Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
So how does one know whether a particular road is okay to drive down before driving down it and seeing the low clearance or max bridge weight signs? Obviously one will know your rig is 12 ft 7 in or whatever and that your gross pickup and 5ver weight is 25,300 or whatever so that isn't a real issue.
Is there a minimum standard that roads must meet or do you just take it on faith that you'll fit until you get to the inevitable sign and then backtrack?
Big trucks are higher than you...so anywhere they go you can too. In 4 years and lots of miles (5 provinces, 32 states) have not had to back out yet. The west is virtually no problem but in the east you will see a few low bridges. We stay on pavement and have been lucky so far.(ours is 13' 1")
The whole subject is more worry than reality in my opinion. In our 5+ years and almost 60,000 miles, a lot of them in the boonies, we have only come across 2 bridges with clearance less than our 13' 2" height. One of them was really off track in Alaska and one was, I believe in Oregon or Washington. Both, almost one lane country roads, had signs well in advance, of the low clearance ahead.
All roads used normally are built to standards that easily accommodate RV's. There are literally millions and millions of trucks that are heavier and higher than any RV using even neighborhood streets for deliveries.
Miiimum clearance on interstate and federal highways is 13'6". If ;you are concerned about a route, go to http://www.aitaonline.com/Info/Road/Low%20Clearances.html and look around. It lists most low clearance roads in the US. Most often (it seems) any road with questionable clearance is a railroad bridge over the highway.
One good way to prevent getting in trouble is to buy a Trucker's Atlas at a truck stop. Any weight/height restrictions will be listed in the book so you can consult it when you're doing your route planning. Some GPS systems or programs will also display low bridge height warnings as well.
Any weight/height restriction should have signage displayed at an intersection before you actually get to the problem area, giving you time to either turn around or take another route. I drove tractor trailer for 7 years and after a while you get an eye for seeing those signs. You've probably driven past the restriction signs hundreds of times near your home and never paid any attention to them.
Below is an example of a weight limit sign. You'd have to count your axles to see which limit applies to your vehicle.
Here's another example of a height restriction on a covered bridge in Vermont. Note that they gave you warning ahead of time so you can either turn around or take another route.
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Ron and Joan 2005 Itasca Sunova 34A 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland
Thanks all . . .I had seen the signs and mostly I was going to not worry about it unless I was going on really small roads. I'm OK with the "improvise, adapt and overcome" philosophy . . .but my wife's a planner and wants to be able to figure it out ahead of time . . .the trucker's atlas and web site will do the trick for her. Once we get on the road . . .I expect her meticulous planning won't survive very long though
