RV Life and their "RV safe" directions

[ARD]

@marc2912 I could hardly breathe reading your story. That is terrifying. Happy that you and your family are safe. I love the Garmin. I'm not saying it doesn't make mistakes, but for most part, I have found it highly reliable.

I also call the campground before I head there and ask them if the GPS will find them accurately and compare directions. You might want to check the following thread as it may help with install ideas.

Which Garmin is Best

2011 Tiffin Allegro Open Road 34TGA About to order a Garmin RV Smart GPS. I like the 1090 because the 10 inch screen suits my attention span the best. I don't have access to the coach this afternoon, but from my pictures, I am slightly concerned that it might block my line of site if mounted...

rvforums.com

Good luck and Happy Travels.

 

[jbh]

Just remember that a "true" gps will also contain map errors and ommissions. When you find one, report it to Garmin and they'll have it corrected.

A couple of tips, "avoid highways" means avoid interstates, not all highways, and alerts are based on proximity, not actual location.

 

[marc2912]

@marc2912 I could hardly breathe reading your story. That is terrifying. Happy that you and your family are safe. I love the Garmin. I'm not saying it doesn't make mistakes, but for most part, I have found it highly reliable.

I also call the campground before I head there and ask them if the GPS will find them accurately and compare directions. You might want to check the following thread as it may help with install ideas.

Which Garmin is Best

2011 Tiffin Allegro Open Road 34TGA About to order a Garmin RV Smart GPS. I like the 1090 because the 10 inch screen suits my attention span the best. I don't have access to the coach this afternoon, but from my pictures, I am slightly concerned that it might block my line of site if mounted...

rvforums.com

Good luck and Happy Travels.

Good call on calling ahead. Thx

 

[marc2912]

Just remember that a "true" gps will also contain map errors and ommissions. When you find one, report it to Garmin and they'll have it corrected.

A couple of tips, "avoid highways" means avoid interstates, not all highways, and alerts are based on proximity, not actual location.

Thx for the tips. Out of curiosity why would one want to avoid interstates?

 

[jbh]

Some of us detest the wild crazy high-speed rush of Interstates.

 

[Rich W.]

Smaller highways and back roads are wonderful - better scenery, sedate traffic, small towns (often something interesting to experience) interesting agriculture and other land uses, and I often discover some small county or city park that isnt listed anywhere, often free camping, or at least very inexpensive, some with limited hook ups. Also grocery shopping in IGA type stores yields higher quality provisions than the big box stores near interstates. Also avoids toll roads.

The only downside for me is that I dont run the rig hard enough for passive regens, and when it tries an active regen its often interrupted by stops at intersections, ultimately leading to an hour waiting around for a parked regen to complete after a couple hundred miles. And of course not a good choice if you are in a hurry to get anywhere.

 

[Tnedator]

I haven't upgraded to the 890/1090 yet, but have been using a 770 for years, and agree, it's the way to go. I do use RV Trip wizard to layout routes, get campground reviews, etc., but then use the Garmin.

Also, I do my best to always review on Google maps (sat view) the night before the route to the RV park that Garmin is showing, just as a double check.

I should add, Garmin isn't infallible. When I was up at Newmar in September, we wanted to take the RV out for a shakedown after some work, and run to Wal-mart for supplies for the trip home. The route it put me on was having me turn on to a residential street that had a sign about no trucks, and looked like it would be a challenge for an RV. Decided not to turn left, and then it was 15 miles on that road before I could find a spot to turn around.

Trust, but verify, as best you can, and then just be diligent, because Garmin RV is really good, but not perfect.

 

[FloridaSon]

I had started the RV Life way at first, before I got my coach, I used it to plan trips, check time and distance to fuel and waypoints. Then I used carplay and my phone to use directions just around town in my truck. That is when I had it freeze multiple times, I contacted support, got the same ‘its user error‘ kind of answer you received and finally went with the 1090 also.

They also said don’t use the app, which I really wanted.

But until it expires I still use it for trip planning. I also have a hard copy Truck Driver Atlas so I have an analog backup.

Anyway glad you got it all sorted out. Happy trails.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Regarding the CB install, I wanted my ham radio installed, and wasn't sure how best to wire it in along with all the rest of the 12 volt items that wind up on the dash, TireMinders, phones, gps and backup gps, dash cam, etc. Then I remembered I had bought a 12v 10amp power supply for my radio previously to be able to hook it up in the house. That now resides next to the driver seat, and powers all of my 12v options on the dash. I have it plugged into the 120 volt system that is always on while driving down the road and is nice because a single power switch turns all of the items off until next drive day.

 

[marc2912]

I had started the RV Life way at first, before I got my coach, I used it to plan trips, check time and distance to fuel and waypoints. Then I used carplay and my phone to use directions just around town in my truck. That is when I had it freeze multiple times, I contacted support, got the same ‘its user error‘ kind of answer you received and finally went with the 1090 also.

They also said don’t use the app, which I really wanted.

But until it expires I still use it for trip planning. I also have a hard copy Truck Driver Atlas so I have an analog backup.

Anyway glad you got it all sorted out. Happy trails.

Due to the issues and them not caring I just went through my credit card company and did a chargeback. Companies like that don't deserve our money in my opinion.