With my Excursion and the giant TT with the rear rack installed with the bikes and kayaks the combo is right about 65’ long, thinking the F-450 with the 42’ Paradigm might measure just a bit shorter…….maybe.

 

I have a Garmin 1090 RV and it not only will route away from bridges but from roads that are too narrow or has sharp turns you wont be able to navigate through. When we stayed at DeSoto SP in Alabama, the dash nav and my other Garmin would have put me down a road I would have been stuck on, but the RV one put me through the recommended by the state park route which is further south to a town, then back around and up to the park. These nav units are more than just bridge clearance, but also take the vehicle length into account.


I also like the Garmin Basecamp software to pre-plan an entire trip. Comes in real handy when there are multiple stops.

 

Another vote for Garmin here, but I went with an RV780. Personal preference, but I actually like the smaller size for less window blocking. I don't think any GPS is perfect, so I use the RV780, Apple Maps, and a little common sense when I'm towing.

Good luck and happy trails with the new fiver Tom!

 

I have the center console and put my GPS right where the lid is for the wireless charger which is rather useless. No windshield blocking.

 

I have also been using RV Life for the past 2 years, as it works quite well and allows for pre-planning etc on the desktop website.

@Peej11 are you able to view and manipulate the app on your truck's display through AA? Which version of Sync do you have?

 

I've used Car Play for the past 8 months and not used AA since. I suspect they'll function similarly though. I can manipulate the app some using Sync (I'm not sure of the version). I do all of my trip planning on the web and just select the trip though. Not a lot of searching while driving. I'll leave that to the co-pilot if it's ever needed.

 

I’ve been using Truck Map but I am moving to the RV life navigation. I am not a fan of another screen in my truck, so a Car Play compatible app is best, which RV Life is and it appears to be accurate in the few time I have used it.

 

In the Northeast very easy to end up on the wrong road. Storrow drive in Boston regularly has trucks being turned into convertibles, always a U Haul or two meet their end during college move ins. NYC is even worse with all the parkways in and around the city.

 

I get the low clearances back east, drove my own class 8 13'6" there several times. Actually found one in down town Bronx and had the police block traffic while I backed up, they sent me to a parkway, yes I was not supposed to be there. If it's an app you want try Trucker Path or get a trucker Atlas it will have high lighted truck routing, if the trucks can go so can you,dry vans or straight trucks are 13'6'.

Trucker Path

 

It is brutal around NYC. At least Boston is very compact and frankly easy to avoid with 128 and 495 ringing around it.

This poor guy on the Merritt with a 5th wheel.... that ain't making the 10'6" bridges....

 

I have taken routes around NYC but they are hard to do without paying too.

 

I like the Garmin RV GPS's. Phone apps are helpful, but don't always have cell service.

 

Yup, that's another good point. For low clearances I purchased an add-on for the Garmin from LowClearances.com, but it's kind of clunky and they haven't updated it since May 2022 so I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

 

I just realized you've got a 2024 so you are running Sync 4. I'm not sure if CarPlay is different enough from AA to allow the app to function on the truck's head unit but Sync 3 definitely does not allow the app onto the big screen. That said, it is still a good app and I just use it on my phone once I have planned the route on the computer.

 

Do you recall if you had to do something to get the app to display in android auto? I am new to this an see where I can remove items from Android Auto, but I don't see how to add them.