First Fifth Wheeler

[koribustard]

I'm new to this forum and have been reading many interesting posts. I just retired and my wife and I are shopping for a fifth wheeler. I've done a lot of towing but never a camp trailer. A couple of questions. 1) Would a 13' 4" height pose any problems with bridges on secondary roads? 2) Is there an app like Google Maps or Waze that can calculate routes where there are no bridges that are too low? Thanks for any input.

[Thermoguy]

Itakethe5th2011 wrote:
I use Garmin RV 770 LMT-S GPS. It is set up for RV's. You enter your 5th wheel height, length, width and weight. It will help plot you around the country, but like all GPS you still have to be alert, especially on secondary roads. Also be careful at fueling stations with low canopies.

Tom Tom has a similar GPS that allows you to program the vehicle height and length.

[one_strange_tex]

Itakethe5th2011 wrote:
I use Garmin RV 770 LMT-S GPS. It is set up for RV's. You enter your 5th wheel height, length, width and weight. It will help plot you around the country, but like all GPS you still have to be alert, especially on secondary roads. Also be careful at fueling stations with low canopies.

I too have a Garmin 660 LMT RV, meaning I get free updates on maps (new ones issued ~2 times a year) and it routes me knowing my 5th wheel's dimensions, especially height. It has saved my behind on at least 2 occasions involving low overhead clearances. They are not common, but it is sometimes surprising where they turn up, like on US highways and on loops around medium sized towns.

If you see it routing you weirdly onto some secondary roads, it is often some hazard like a low clearance you would not have known about otherwise. Yes, the clearances are often marked, but sometimes not with enough warning where you can easily "back out" (sometimes literally) of the situation. It seems to dislike traffic circles as well, sometimes when I would not consider them a problem.

I also like the fact that you can use BaseCamp to completely plan your route, including stops, on your computer and load them into the Garmin. There are frequent complaints that it is hard to use, but I have found it quite useful once you get the hang of it. I especially like that you can export the planned routes to navigation apps on tablets or iPads and your co-pilot can follow along and assist you.

As for the fuel stops, I plan them and check them out for ingress/egress as well as clearances on my iPad using satellite views and ground level views courtesy of the inRoute app which links to Google Maps.

[Old-Biscuit]

Our 5th wheel is 13'4" actual measured height hitched up to truck

We FTd for 7 yrs traveling ONLY secondary/back roads
12 trips across US...border to border/coast to coast

We DID encounter 'Low Overpasses'.....roadways/train trestles etc.
Those encounters were back East....New England States
And those were clearly marked with signage PRIOR to encounter where an alternative route was available
Except for One where the signage was there but bushes/vegetation had overgrown and covered it. So we turned around and went another way

One other encounter was in NY around Schenectady IIRC. We came down a roadway that was an overpass which then circled down/around to that roadway without any options. Just before merging onto that roadway SHE noticed overpass sign showed 11'9"....I put a halt/dead stop and traffic was backing up behind us.
I got out to see if I could backup anywhere and look for options.
Guy in a truck about 5 vehicles back YELLED "You can make it. Roadway was cut down/lowered and sign was never changed. I go thru there all the time with tractor/trailer.....trust me!"
So we slowly inched forward and we cleared it by roughly 3"....WHEW as there were really NO Options

So moral is.......Majority of the US A-OK
East Coast pay attention to SIGNAGE
And "When in Doubt/Turn About"

And CGs are more troublesome then roadways

Look UP!!!!

[RobWNY]

RV Trip Wizard is an online program that lets you put in your RV height and creates a map that shouldn't get you in trouble but nothing is 100% perfect.

[valhalla360]

Particularly, in wooded campgrounds, you will have to watch for low branches.

Otherwise, keep an eye out for bridge height signs and you should generally be fine. 13'6" is the tallest allowable with being considered an oversize load, so anywhere commercial trucks go, you can go.

Depends what you mean by secondary roads. Getting off the freeway and taking arterials, should be no problem. Getting onto single lane back country routes, generally not a good idea even if there is height clearance.

[thomasmnile]

Fewer worries with bridges than with overhanging tree limbs on secondary and rural roads, and they don't show up on GPS.

[smarty]

We have been towing a toy hauler at 13' 6" around the SW United States for about 7 years. Have never encountered a bridge/overpass that was lower than this.

[Itakethe5th2011]

I use Garmin RV 770 LMT-S GPS. It is set up for RV's. You enter your 5th wheel height, length, width and weight. It will help plot you around the country, but like all GPS you still have to be alert, especially on secondary roads. Also be careful at fueling stations with low canopies.

[koribustard]

Thank you. That is very helpful.

[DrewE]

13'4" will definitely mean you have to be concerned with overhead clearances for bridges and underpasses in a fair few areas. If your location of 02666 means you live within the zip code for Truro, MA, then you will have to exercise some vigilance as New England in general has a comparatively high concentration of low clearances. They are marked with signs.

There are GPSs and maps that help, but they're only as good as the thoroughness of the data they rely on, and that data is not absolutely perfect. Products aimed at truckers are a good starting point.