i heard some lads mention these phrases today tandum trailer and tri axle could anyone explain what these are?
tandem=2 axle
triaxle=3 axle
Simon 
Hi bigcheese, welcome to TruckNet.
A tri-axle is what it says - a three axle trailer, a tandem is a two axle trailer.
There is a “sticky” on one of the forums which lists such phrases and explains them.
right so its seen by the wheels obviously on the trailer axles is there anymore trailer types i should be aware of. thanks for the reply
ian
Watch some old ■■■■ come on and start ottering about spreadaxles and 4 in line 
next it will be pushers and tags and chinese sixes 
thanks kickstart im doing my c+e in just over a week so trying to get as much info as i can, dont wanna fail an hopefully ill fly threw it like i did my class c with all this info it a good start as to what i should expect
bigcheese:
thanks kickstart im doing my c+e in just over a week so trying to get as much info as i can, dont wanna fail an hopefully ill fly threw it like i did my class c with all this info it a good start as to what i should expect
The ‘PIVOT POINT’ of a tandem trailer is the front axle of the trailer
The ‘PIVOT POINT’ of a tri-axle trailer is the middle axle of the trailer
Good luck with the C + E, I’m sure you will be fine. As you’ve already done the C you should know what to expect of the test procedure.
Just remember that in an artic your mirrors are even more of you’re best friends than they are in a rigid and you need to know what your trailer is doing at all times. I won’t offer any more advice, there are people far more qualified than me on here. There is a wealth of info to help a newbie spread throughout these forums, you just need a good filter for some of the bu…hit.
There is a wealth of info to help a newbie spread throughout these forums, you just need a good filter for some of the bu…hit.
You called 
what do you mean by pivot point is this the turning point, thnks for all replies, hope you got yourself back into employment now rog.
cheers guys ian
bigcheese:
i heard some lads mention these phrases today tandum trailer and tri axle could anyone explain what these are?
Hi bigcheese, those phrases relate to the number of axles a trailer has.
First up we have a “tandem,” this type of tandem is sometimes called a ‘spread axle,’
due to the relatively large distance between the two trailer axles…
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The white trailer is another type of tandem, this time the axles are closer spaced:
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This one is a tri-axle trailer:
I hope this helps.
thanks dieseldave, yeah i understand the pivot point perfectly now pal i have drove various forklifts for years now so it all makes sense in comparison to the pivot point used there. i dont know if you understand that fully tho.
thanks very much for your message and post
ian
Your pivot point is not as black and white as that.
The pivot point depends on the road surface and camber, it can make a big difference to taking someones cab off or a gate post out.
2 good examples are (a) if you back into a driveway with a loaded 3+3 outfit. as you unload the midlift or tag comes off the floor as does the automatic front and rear axle or the first 2 axles of the trailer.
(b) reversing onto a loading ramp down a slope, as the camber changes or the road falls away the pivot point will keep changing.
In both cases the geometry is changed making it difficult or impossible to drive out
Wheel Nut:
Your pivot point is not as black and white as that.
Agreed Malc, the pivot point can vary for the reasons you gave and I’d say that whether the road surface is wet might make a difference too.
I think ROG’s point might be in relation to the unladen trailers as used for C+E training though.
dieseldave:
Wheel Nut:
Your pivot point is not as black and white as that.Agreed Malc, the pivot point can vary for the reasons you gave and I’d say that whether the road surface is wet might make a difference too.
I think ROG’s point might be in relation to the unladen trailers as used for C+E training though.
It was Dave, I was trying to keep it simple for those going to do their C+E but…
… the extra info is very useful for post test
ROG:
There is a wealth of info to help a newbie spread throughout these forums, you just need a good filter for some of the bu…hit.
You called
Oh boy,
did I read someone mention a chinese six■■? lmao… I drove a coach in that format… talk about fishing for gears. Anyway…
Good Luck in your C+E bigcheese.
There are other trailers out there, namely the ones I pull, which are stretch skellies. I can either have it in a 30ft, 38ft or 40ft, which obviously alters your centre of gravity and the pivot point.
As for your test, you’ll more than likely be towing a tandem… then you get out in the real world and you end up pulling a tri-axle and the reversing is a whole new ball game. I reversed my first tri-axle at Somerfields, Huntingdon. There was 3 other guys there watching as I struggled to get it to turn how I wanted it to get it into the warehouse, in the end it was a guy from Stobarts that came over and helped me back. The best bit of advice I got from him was to “take her slow and steady and she’ll do whatever you want!”
I saw one at the CV show last year. It was a tri but the 2nd and 3rd axles were ‘spread’
I was told that it was quite common in Scandinavia.
I believe the 3rd axle was self steering.
What you DON’T want for a test is a single. 