RVtravel.com readers reveal their favorite GPS navigation devices

By Chuck Woodbury
editor, RVtravel.com

Several issues ago I asked readers of the RVtravel.com newsletter to tell me about their GPS units -- what they liked and/or disliked. I received nearly 100 emails. By far, the most popular unit mentioned was the Garmin Nuvi 465T, (see photo) GPS designed for truckers. Almost all readers raved about this unit, even though it is more expensive than the basic Nuvi.

Another GPS aimed at truckers, the Cobra 7700 was also mentioned favorably several times. For information on each of these devices, click on the highlighted links above to go to their manufacturers' websites.

Other readers mentioned software programs they run on their laptop computers.

I have printed highlights from some of the emails here, in no particular order. If you read through, you will get a pretty good idea of what each of the products offers plus a few interesting stories. Be sure to check with Amazon.com for good prices, as well as Best Buy, Costco and other big retailers.

If you have a comment to add about your GPS unit, please do so.

Here are some of the letters we received:

I have the Garmin GPS 465T which is for both cars and truckers. I own a 40-foot coach hauling a 26-foot trailer and when hooked up to the trailer the GPS is in the truck mode. You can set it back and forth between car and truck mode as you desire. Recently, I had it in car mode and forgot to switch it back to truck mode while hauling the trailer and the GPS routed me through country side roads instead of the straightest route to the I-5 freeway from the Sumas, BC and Washington border inspection station. It was a very scenic and enjoyable but had many S turns routing around farm land. Lesson learned, check the mode often. Richard Smith

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I just recently purchased a 36-foot motorhome and used a rather basic GPS unit. One of my first considerations was to find a unit that is much more useful and friendly to RVers especially larger rigs. Given that, I went looking for a GPS suitable for truckers. If it's good enought for them then surely it would be suitable enough for my rig. There are several models available that offer many more features that RVers can take advantage of. For example, you can enter your rig details a such as length, overall height, and other things that are critical when you want to avoid low overpasses, tight turns, narrow roads and steep grades. The unit that I have is a Garmin Nuvi 465T which is easy to use and the price range is around $300. Ross Kelly

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We have a Tom Tom and for the most part, it has saved our hides. But it also took us into areas we SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN!! When traveling to an RV Park in San Antonio, Texas, we were told in no uncertain terms that we must NOT follow the GPS as it will take us under an overpass that is too low for most RV's and over some railway tracks that will high center the vehicle. Louise and Doug Perry

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My husband and I travel with a Garmin 465T, a unit made for truckers. It allows you to put in your length and height. Our rig is 33 feet plus the tow car. You can switch the unit from motorhome to car as needed. "She" (the only name we've given her) has saved us several times already by routing us away from low clearance bridges. Our previous GPS the Garmin 850 was only for a car and we learned the hard way two things about GPS units.

1.) They are set up to go the shortest distance from point A to point B. This means that they will take you through a downtown of a big city rather than a few miles more to skirt the city driving. My heart attack situation came up Labor Day of 2009. I wasn't paying enough attention and we were just following the GPS. I had wanted to take the longer route from New Hampshire to Cape Cod to avoid downtown Boston, which is where "She" originally had routed us. After stopping for gas I somehow thought we had past the point where she would keep directing us to Boston (the short cut) and the next thing I was looking at the bridge leading into the city of Boston. The first sign you see that makes your heart start a new rhythm is "All vehicles with propane must exit NOW." That exit leaves you in downtown Boston, with the one-way, very, very narrow streets.

2.) Whatever direction you are facing when you set the destination in sometimes affects the route the GPS assigns. (Sometimes it's better to get moving in the direction you want to take then set the GPS).

