Hi folks ,
Got a reversing question.
Got my test date in a couple of weeks and have been practising in my mates yard trying to reverse into the cones, similar to the test.
Failed my first test due to reversing.
First point, I am practising on a 3 axle trailer, which my mate said is harder to reverse than a twin axle, but why is that? Should I expect the twin axle trailer to come in with less effort on the steering?
Second point, I always seem to come in very tight to the cone on my right side and really struggle to know when to start to turn into it. If left to my own devices I will get it into the cones with a shunt or 2, but just can’t seem to get it right 1st time.
I was also told imagine the cone is 10 feet in front of where it actually is, but that doesn’t seem to help either. Any tips greatly appreciated.
Take it easy mate, if you have to shunt who cares?? Would you rather take a shunt or two and get a minor or fail and take the who thing again??
When I done my C+E test I took a shunt on my reverse, I didn’t need to take it and I knew I didn’t need to take it. The examiner even told me he didn’t know why I shunted after the test. That was my only minor fault on test.
If I had just carried on without shunting I would have passed with a clean sheet but why take the chance■■?
To deal with your first point. Yes a Twin Axle trailer turns in easier than a Tri-Axle. And a Single Axle turns in easier than a Twin. Sometimes Single Axles trailers run away too quick if you are not careful.
The second point. On the test you are allowed 2 shunts each with a minor point attached. Even seasoned drivers make a hash of reversing sometimes. I know you want it in on the first go. I did. But in the test I ended up taking one shunt to be on the safe side. So unless you are 100% sure that you have your angles right then take that shunt.
Just take it nice and steady and don’t rush although if possible it should be done smoothly without stopping and starting.
Hiya mate
well i did my test on saturday 4th time and passed i have never had a problem with reverse at all I can do it in one go without a shunt but rather than make a mess of it i did take a shunt on the test the trouble is that you cant always see the first cones on the near side i used a three axle trailer and im always afraid that i will catch the cone on the near side and make sure he see’s you use both mirrors so take that shunt if you nead to and then line her up nice and streight you should have a marker on the back mudgaurd that you can line up with the yellow box so as not to hit the barrier because if you hit it its a fail and if your to short thats a fail if you have to get out and have a look (do so) you only have one chance though .dont forget that you are allowed 15 minors in all . but 4 in any one section is a seriouse and sadly a fail .
when you do the couple un-couple rember BLACK on the un-couple B=BREAK L=LEGS A=AIRLINES C=CLIP K=KINGPIN and on the couple up its BKCALB Just back up to about 2ft away from the trailer then handbreak on stop engine get out walk round unit and check the break is on ( even though you know it is on pull it dont just look at it )many fail on this alone touch the break you cant tell by looking . once you back under and you hear the clunk try two shunts forward so you know the king pin has coupled hand break on engine stop
get out that leaves CALB C=Clip dont forget it A =airlines L= legs B=break …then ask examiner to check lights ect …
Best of luck mate and dont worry to much about it
Second point, I always seem to come in very tight to the cone on my right side and really struggle to know when to start to turn into it.
I think you mean the right hand cone on the entrance to the garage. Many folk struggle with this, so before I start, you could ignore all advice and just settle for a shunt or two. But I’ll try to help.
The secret is to know a) how long will it be before the trailer is parallel in the garage? and b) how long will it take to get the unit or prime mover directly in front of the trailer?
The norm is that this calculation is wrong which means the outfit is either straightened out too soon and sends the whole lot diagonally across the garage or it’s left late which will bring the trailer too far round to the right hand garage “wall”.
So it’s to do with the speed of the steering action, speed of the vehicle and the answer to the “how long” question.
It’s very difficult to explain this in writing. If you were in front of me with a vehicle it’s no more than 5 or 10 minutes work to get this sorted. Your instructor should be able to do this will you without any problem.
YAMBOL57:
the trouble is that you cant always see the first cones on the near side
This is main reason that candidates get close to the bay entrance cone on the right hand side. You have to remember the bay is one and a half times the width of the truck. So an 8ft wide truck = 12ft wide box. If you keep 2 feet away from the cone you can see, you still have the same room the other side. It doesn’t matter that you can’t see it.
R0ssc0:
I was also told imagine the cone is 10 feet in front of where it actually is, but that doesn’t seem to help either
If the 10ft in front of the box imaginery cone trick does not work for you then after passing centre cone ‘B’ get into a position where you can see both box entrance cones in the O/S mirror. You should put just enough left lock on to be able to see the trailer in the O/S mirror. This will put the trailer in a curve heading towards tthe box.
my god im glad it wasn’t like that in my day I did my test in 1990 ford D series and a twin axle flat bed trailer and i had about 3 or 4 shunts eximiner told me i didn’t need half of um but he liked a careful driverno un cupling either and test was on christmas eve so that helped i think
Hi,
Only got a couple of hours planned before my test, but getting to practice the reversing every weekend at my mates.
The problem I had with my lessons is that it all went well, so when I took a nervous breakdown on my test made a complete mess of it.
One more weekend at playing reversing so fingers crossed for text date.
Cheers
Rossco
. once you back under and you hear the clunk try two shunts forward so you know the king pin has coupled hand break on engine stop
made a complete mess of it.