Looking to buy RV GPS

[slabatFB25]

Last month we took a trip from Southern Louisiana to North Carolina to enjoy the cool weather and autumn colors. We stopped off for a few days at Cloudland Canyon in Georgia on the way home to complete a great trip. I planned a route that took me on Hwy 64 between Franklin and Brevard North Carolina. Not my best choice pulling my FB25 but I made it. Had to pull over a few times to let the traffic pass. It was a Friday afternoon so I’m sorry if I held you up after a long week of work.
I’m looking to buy a GPS to help with my RV travels. Anybody using the Garmin RV 760MT navigator system? What system works best for you?
Thanks Steven

[slabatFB25]

What about the Good Sam 7" powered by Rand McNally?

[interstateflyer]

I have the Garmin Dezel 760 Truck, Rv and Automobile 7" GPS. Nice size. Lifetime maps.

RV and Truck modes are almost identical. There have been times when in RV/Truck mode that it takes us on un-necessarily long and complex routes because it thinks that the Automobile routes are not proper for RVs and Trucks. More and more we are using Automobile mode and doing route research on our own. The 'concierge' mode is pretty good, although Garmin thinks every Safeway has a Starbucks.

[lsbrodsky]

I use the Garmin 760 and have been very happy with it, especially using Basecamp to map trips on my PC and then transfer them to the device. There have been a few trips, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway that I had to plan as an Auto trip because the RV mode refuses to route on certain roads. The lifetime update feature is excellent. I also use the compatible backup camera on the rear of my trailer.
Larry

[Jack46]

We used our Garmin 760 on a recent trip to the west coast and it performed as advertised. For me, the Basecamp software has been difficult to master. Though there is no downloadability, I still use my tried and true Streets and Trips to plan the "big picture". But, Microsoft is no longer producing updates for Streets and Trips so it is just a mater of time when I'll be forced to figure out Basecamp.

[tomterrific]

We've used a Garmin for some time and been satisfied. Bought at Costco and lifetime, free map up-dates were included. I don't think ours has the RV/Truck mode that some of the others commented about.

[NY24]

There is NO perfect GPS unit. That said, my LEAST favorite manufacturer is Rand McNally. I wasted almost $400 on their 7710RVND. I pre-ordered it from Camping World several years ago. It took months longer that promised before RM could deliver it and, once it did arrive, it STILL was "not ready for prime time" Bad hardware and software. Terrible compatibility with my Mac computer too. My current rig came with Rand McNally 720 software pre-installed in the radio. While it is an improvement over the 7710, I wish the manufacturer had gone with anybody else's software. I bought a 5" Garmin dezl (which is built for trucks). Better that the RM 7710RVND but, not what I'd recommend for an RVer. I bought Copilot software (also geared towards trucks) and, have it installed on my Apple iDevices. Copliot is available for Android phones / tablets as well as Win OS computers. Strangely, it will not run on Mac OS computers but, its' performance on my iPhone & iPad has been solid. I've tried Magellan but was not impressed.

In my book, TomTom CAR units win hands down for ease of use but, sadly TomTom does not offer a GPS for RVs. If TomTom did, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

[SuzyHomemakr]

I like my Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S4. I have a bunch of custom maps with refreshments and swimming holes that I can load on the fly while traveling. The apps are great for finding truck stops to fuel up, or find a Starbucks.

I have a Garmin Montana 600 that I use when kayaking... I guess that it's a backup in case my phone goes out.

ProClipUSA has these spiffy custom mounts that charge the phone. I built an eve-more-custom version that also holds my SiriusXM. I can move this to the other car, other pop the tuner thing off and use it in the Airstream or the boom box.

I'm watching the Heads-Up devices coming out soon, and some already on the market like Navdy and HUDway Glass

[vaquitaboss]

I purchased the Garmin RV 760 LMT for our recent trip from Tampa to the Grand Canyon and beyond. I used this in place of the GPS installed in my Titan and found it so much better, both in terms of ease of use and accuracy.

I did use the RV mode, but did go with local recomendations when we left the Grand Canyon. Very glad I did that as we would have missed the east entrance and all the views afforded heading that way.

I do belong to Good Sam and found using their maps on line to be very helpful, but went with the Garmin unit for the actual drive. I just have more confidence in Garmin based on past experiences. Garmin does have Base Camp for a planner, I just have not used it enough to comment.