A GPS is a great help, and I sometimes don't know how we traveled without it, but I find that you still have to have a current map of every state and follow it in conjunction with the GPS. I put in the destination and then check the map to see if that's the best possible way. Sometimes to avoid going "her short" way I have to pick another destination on the route that I would like and put that in as a stop. That way once we get on the road I want I can take out the stop and she "recalculates." Karen Simpkins

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My wife and I have been Canadian fulltimers living and moving around in a 40ft 5er with 4 slides for the last 5 years. We use a Clarion EZD580 GPS. It has a setting for buses that we use. This setting tends to direct us to routes for large vehicles. It has not got me into any snafus yet!  Gary and Barb Gee

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Go to DieselBoss.com. They have a great comparison chart. I use the PCMILER. This unit allows you to set multiple vehicle catagories. You can choose types of roads, avoid tunnels that are LP gas restricted, vehicle heights and width. I have been using it for 6 months. Gary Smith

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Most newer GPS units give you the choice of picking the type of vehicle you are using. They have either a symbol for auto, truck, or walking in the setup menu. Almost all have the ability to update their software via the internet. My Garmin Nuvi 255W updates automatically. Once you register your unit on the Garmin site you get to log onto a section called myDashboard. You are offered an option to download a program called webUpdater that searches your attached device and identifies new updates for your installed software. I was able to update the firmware, maps and other items stored on the 255W. I also downloaded a full set of new icons from the Garmin site which allowed me replace the auto icon with a RV icon. When I travel I pick the truck route to avoid any routing problems this option also allows me to be comfortable with height clearances and route problems due to rig size. One word of caution with any of these devices common sense needs to be used to due to road work or changes not updated. Overall a GSP is the greatest thing for solo or traveling with a spouse. It has reduced the stress between my wife and I. If I miss a turn now it's not "her fault" and a fix is already being displayed and that detached GPS voice is announcing "At the first opportunity make a legal U-turn" John Crowson 

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For years (and several versions) we have used a software program and GPS unit using a USB port on a laptop. It is called Co-Pilot and has worked well, with a few minor exceptions. It is designed for the RVer in that you can tell it your height and weight and it will avoid those "traps," so I assume it also avoids the narrow winding back streets. You can choose between shortest or fastest routing. The bad news is the software does not function with other programs running at the same time, e.g., no way to minimize -- so the laptop becomes captured by Co-pilot. It also locks up occasionally. Jon and Nancy Katin

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I ordered a Garmin Nuvi 465T from Costco. It has the function of entering your rig length/width/height, warns you of twisty roads, weight scales, and low bridges. I've been very pleased, using it on a three month trip from Seattle to Denver and back. Richard McLachlin

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We purchased a Cobra 7700 Pro at a Flying J (around $400), configured it to the height and weight of our coach and have been extremely pleased with it. They have help via hotline to help with your configuration. No more worries about low overhead or bridges with weight restrictions as it routes around. Also, it will let you know about speed traps and which lane to be in. Wendell and Gere Steinhoff

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I have been using a Garmin Nuvi 660 for several years. It has the capability to change which type of vehicle you are wanting directions. It allows me to receive directions for a car/motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle, truck, bus, emergency, or taxi. I use the truck directions as the bus seems to not give me the best directions on smaller roads. When I am in my car and needing directions I change it back to car for the shortest or fastness route. Milo Sarchet

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I use a Garmin StreetPilot 2820 with our 39' Safari Cheetah. This model can be set to route for everything from a pedestrian to a semi, and everything in between. I usually leave mine set to "bus,"which then avoids the very small streets. Bob Beachy

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We drive a 45' Prevost motorhome and 90 percent of the time I am pulling a trailer behind that. I recently purchased the Rand McNally TND700 for trucks. It seems to be doing very well. In the two months I used it, there was one occasion that it completely freaked out and locked up. Prior to that, I had the Garmin 465T for trucks. It did okay. As with all GPS, you still must use your brain and common sense. Paul Vander Wey

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I use a 7700 Pro from Cobra. It has a seven-inch screen and I have customized it to the dimension for my 40 foot rig. It is great for avoiding too narrow roads and too low of underpasses. Bob Britt

