Best RV GPS Devices & Navigators

Standard phone navigation apps plan routes for cars. They do not let you enter your RV’s height, weight and length on a phone, so they can send a 13-foot rig under a 12-foot bridge or onto a weight-limited road. As of our last check, Google’s trailer-aware routing was limited to the built-in Google Maps in some newer General Motors vehicles. A dedicated RV GPS, or an RV-specific app, checks your route against your rig’s profile.

Garmin’s RV navigators use the height, width, length and weight you enter to steer around low clearances, weight-restricted roads and bridges, sharp curves and steep grades, and they warn you on screen as you approach them. On the RV 895 and RV 1095 a propane setting also avoids roads and tunnels where propane is restricted. Always follow posted signs; no map data is complete.

Measure from the ground to the highest point on the roof, which is usually the air conditioner, a satellite dish, an antenna or solar panels, with the RV level and the tires properly inflated. Then add a few inches of margin. Many fifth wheels and Class A motorhomes stand 12½ to 13½ feet tall, so a single inch can matter.

Yes. Garmin’s RV 795, RV 895, RV 1095 and RVcam 795 include map and software updates at no extra charge, installed over Wi-Fi without a computer. Live traffic, weather and fuel prices come through the free Garmin Drive app on a paired smartphone, so there is no subscription for the core features.

The RV 895 has a larger 8-inch, 1280 x 800 screen that works in portrait or landscape, about two hours of battery instead of one, and a powered magnetic mount in the box. The RV 795 has a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 screen and a suction-cup mount. Routing, road warnings and the campground directory are the same.

It depends on the state. Some, like California, allow a GPS only in small squares in the lower corners of the windshield, and many others ban anything that blocks the driver’s view. On a big RV windshield those corners are often too far away to reach anyway. A dash mount, such as a weighted beanbag friction mount, keeps the unit within reach and the glass clear.

The Garmin Tread 2 Overland Edition. It adds turn-by-turn trail navigation, topographic maps, U.S. Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Maps and public-land boundaries to normal street routing for your rig’s size, plus a directory of more than 46,000 public campgrounds. It can also pair with a Garmin inReach for satellite messaging where there is no cell signal.