Coming soon to the Redwood Family

[sbenhoff]

We are in the process of buying our first Redwood. This past weekend, we went to an RV show in Dallas looking for a Montana that I've been researching for months now and walked into the 38RL and we both fell in love with it. I thought we were just going to get an estimate on costs and wound up giving a down payment to hold the rig for us. Now the research has begun.....

Though I will have ton's of questions going forward, I do only have one that I'm most concerned about at the moment. As our last rig was only a 31' TT Keystone Ultralight, moving to this 5er is a little intimidating. I am most concerned about the height, since I just found out yesterday that my present covered storage will not work for this unit.

I'm not concerned about the weight, as we have a RAM 6.7 3500 dually and I recognize that you always must be conscience of the overpasses as you are going down the road, but how do you keep from being paranoid about it? One of the videos I saw was some guy trying to go in to an ATM and he bought the whole structure down. So I know NOT to go to ATM's..

Any thoughts/suggestions on how to handle my "stress" on passing under overpasses?

Thanks for your help and we look forward to joining the "family".

Steve

[Dave&Ginny]

Welcome to our growing family!

Think of yourself as a simi-truck and only go where you see them going, until you get use to it. It won't take long

[0nTheRoad]

Buy a GOOD GPS specifically designed for Trucks/RV's. There are a few out there, the most popular are Garmin and Rand McNally/Camping World. Both have features for the RV'er and will allow you to program the GPS with important factors for your rig such as height, weight, length, hazardous materials [propane], etc.

When I was doing my research [about 2 years ago] I compared all the RV specific GPS's, each had its pluses and minuses but the Rand McNally seemed to be problematic, would freeze up, shut down for no reason, etc.

I personally chose Garmin, I have a 760DEZL which is actually a trucker GPS, I purchased it before they came out with the 760RV which is the RV specific Garmin. The guts are pretty much the same, e.g. routing, logic. The difference for RV'ers, the RV model has a campground POI database, the DEZL does, but it's much smaller. No problem, I downloaded a campground POI database from POI factory.

I also use a web based routing program for trip planning, RV Trip Wizard, which you also configure to the specifics for your rig; height, weight, etc. I tell it where I am and where I want to end up then let it do the routing. If the trip is over 250-300 miles I look for overnight stop points based on my preferences, we're Passport America members so I look for PA campgrounds along the route. The program will draw rings at user defined distances [I use 200, 250 and 300 miles] so I can hone in to that range to look for CG's.

[johnboytoo]

So you were one of the, ! Welcome... I heard ExploreUSA sold 90 rv's this weekend at the show Be patient on the pdi -they will be swamped the next month !


94% of all interstates have 13' 6" or more clearances... especially here in Texas

Just make it a game to see who reads the clearance sings out loud first until you prove to yourselves that it's not as much a concern as it seems...

Secondary roads are another thing though --- watch for trees primarily to avoid the scratches good luck !

[Foxfire]

I still duck down everytime we are on a back road and have to go under the tree limbs hanging over the road.

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by sbenhoff

We are in the process of buying our first Redwood. This past weekend, we went to an RV show in Dallas looking for a Montana that I've been researching for months now and walked into the 38RL and we both fell in love with it. I thought we were just going to get an estimate on costs and wound up giving a down payment to hold the rig for us. Now the research has begun.....

Though I will have ton's of questions going forward, I do only have one that I'm most concerned about at the moment. As our last rig was only a 31' TT Keystone Ultralight, moving to this 5er is a little intimidating. I am most concerned about the height, since I just found out yesterday that my present covered storage will not work for this unit.

I'm not concerned about the weight, as we have a RAM 6.7 3500 dually and I recognize that you always must be conscience of the overpasses as you are going down the road, but how do you keep from being paranoid about it? One of the videos I saw was some guy trying to go in to an ATM and he bought the whole structure down. So I know NOT to go to ATM's..

Any thoughts/suggestions on how to handle my "stress" on passing under overpasses?

Thanks for your help and we look forward to joining the "family".

Steve

I recommend the purchase of a Rand-McNally RV GPS where you can program in your height and weight and length. Also, purchase the Rand-McNally Motor Carrier's Road Atlas and use it to preview your desired route. Only travel on highlighted routes safe for trucking.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Foxfire

I still duck down everytime we are on a back road and have to go under the tree limbs hanging over the road.

X2 hahaha - that's the real answer! I have RV-GPS, know my height, but all that is only good on a marked bridge - trees still make me duck and close my eyes. I count dollar signs in my sleep until the hazard has passed!

But don't let that stop you - you get used to it.