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Since our trailer has a height of over 12 feet, we choose the Garmin 465T. This GSP has a car and a truck mode that can be changed with a flick of a switch. This GPS guided us perfectly to our destination, while in the car mode, without any problems. On our return home, it was switched into the truck mode. When setting up the truck mode, you fill in your vehicle width, height, gross weight, overall length, number of trailers, and max weight weight per axle. The Garmin 465T plots your course with those parameters to keep you out of trouble. You avoid low overpasses, narrow roads, or bridges not rated for the weight. The Garmin 465T did cost about twice as much as an average GPS, but well worth the extra money if I never hit a low bridge or never have to backup away from a low bridge or a road that is too narrow. Larry Duvall

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We used an auto Garmin Nuvi for years, but when the Nuvi 465T came out, we treated ourselves to a "truckers" GPS, the first one out in a small portable size. Being a "truckers" GPS, it takes inputs from the user for length, gross weight, height, width, numbers of trailers, hazardous material and maximum weight per axle. It can be used as an auto gps or a truck GPS, when it will only show the roads suitable for trucks. It will provide routes that are suitable and not send us under low bridges, etc. Our height is 12' 3", and we have to be more careful than when we had a shorter rig. It also has the NAVTEQ traffic radio system, so we get traffic alerts when near large cities. Of course, it occasionally makes the typical GPS errors and tries to send us the wrong way or over non-existent roads, but we always have a paper map check before a trip and for review during the trip. And, the truckers atlas gets an occasional check for low bridges, just to satisfy our curiosity and the "slight" distrust of electronic gadgets. This GPS was quite a bit more expensive than most discount store auto GPS', but we feel it was well worth it for peace of mind and a safer route. It is still pocketable and has a 4-5 hour battery life, so it is quite versatile, like other Nuvi's. Frank King

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We use Trailer Life CD-rom in conjunction with the USB PGS device that came with our Microsoft Streets & Trips and love the combination especially the 17-inch screen and the fact that there are campgrounds pre-loaded and we're able to load others as well. It even worked well in Canada. The big HOWEVER is that too frequently the roads Trailer Life routed us on were dirt or invisible/non-existent. We have our route preferences set to avoid freeways and use back roads so that may be part of the problem. We have not gotten ourselves into low clearance or narrow/impassable roads otherwise. So all said, I'd recommend giving the combination a try. Kitty

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I purchased a PC Miler from Diesel Boss on the web. The unit lets you put in your dimensions, ie: length, height and width. It took us through some areas but always kept us on roads that were easy for us to navigate. It took us around low bridges etc without a problem. The unit costs more than car units but has been well worth the extra money. Another nice feature is that it is updated at least every year and costs about half to update than the other GPS's. Jack Adinolfi

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I've been using the Street Atlas program for three years now while towing my 35' fifth wheel. We stretch about 51' and almost 13' high. I examine the SA route carefully each time. Occasionally it will route me down a forest road or some other inappropriate direction. One time I stated to follow it out of the south entrance for Yellowstone. I drove to the entrance of a resort and stopped. A fella in a golf cart drove up and told me I would have driven down an increasingly narrow gravel road for many miles without relief. Unfortunately neither SA nor Streets and Trips offers a trucker/RV option for routing. SA just added routing options for cycling and walking. But nothing for big vehicles. Gotta get a trucker GPS program for that.

What to do? Three solutions:
1 Use a Motor Carrier's Road Atlas, which lists trucker routes with height limits that exceed my requirements
2 Add data from LowClearances.com which I can include in my SA program.
3 Stay out of cities as much as possible.
Bruce & Jenna

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Thanks to the dozens of other readers who told us about their GPS units. Many of you did not include your name, and we probably missed a few, but thanks to all of you including Neil Glenn, Elizabeth Marshall, Nancy and George Scouten, Jim Carpenter,  Rob Dettman, Don Jacques, Pamela Brown, Arnold Snow, D. Foster, Randy Heasley, Mike Kloster, Dave Gaines, Bruce Badger, George Allen, D. Bentley, Lynne Kuchler, Bob Huffman, Laurel Wineinger, Art Kelly, Penny in Pennsylvania, Rich Delfs, Clyde Underwood, Bob Groves, Jim Gregory . . . and all the rest of you!