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RV 760 - Difference between an RV and a truck

Former Member
Former Member over 11 years ago
Since there are no on-the-road forums here (which may be an answer in itself), I choose to post this at the closest denominator, the BaseCamp forum.

Basically, when will the RV 760 LMT take propane into account when routing? More than just the large vehicle size.

My rig (motorhome + toad) is 62+ feet long, 12'6" tall, 8'6" wide, and essentially moves on the road just like a big-rig truck.
From that perspective, a Garmin Dezl 760 truck GPS could do most of the routing work. In fact, from what I can see the RV 760 is essentially a re-branded Dezl 760, with a changed vehicle icon and two tiny (and very poorly sourced, BTW) RV POI databases pre-loaded on it.

BUT.. The one major routing criteria, the one difference between a truck and an RV, is not used by the RV760 at all.
The fact that RVs carry propane, which puts limitations on us that a big-rig truck does not have.

For example, Maryland has multiple tunnels with a severe propane restrictions

"vehicles carrying bottled propane gas in excess of 10 pounds per container (maximum of 10 containers), bulk gasoline, explosives, significant amounts of radioactive materials, and other hazardous materials are prohibited"



A 10 lb tank is tiny.. Much less than an RV would carry. Essentially a small tank for a gas-grill.
Typically any simple RV (trailer, motorhome, fifthwheel) might carry 2 DOT type tanks. Each larger than 10 lb.

In my case, I carry one large ASME style tank with around 130 lb in it when filled to 80%.

Testing the routings, the RV760 will happily route me through the tunnels every time. For example straight through the I-95 Fort McHenry tunnel in Baltimore.

A competing RV GPS (with propane size setting in the RV profile) will, when running the RV profile, route around the tunnel and use the bridge (I-695) to cross over the water instead.
In car mode only, it will use the tunnels.

Since propane is the one single, major, difference between routing a large RV and a large truck, it seems a severe flaw that it is not taken into the routing?

So when will there be an update adding propane settings and routing? So RV760 truly becomes an RV GPS, and not just Dezl 760 with a new name.
  • 0 over 11 years ago
    The propane selection in the vehicle profile on the device, also needs to be in the profile in BaseCamp.

    Also, as mentioned before in this forum several times, BaseCamp needs a tool to select a road or area to avoid when creating a route, like MapSource or Microsoft Streets and Trips has, before the route is ever sent to the device.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Also, as mentioned before in this forum several times, BaseCamp needs a tool to select a road or area to avoid when creating a route...


    And that'd only be useful for devices that accept the avoidance setup (i.e. it transfers) and/or don't recalculate transferred routes.

    Of course one can always use waypoints, via's and shaping points to try and force routes to take a particular path (what I've been doing for 10+ years).
  • 0 over 11 years ago
    Of course one can always use waypoints, via's and shaping points to try and force routes to take a particular path (what I've been doing for 10+ years).


    Just make sure your not forcing your route onto a road you don't want to be on, if you have to keep putting via's in to keep you on that road, make sure your OK to drive on that road...the device re-calculating what BaseCamp gives it, is another issue...the two need to have matching calculations so you don't have to look at the entire route on the device after it calculates it to see if it's different then what you planned in BC.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Just make sure your not forcing your route onto a road you don't want to be on...


    True, but then I use the following rules.

    Human = entity with brain (although it may not be used)
    GPS = small computer with algorithms for routing built-in. It is not "smart" or "intelligent".

    IMO people that expect a GPS, or any other tech device for that matter, to be smarter than them will get what they deserve :D
  • 0 over 11 years ago
    I'm at a loss to understand why you're finding the insertion of via points so difficult, or maybe I'm not understanding your problem. Have you had a look at the videos here http://www8.garmin.com/learningcenter/training/basecamp/

    In particular look at the one on routing that explains how to insert vias.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    If I simply tell an RV GPS to "take me to Fort McHenry, Baltimore" letting it do its work and control the route, then I DO expect anything that calls itself an RV-GPS to keep me out of propane trouble.


    I look at it slightly differently. Since a GPS unit is an aid it'd be nice if it holds my hand but I don't expect that.

    I once, let a GPS unit route me to an airport while on a business trip in an unfamiliar area. The path was crazy because I never checked it beforehand and it tried to avoid toll roads which was a bad idea in that case. I was mad but not at the GPS but myself for not checking the routing beforehand. I was lazy and I paid for it.

    But to STUARTMW.. BaseCamp's current way-point functionality is way, way too tricky to use for good route shaping.


    I don't use BaseCamp for route (or any other) planning. I use MapSource. It (still) works for me.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Distances necessary within the UK, Denmark, and similar countries compared to long road-trips across the Americas.


    That is quite possible :) In the UK 10-miles is a "day trip" and requires a packed lunch :D For me 10-miles is about the distance the heater or A/C gets the vehicle interior temperature to a tolerable level :p A (full) day trip for me is about 500 miles.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    I normally will not even start my MH diesel unless I can take it for at least a small 25-30+ mile spin around the block to warm up that big diesel all the way. Unhealthy otherwise.


    Well Americans refer to Europeans as "our friends across the pond". Now a pond is a very small body of water so referring to the Atlantic that way says a lot about our sense of proportion :D
  • 0 over 11 years ago
    No, we call it a pond to signify that distances mean nothing when talking about friends ... :)
  • 0 over 11 years ago
    One cannot then (during the initial route draw) go back and click in another via, because as mentioned the new via is not inserted where it belongs but at the end of the route list, which works only when vias/waypoints are added in order to build an overall route. BaseCamp then happily lets me drive 2-3 times across the same road-segment to meet all via in their inserted order. (The issue of the missing "Optimize Route" to re-sort via points).

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    If after the initial draw one then edits the route by adding way points (or if using the second method of starting with a simple route with a start/end-point), they are again added to the end of the route


    If the software like others supported the concept of a current route and adding vias to an existing route, it should be as simple as right-clicking on the road while I can see it, select add via segment, and watch the route change. Then if the auto-routing still chooses to jump off the road afterwards, scroll the map a little to see the next unused area, and right-clicking on the next road-segment.

    It can be so easy, and yet it is too hard.. :confused:

    One part of the confusion might be, that the distances dealt with (and hence zoom levels needed) here are very different from what I imagine you are used to in the UK. Don't know where you usually travel. Having myself driven cross countries in Europe and having lived in multiple different small European countries for a long time, I can easily see how that could happen. Distances necessary within the UK, Denmark, and similar countries compared to long road-trips across the Americas. Maybe? Don't know.


    Well if anything planning routes in Europe is more difficult as the road density is higher, but what concerns me is your workflow and the fact you appear not to be able to insert viapoints into your route using the 'rubber banding' available in Basecamp.

    Here's my workflow for any route, including trips through Europe hundreds of miles long.

    Create waypoints like start, finish and any stops I want to make on route.
    Select those in the lower left hand pane, right click and select Create route, that gives me my initial route
    Now use the insert tool to 'rubber band' where necessary. This inserts any forcing via points into the route at the correct point (not at the end).

    I suspect you're not using the insert tool if your waypoints are being added at the end :confused: