of a mesa, its, dirt, much of it one lane and really steep. Fun to drive solo though.

My problem is I see those "don't do it" signs to be a challenge to my manhood and driving prowess. Wife usually prevails though. Never had a ticket or accident so I am very careful at all times.

[ependydad]

My wife is the navigator and typically "drives" the routes on screen ahead of time using Google Maps.

And we pay attention to road signs as they whiz past.

You should also listen to local info. My aunt tried to warn me of "the back wy up the mountain" to Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, AL. She was telling me (in the background while I was talking to her daughter/my cousin) about how terrible it is, tight and twisty. I didn't heed her advice.

2 weeks into owning a 42' fifth wheel (coming from a pop-up camper before that) and we hit that road. It went from small to smaller and ultimately had 1 horrid switchback. We made it through and I gained a lot of confidence.. but man, I still wish I had listened!

The switchback:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.7477732,-86.5295227,3a,75y,210.42h,73.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBiCXJuE...

[transamz9]

drsteve wrote:


Sure looks like he had enough room. Must have been freaked out because he just trashed his rig, and thus missed the curve.

Wonder what his wife had to say about it all?

HA! I would be single after that. LOL

[drsteve]

transamz9 wrote:

myredracer wrote:
You mean like the "Old man drives his trailer into a narrow winding "small cars only" road and gets stuck" FW owner, lol? 🙂 See the whole rescue on youtube here. Entertaining!

Always watch the road signage and if a road starts to look questionable, stop. If you have to back up, use a spotter. A backup camera may or not help. Our Garmin GPS gives us warnings in advance. If you miss a planned turn and think you can simply take the next turn coming up, don't assume it will be okay as an alternative. Checking road conditions in advance on the internet can help a lot. A secondary type road on a map may *look* fine but can be a road from hell when you get on it. Carrying a laptop and having a mobile hotspot/mifi can really help. Know your turning radius and if you have to, take a corner wide even if you have to cross the center line (oncoming traffic permitting). If using a GPS, make dang sure you have the destination correctly programmed into it and don't assume it will always get you there without issues. I always go over paper maps in advance so I have at the min., a basic idea of where we're going and if something isn't clear, I'll take a closer look along with more info.

That was just just a case of bad driving right there. Nothing more. He should have never went through the tunnel be clearly he made it. The turn should not have stopped him. I have a turn that I go around when I go to Dale Hollow that is sharper than that. I can literally see the tail lights on the boat behind the RV looking out my driver side window.

To the OP. Rand Mcnally makes a map that we use that's called "Large Scale Motor Carriers' Road Atlas" The pages are laminated and it has truck routed marked, restricted routes , low clearance and also city to city mileage.

Road atlas

Sure looks like he had enough room. Must have been freaked out because he just trashed his rig, and thus missed the curve.

Wonder what his wife had to say about it all?

[transamz9]

myredracer wrote:
You mean like the "Old man drives his trailer into a narrow winding "small cars only" road and gets stuck" FW owner, lol? 🙂 See the whole rescue on youtube here. Entertaining!

Always watch the road signage and if a road starts to look questionable, stop. If you have to back up, use a spotter. A backup camera may or not help. Our Garmin GPS gives us warnings in advance. If you miss a planned turn and think you can simply take the next turn coming up, don't assume it will be okay as an alternative. Checking road conditions in advance on the internet can help a lot. A secondary type road on a map may *look* fine but can be a road from hell when you get on it. Carrying a laptop and having a mobile hotspot/mifi can really help. Know your turning radius and if you have to, take a corner wide even if you have to cross the center line (oncoming traffic permitting). If using a GPS, make dang sure you have the destination correctly programmed into it and don't assume it will always get you there without issues. I always go over paper maps in advance so I have at the min., a basic idea of where we're going and if something isn't clear, I'll take a closer look along with more info.