[sbenhoff]

Thanks for the suggestions about the GPS system. I'm very familiar with the Garmin's, as I have had one for years, but it was not for RV's. I guess it is time to update.

I've been doing some research and it looks like the Garmin RV760LMT is pretty decent. However, I was also looking at the wireless camera that you can get with it, but it doesn't appear that it would work very well with the length of this rig.

Anyone had any good results with either this Garmin or it's backup camera?

[atom ant]

That's the Nuvi I have.

I never did pop for the camera, so I can't say how well it works, but chances are not well on the rear of the trailer.

The RV760LMT has some nice features, such as:

• Large screen
• turn by turn with intersection pics when available.
• Search for campgrounds by amenities (Garmin 3rd party software) - fantastic for finding 50a full hookups on the road.
• You can program RV by length, weight, height and it will avoid those routes that cannot meet that requirement.

Some complaints I have about it:

• General resolution of the screen is poor - rather disappointing
• Bluetooth handsfree cell phone connection is almost unusable on the dash of a diesel - poor audio.
• It connects to your phone to get weather info, but the garmin link is disappointing. The weather data is limited and Doppler display is limited. I prefer the direct app on the phone or tablet, as I can steer clear of a storm. The Garmin just can't zoom in that close.
• The RV portion is frustrating. If it doesn't have data about bridges, etc, it just tells you it doesn't know and it wont route you through the "dark" zones. Most of Colorado, other than Interstates, seems to be "dark" zones and it wants to send me around through Kansas via a 400 mile trip to be safe, rather than let me drive 20 miles on a state road to the campground I just came from. Most of the time I have it switched to Auto rather than RV, to stop erroneous information and guidance. Ironically, the only place it seems to work the best is the interstates, which are the least of my worries about bridges, etc. when towing.

We have nav in the truck now, so the Nuvi will probably reside in the glovebox most of the time now.

[johnboytoo]

Have been a Garmin owner / user since the suitcase sized ones

And my two garmins are always in the cars and typically not used...
Only when the ford's nav frustrates me beyond belief will I pull it out !

I will say I just got the latest update to the nav software not maps, and it really has some neat features, etc... not sure what all changed, but it's noticeable !

(again, NO update for the maps - like with most mfg nav's the maps are out of date when sold !)

[sbenhoff]

Atom Ant.....thanks for the additional information. After all the research I've done today, I've decided to pass on the camera, but I'm going to give the Garmin a try. I got it with a 60-day trial, so we'll see what happens.

Though I would love to have a camera that would work from that distance, I guess "wired" is still the only way to go.

[atom ant]

I've always thought the camera would be good mounted to the back of the cab so I could use it to hitch! Just never spent the money yet.

If you end up keeping it - it might be something to think about later!

PS - on the wired- Montana used to sell a factory installed Voyager that was hardwired from the rear camera to the nose of the 5th wheel, and from there to the truck it was wireless via an antenna on the nose. I never had one, but I always figure that would cure the length issue and give you backup on the trailer.

John - Did you get software updates for the RV760? or another one you have. I'm slacking, as I haven't checked for updates.

[JohnEileen]

Welcome! We too walked into the RV dealer intending on buying a Montana last April, but having looked at several Montana's saw the difference and put our down payment on outer 36 RL that day. on height markings we were told that they are supposed to mark anything less than 13' 6" and so far that has run true, but we are always on the lookout! we haven't purchased a special GPS yet.

[piper guy]

If you have an ipad, download an app called TruckerPath. We use it all the time. Will show truck routes, Fuel stops, clearance issues if there are any and it's updated regularly. Best of all ~ free.

We also use the Rand Macnally app for the ipad gps. $99.99 and free updates forever. Each time it comes on if there is an update it will tell you.

[johnboytoo]

Originally Posted by atom ant

....

John - Did you get software updates for the RV760? or another one you have. I'm slacking, as I haven't checked for updates.

No... got updates to Ford's Nav in both cars - the Explorer Sport and F350...

but do regularly plug in the garmin's to get software updates and map updates..

Map updates are about quarterly and both mine are lifetime maps for free...

the software updates are free too and well worth the few minutes it takes...
http://software.garmin.com/en-US/express.html

http://www.garmin.com/us/support/

[Oriana]

Congratulations on purchasing a RW and welcome to the forum. In addition to the other points I have posted our height prominently on the dash - both feet and inches and the stupid metric.

I also make a point of verbalising the posted heights, which saved us a couple of weeks ago, as the GPS missed a 3.7m bridge

[Blenhardt]

As others have stated, the main thing I am concerned about are trees that will scratch the sides and or top. The interstates, I believe will all above 13' 6".