Evening,
I was just wondering, I’ve been driving nearly a yeah now and am doing ok and enjoying it. But the one thing giving me a hard time is tail swing! I’m always so paranoid in going to swipe something out with the rear end when turning and being close to things on the pavement such as lampposts, parked cars etc. I was hoping you could give me some useful advice on how to be sure you clear of anything in these situations. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks guys.
Stinkymittens:
Evening,I was just wondering, I’ve been driving nearly a yeah now and am doing ok and enjoying it. But the one thing giving me a hard time is tail swing! I’m always so paranoid in going to swipe something out with the rear end when turning and being close to things on the pavement such as lampposts, parked cars etc. I was hoping you could give me some useful advice on how to be sure you clear of anything in these situations. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks guys.
You allow room for it before starting the turn using judgement just like cut in.Using a progressive amount of lock starting with less and gradually increasing it reduces the effect of it through a turn.Realisation that any length behind the centre line of the rear axle/s will be tail sweep not cut in and vice versa.
You allow room for it before starting the turn using judgement just like cut in.Using a progressive amount of lock starting with less and gradually increasing it reduces the effect of it through a turn.Realisation that any length behind the centre line of the rear axle/s will be tail sweep not cut in and vice versa.
Thank you and sorry for sounding a bit thick but what is cut in? 
its what you do when your painting you cut in to put a nice straight line where to different colours join or when you pass something ,if youve not passed it with a safe gap then you have cut in [to soon] dont worry everything come with practice
the longer you drive the more it comes to gether it becomes instinct
Stinkymittens:
You allow room for it before starting the turn using judgement just like cut in.Using a progressive amount of lock starting with less and gradually increasing it reduces the effect of it through a turn.Realisation that any length behind the centre line of the rear axle/s will be tail sweep not cut in and vice versa.
Thank you and sorry for sounding a bit thick but what is cut in?
It’s the line which the rear/trailer axle/s will take through a turn relative to the steer axle/s. 
Carryfast:
Stinkymittens:
You allow room for it before starting the turn using judgement just like cut in.Using a progressive amount of lock starting with less and gradually increasing it reduces the effect of it through a turn.Realisation that any length behind the centre line of the rear axle/s will be tail sweep not cut in and vice versa.
Thank you and sorry for sounding a bit thick but what is cut in?
It’s the line which the rear/trailer axle/s will take through a turn relative to the steer axle/s.
Or put another way,you don’t look in your mirror during a turn whilst driving your car,because there’s no need to…whereas,in a truck…
I never worry too much about tail swing when I’m driving a artic, but on the odd occasion when I drive a rigid… it’s all I think about 
You have to know where the pivet point is, if you are in a 26 tonner then it moves depending if you have your tag down or up.
G6Bob:
I never worry too much about tail swing when I’m driving a artic, but on the odd occasion when I drive a rigid… it’s all I think about
Too true [emoji6] I usually drive a 18t and have some tail swing but I’m driving a 7.5 t flatbed today and it has a 8ft overhang at rear
Traveling through London with the tag up is fun.
Radar19:
Traveling through London is fun.
Being constantly aware of tailswing ain’t a bad thing. It’s when you become complacent that things go wrong.
I know! 
It was always the thing I most worried about when I first passed if I’m honest.
Reversing, width, height, road position all those things I took in my stride but if ever doubt was to creap in it was because of the ■■■■ overswing.
Of course this bloody video doesn’t help matters 
Might have helped if they’d not took evidence with them[emoji1]
G6Bob:
I never worry too much about tail swing when I’m driving a artic, but on the odd occasion when I drive a rigid… it’s all I think about
The problem with artics is that the the tighter turning angle can amplify the tail sweep and in most cases the overhang isn’t much if any less.But unlike a rigid it’s out of sight.
Radar19:
You have to know where the pivet point is, if you are in a 26 tonner then it moves depending if you have your tag down or up.
I can testify to that! 
It’s what I drive every day, and I spend more time checking my mirrors, than looking forward!
I’ll hold 2 lanes when I think I need it, and when I use a lot of steering lock, I’m looking at avoiding wiping out a whole footpath width! 
Reef:
It was always the thing I most worried about when I first passed if I’m honest.Reversing, width, height, road position all those things I took in my stride but if ever doubt was to creap in it was because of the ■■■■ overswing.
Of course this bloody video doesn’t help matters
The basic concept of that vid, is that the driver locked him/herself to close to the outer side of the turning circle requirements of the unit. The same is true for both rigid and Artic vehicles…
Evil8Beezle:
Reef:
It was always the thing I most worried about when I first passed if I’m honest.Reversing, width, height, road position all those things I took in my stride but if ever doubt was to creap in it was because of the ■■■■ overswing.
Of course this bloody video doesn’t help matters
The basic concept of that vid, is that the driver locked him/herself to close to the outer side of the turning circle requirements of the unit. The same is true for both rigid and Artic vehicles…
It’s all about rear/trailer axle position and resulting overhang.In general we’ve got a type approval regime which is too biased in favour of less cut in at the expense of tail sweep.When better axle positioning would allow the type of natural driver approach which is biased to allowing for more cut in.As shown in the vid among others.
Carryfast:
Evil8Beezle:
Reef:
It was always the thing I most worried about when I first passed if I’m honest.Reversing, width, height, road position all those things I took in my stride but if ever doubt was to creap in it was because of the ■■■■ overswing.
Of course this bloody video doesn’t help matters
The basic concept of that vid, is that the driver locked him/herself to close to the outer side of the turning circle requirements of the unit. The same is true for both rigid and Artic vehicles…
It’s all about rear/trailer axle position and resulting overhang.In general we’ve got a type approval regime which is too biased in favour of less cut in at the expense of tail sweep.When better axle positioning would allow the type of natural driver approach which is biased to allowing for more cut in.As shown in the vid among others.
Can I translate that to doing less of an arc which resulted in the rear axle getting too close to the offside, because the driver was overly concerned about cutting in?
If so great!
Well I reckon it’s s88t design. I know there ain’t as much room on the roads over there, compared to Australia (in general) but putting the axles where they belong… at the back instead of halfway along is always going to be better. The design tries to squeeze a 40’ trailer in to the space of something like a 30’. So you’ve got huge tail swing and because you’ve also got a long pin (about 4 or 5’ from the headboard) the front corner comes in to play as well.
Got me tin hat on boys.