That was just just a case of bad driving right there. Nothing more. He should have never went through the tunnel be clearly he made it. The turn should not have stopped him. I have a turn that I go around when I go to Dale Hollow that is sharper than that. I can literally see the tail lights on the boat behind the RV looking out my driver side window.

To the OP. Rand Mcnally makes a map that we use that's called "Large Scale Motor Carriers' Road Atlas" The pages are laminated and it has truck routed marked, restricted routes , low clearance and also city to city mileage.

Road atlas

[mosseater]

I don't know if it's still available, but Goodsam routing on their site used to show windy, steep roads, bridge heights, etc. I used it on our trip out west in 08, but haven't had a need to route anything complex lately, so not sure if they still offer that.

[BurbMan]

Hi, and first off welcome to the forum! The general rule is that the driver is responsible for knowing his/her rig and using the roads accordingly. There are loads of signs that you never noticed before that advise no vehicles over a certain length, over a certain weight, over certain height, over a certain # of axles, etc etc. I would say low clearance bridges are more common that curves that are too tight.

Aside from knowing your length, weight and height, I also heed signs that say "no trucks". The sign may not state a reason, but more often than not it's because trucks don't fit.

There are several apps you can use, my Pioneer AVIC nav system allows me to create a vehicle profile where I enter my vehicle size/weight and it keeps me off of roads where I shouldn't be. You can also buy a "trucker's Altas" for old school folks...

Search in the iTune or Play stores for "trucker's maps" or similar.

Also be aware of haz-mat restrictions on flammables...there are tunnels where you shouldn't be with propane tanks (your trailer has 2).

[fj12ryder]

Checking out how narrow and twisty the roads are is where a mapping program, and/or Google maps shine. You can zoom in to see exactly how the road unwinds. Paper maps simply don't have that kind of detail, although they will give you a rough idea about the road and area.

[myredracer]

You mean like the "Old man drives his trailer into a narrow winding "small cars only" road and gets stuck" FW owner, lol? 🙂 See the whole rescue on youtube here. Entertaining!

Always watch the road signage and if a road starts to look questionable, stop. If you have to back up, use a spotter. A backup camera may or not help. Our Garmin GPS gives us warnings in advance. If you miss a planned turn and think you can simply take the next turn coming up, don't assume it will be okay as an alternative. Checking road conditions in advance on the internet can help a lot. A secondary type road on a map may *look* fine but can be a road from hell when you get on it. Carrying a laptop and having a mobile hotspot/mifi can really help. Know your turning radius and if you have to, take a corner wide even if you have to cross the center line (oncoming traffic permitting). If using a GPS, make dang sure you have the destination correctly programmed into it and don't assume it will always get you there without issues. I always go over paper maps in advance so I have at the min., a basic idea of where we're going and if something isn't clear, I'll take a closer look along with more info.

[buc1980]

Be care full where you going if you got a tall FW another problem is the bridges .

[Community Alumni]

I drive with a Garmin Dezl 770 semi truck GPS unit. It will route you down truck accessible roads based on your height, length, and weight. It's nice because it gives road warnings of sharp curves, steep grades, bridge heights, etc. I've never been routed down any roads that were too tight, narrow, or clearance issues. There's a car mode for when you're not pulling a trailer. There's an RV specific version that's basically the same unit, but with rv specific sections like campgrounds listings and dump stations.

[time2roll]

CA has a Bus/MH map with length restrictions.
Check your state.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/trafficops/bus/bus-map.html

[demiles]

I tow tight winding hills on the back roads of WV regularly towing my 32ft trailer. It’s great way to check how well you have the WD setup especially if it’s raining and wet.

[atreis]

If there's some risk, I scout it out on Google Maps satellite view. One has to zoom pretty close in, and watch closely where the road really is (which isn't always precisely where Google thinks it is). If you wait until you get to a bend that's too tight it's too late as then your only option is to back out, and that could be rather challenging.

The roads like this I encounter usually aren't "highways" ... They're back country gravel/dirt roads that go to something like a trailhead or canoe launch.