I would recommend the iottie sticky gel dashpad to mount the unit. Mine would not stay put at all and had to rig a contraption to hold it. Once home , I purchased that pad from Amazon, and 2 months later, the mount is still stuck. Here's the link if your interested. $6.00 well spent.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good Luck.

[Tuco]

Originally Posted by SuzyHomemakr

I like my Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S4. I have a bunch of custom maps with refreshments and swimming holes that I can load on the fly while traveling. The apps are great for finding truck stops to fuel up, or find a Starbucks.

I have a Garmin Montana 600 that I use when kayaking... I guess that it's a backup in case my phone goes out.

ProClipUSA has these spiffy custom mounts that charge the phone. I built an eve-more-custom version that also holds my SiriusXM. I can move this to the other car, other pop the tuner thing off and use it in the Airstream or the boom box.

I'm watching the Heads-Up devices coming out soon, and some already on the market like Navdy and HUDway Glass

Yes, why spend money on something your smart phone does and is paid for? The app integration is a great feature and allows you to easily get the directions to what you are looking for. Google Maps FTW.

[paiceman]

We used the Garmin RV 760 for a year when we had a 38' Motor Home and traveled the US. Nice unit, accurate and help us avoid several low bridges. Very complete road software. We now use the Ford GPS in our F350 and it work well but does not warn of low bridges etc.

I bought several Rand MacNally GPS systems including the RV unit and did not like any of them, returned to camping world for full refund.

When using the Ford GPS in an area we are not familiar with at all I also plug in the Garmin 760 and run it as well, on mute.

[polarlyse]

Hi Bud. We recently traded in our truck and got a Ford -F-350. Still trying to get used to the GPS but so far it's been good. Although I do know of a couple of local-to-home bridges that are Airstream low I've never encountered one in my AS travels. I think mine measures at approx. 10.5' so clearance is not usually an issue. I still keep paper maps handy for reference. I never, never ( did I say never ) rely 100% on any GPS.

Hope all's well with you both. Are our paths gonna cross again one of these days

[slabatFB25]

Thanks all for the input. We always travel with maps, atlas, next exit book and iphone. However my wife has a hard time with the iphone and I have a hard time driving and keeping eye on the iphone. I was thinking that if she work with a GPS on all the time she would get comfortable with it. She prefers using her atlas over iphone but sometime it doesn’t show all the smaller roads. Our 2014 camper is our first trailer so were still learning how to make 10 plus day out on the road fun, easy and stress less. Hope to log lots of destination over the upcoming years so we will give the Garmin RV 760 a try. Hope to see all on the right road going forward.
Thanks again slabat

[rmkrum]

We use the Navigon app on our iPhones. It has a truck mode but we don't use it. It also has free updates, seems to route well, and there is a heads up display available for it. Don't have the HUD yet, but considering it seriously since our Prius has that feature and I like it.

Have basically given up on Magellan and TomTom GPS devices as being a little too stupid, hard to update, and just not as good at navigating as Navigon. all else fails, we also use Google Maps with the iPhone as a backup.


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[comprose]

Just make sure that you can update using your Mac. After at least a dozen emails with Magellan, they finally, finally admitted that their update program is not Mac compatible. Ugh!

[comprose]

Just make ute that it is compatible with Mac. After numerous emails Magellan finally admitted that their updating could not be done on a Mac.. Darned if I'm going to get a PC just to update. Very after-the-fact frustrating.

[Dobber]

Larry,
we have the same unit with the BUC.
was wondering how did you run power to the camera ? Thanks.
Rusty.

<<lsbrodsky
I use the Garmin 760 ... I also use the compatible backup camera on the rear of my trailer. .>>

[greghoro]

+1 for Garmin RV 760LMT. I like the extra large screen and the RV waypoint content (campgrounds, RV repair facilities). Also use the backup camera pointing out the back window, powered thorough a cigarette lighter receptacle I installed, tapping into the rear reading light circuit.

Greg

[2dabeach]

I have the Garmin RV 760LMT with the rear view camera in my truck for one year and I'm very happy with it. The screen is very large and easy to see when on the road and I can now see when backing up my truck. I thought the RV software would have a way of avoiding routes that have tunnels with ridiculous propane gas restrictions such as the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Other than that, it is a great unit.

[lsbrodsky]

I mounted the camera on the license plate, ran the extension cable under the trailer, mounted the transmitter on the tongue with the power cable going to a switch in the battery box.

Larry