Lazy Daze Owners' Group

This is hypothetical, but close to being real: what would you do???

June 03, 2021, 08:57:24 pm

Driving around in the Finger Lakes region of upper NY State. Lots of narrow streets and bridges, going over canals.  Just feet before the bridge, is a sign, "max weight 5 tons". Luckily, we were in the tow vehicle, but the RV Garmin didn't take us on  an alternative route. 

If you came across this in your rig while towing, would you:

A. Disconnect, block traffic and try to turn around on the VERY narrow street.
B. Disconnect, and go forward with one vehicle at a time (recognizing that your rig is over 5 tons, but guessing they understated the max weight). At least, your tow vehicle would stay dry if you guess wrong about the understating the max weight. 
C. Freeze with indecision and call CoachNet.
D. Trust the RV Garmin- it must be the sign that was wrong.
E. Other (please explain what you would do).

Wendy- having fun touring the East Coast

Re: This is hypothetical, but close to being real: what would you do???

Reply #2 – June 03, 2021, 09:47:27 pm

"Driving around in the Finger Lakes region of upper NY State..."

   If that area worries you (I was born and raised there) do not go into Mass. or Conn.      

Re: This is hypothetical, but close to being real: what would you do???

Reply #4 – June 04, 2021, 01:11:12 am

I would say to do A, but I would probably just do B.

I don't tow a vehicle, but have gone on roads that say no vehicles over 4T. Usually they seem to just prevent RVs from parking in expensive neighborhoods, or traveling on already congested roads.

Only once have I been to a bridge in Pennsylvania where the weight really mattered. There were guards for it there to prevent overweight, but they actually let us through. It seems that they overdo the signs for safety buffer, but also you have to account that the amount on the sign is probably less than half of what the bridge can handle since there would be cars coming in both directions.

Re: This is hypothetical, but close to being real: what would you do???

Reply #6 – June 04, 2021, 05:37:32 pm

Greg, you are correct that it is easy to switch the Garmin from towing to car mode. However, it was in RV towing mode when we saw the canal bridge sign, and then talked about what we would have done if we had actually been towing at the time. Happily, we didn't have to make such a decision, but concluded that we'd rather tie up traffic- for safety but also partly to express our annoyance that the sign was placed so close to the bridge, without leaving an alternate route!

Re: This is hypothetical, but close to being real: what would you do???

Reply #8 – June 04, 2021, 06:17:06 pm

I use a Garmin GPS made for Truckers (DEZL 780). It is set up to think I am a big bus.

I have my rig height set to 12 ft (over a foot extra), 30 ft long and my weight as 20,000 lbs. So fas so good. It warns me of curves in the road, wants me to stop at railroad tracks, and suggests food and fuel stops along the way.

I also use Google Maps on my phone but give the Garmin priority. The weird thing is that, since it thinks I'm a bus, sometimes it thinks there are roads I may not want to take because trucks and busses don't normally use those roads. I'm at a COE park now and the GPS didn't like the entrance road.

The Garmin uses and female voice and Google uses a male voice so I know which one I want to pay attention to. :-)

Re: This is hypothetical, but close to being real: what would you do???

Reply #10 – June 05, 2021, 08:33:43 am

Probably A, but NEVER D!