Heavy vehicle GPS

[Kelvin12]

G'Day All,

Some time ago there was a discussion here on the forum about truck/bus GPS. Anyone point me to the discussion or give some updated opinion on the good and bads....

Dirk

[Mrcoolabah1au]

I bought one of ebay works well but I know garmin make one for heavy vehicles but around 500 mark ok

[BruceS]

I think Dot ended up getting one of the Garmin ones that has truck info in it.
The very cheap model Garmin I have does have settings for choice of road .... main roads, direct route (be careful) or fastest route.
I can put low bridges and over passes in mine from GeoWiki but a warning a few hundred metres from the obstacle isn't much good if you;ve traveled 50kms and then have to turn around!!

[Kelvin12]

Some of them seem really expensive and are probably the bees knees and would be more for the pro drivers but for us mere bus/motor home owners would be an overkill. I was looking at them on ebay and there seems a lot of very cheap and nastys but maybe reasonable ones.

Dirk

[bagmaker]

Looking at similar beasts, there doesn't seem to be a specific one for HV use.
I am steering towards an android based double din size unit thats basically a hi-fi stereo with mulitple camera inputs, access to your phone and GPS/mapping too.
There are cheaper ones that the whirlpool forums warn against but the stuff over about $600 seems good. At the high end, units from Parrot, JVC and Pioneer are recommended.
As for bridges and access, as far as I can tell you would have to input a PIO list from each state's road division. There is $ android software available for American users but the Australian stuff doesn't seem well rated.
Not much help I am afraid

[homeless]

I have had the Garmin Dzel 760Lm for several years now and happy with it.
I has all the normal Garmin features but you can set up the parameters of your vehicle and it does check your route with the sizes entered.
I like the size as it makes it easier to see and also it sets up the alarms better by displaying across the top of the screen and very easy to see where the normal pops up a little square with the data and is impossible to read.
I does treat you like a truck so often gives warnings that truck accessibility is unknown, but I still travel along anyway. I also have a small Garmin that I compare the proposed trip as often they take different routes on the same trip.
The cost does include life time map upgrades which must account for some of the purchase prices as you can update your maps as often as there is upgrades.
I suppose how much does it cost to re roof your rig or reverse several Kms to find route around a low bridge LOL.
Regards
Brian

[bob r]

I have a Navman my escape, you can put in your dimensions it will keep you on the rite road,
But dam hard to see if there a bit of light on the screen, I use a Garmin car type most off the
Time it has a very easy to see screen.
Bob

[Kelvin12]

Good information here to look at. Thanks to all for the input.

Dirk

[bagmaker]

Hey Dirk, how did your shakedown trip go???

[Kelvin12]

Hasn't happened yet. We were due to go a few months ago but circumstances.... bugger it. Kids and grandkids, baby sitting dogs because the kids didn't want to spend thousands on dog minding while they were overseas so guess who.... Then our good tenant couldn't move in till July due to an operation so we have been cooling our heels. But this is it going no matter what we are GOING come hell or high water. Not even leaving a forwarding address, that will teach them.

Dirk