Imagine having a customized RV GPS that makes you king of the road without the hefty price tag of dedicated RV navigation systems. For RVing folk, having a reliable and RV-specific navigation tool is essential for a safe and enjoyable journey. That’s because GPS apps like Google and Apple Maps aren’t designed to map out RV-safe routes that avoid low clearances and other hazards, RV-friendly gas stations for stress-free fill-ups, and RV-ready campgrounds with all the amenities.
The good news is that all you need is a Roadtrippers Premium subscription (free 7 day trial) and an affordable tablet to create a convenient and cost-effective RV GPS system. In this post, we will guide you through building your own RV GPS using the Roadtrippers app, a tool specifically designed to help plan RV-safe trips. You can do this with your own cell data plan and a tablet to create an RV navigation system at a fraction of the cost of an aftermarket device.
RV GPS Apps: 10 essential features
Roadtrippers Autopilot™
Before unpacking how to build your own RV GPS navigation system, we wanted to call out a handy new tool we built that’s super awesome for RVers. It’s called Autopilot™, and it uses data from 38 million real-life trips to take the heavy lifting out of trip planning.
Simply answer a few questions to tell Autopilot™ the dimensions of your RV, the type of trip you’d like to take, and the sights you’d like to see, and it’ll create an RV-safe itinerary for you in a couple minutes or less.
Autopilot™ also syncs into our vast world of campground listings to find the best places to camp along the way. Try Autopilot™ for your next RV trip.
What’s the best AI trip planner?
Why an RV GPS App is a Necessity
RV GPS apps are a required tool in the RVing toolbelt for several important reasons:
- Safety: RV-specific navigation helps you avoid low bridges, narrow roads, and other hazards. Another oft-overlooked safety strategy for RVers is gas station selection. Try to tuck into a gas station that’s too small, and you could cause serious damage and/or create a safety hazard. RV GPS apps like Roadtrippers Premium prevent this by putting only sizeable RV-safe stations on your route.
- Convenience: RV navigation apps will help you find campgrounds that fit your rig and camping style. The right RV GPS app will also help you find rest stops and other places to park it for rest along the way.
Roadtrippers for RVers is the best app to find the most campgrounds, overnight parking, and other rest stops that are right for you. - (They Can Be) Cost-Effective: RV GPS systems are very affordable, as long as you build a DIY system like the one we’re about to show you. By combining the Roadtrippers Premium app, your existing cell phone plan, and an affordable CarPlay tablet like this one, you’ll pay a fraction of the cost for the same features as a dedicated RV GPS system.
How to use RV GPS to plan a safe RV route with Roadtrippers
Items Needed to Create a Big-Screen RV GPS
You’ll need just a few things to build this system:
- The Roadtrippers app downloaded to your Apple phone (you’ll need a premium subscription for RV GPS. Roadtrippers Premium offers a free 7 day trial)
- A Roadtrippers account at the Premium level (sign up here)
- CarPlay ready tablet
- Car mount for said tablet
How to Build Your Own Big-Screen RV GPS
Just because newfangled cars and RVs come with big screens doesn’t mean you can’t get one in your current rig. Follow these steps to get all the RV-friendly features on the big screen without the big pricetag:
- Choose the right tablet — We’ve seen articles suggesting using a tablet with a cellular plan. You don’t need to do this.
Instead, pick an affordable tablet that syncs with CarPlay wirelessly. From there, you’ll simply download the Roadtrippers app with a Premium subscription, sync your phone to the tablet, and voila!
Dedicated RV GPS systems can cost well over $500. By DIYing it with your existing cell phone plan, you’ll get the same or better functionality for a fraction of that price. - Setting up the tablet — Pick a place in your RV where it will be convenient and safe for you to see the navigation tablet. Keep it close enough to a power source (e.g. cigarette lighter) to plug into.
Once you’ve zero’d in on a spot, snag a tablet car mount, install it, and secure the tablet to the mount. - Download the Roadtrippers app — You can download the Roadtrippers app free on the app store. Then, sign up for a Roadtrippers Premium account if you don’t have one already and you’ll be off to the races.
- Connecting your DIY RV GPS system — The tablet will have instructions for syncing with your phone. Once that’s done, the Roadtrippers app will sync wirelessly to show up on the big screen via Apple CarPlay.
Why Use Roadtrippers as Your Big-Screen RV GPS?
Roadtrippers for RVers is more than just an app. It’s a community of like-minded travelers who share what they love about trips they take. For example, Campendium is an uber-popular campground directory that’s part of our world. Each campground in the Roadtrippers app features user reviews on location, cell coverage, amenities, and more.
When you plan your trip using Roadtrippers RV GPS, you’ll benefit from this community-driven feedback as you pick RV parks.
Roadtrippers is also the #1 resource for fun, quirky, and weirdly unmissable sights over the road. This will all roll out right in front of your eyes via the big-screen RV GPS you’ve built.
Whether you build your trip or have Autopilot™ build it for you, Roadtrippers allows you to customize your route after it’s been created. That means when you meet a fellow traveler who suggests a can’t-miss stop, you can add it right into your route without hassle.
The Roadtrippers app also offers turn-by-turn directions to guide you along every step of your journey via audio and visual directions. It’ll auto-update to reroute you if you miss a turn or otherwise stray from the route you planned.
Extra Benefits of Using Roadtrippers as Your RV GPS App
Roadtrippers Premium has all the important things you need for RV-safe navigation. Where we also shine is in our rich library of content and community reviews that’ll really help you get to know the journey.
From articles on brewery hotels to basket buildings to road trips to take before you die and so so much more, we have the goods on all the must-see things that make RVing what it was meant to be.
We love our community of users because they drive reviews of locations in our app. Those reviews help you make more informed choices about the places you put on your route.
Lastly, we have thousands of pre-made trip guides available in the app. These are fun trips that you can simply plug right into our RV navigation and click ‘go’!
Creating your big-screen RV GPS system with the Roadtrippers Premium app and a CarPlay-enabled tablet is a practical and economical solution for enhancing your road trip experience. By leveraging the camper-friendly features of Roadtrippers and the convenience of CarPlay, you can enjoy seamless navigation and trip planning on a large display, all without the need for an extra data plan or expensive hardware.
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