Tandem placement and turning radius

Well, being a trainer ain't for everyone. But you seem to underestimate yourself. you explain it all so well to me.

 

The thread is not supposed to be about me.

 

FLD says that once you get the tandems past the obstacle, you're good to go. I think that this is generally true, but only because even with the tandems all the way forward, the center point of the tandems is still only 8-10 feet from the rear of the trailer. To me, it seems like once you get within 8 feet or so of the rear of the trailer, you're probably going to be clear to pass the obstacle even if the tandems were all the way back.

 

I've never taken out a tape measure to measure the rear overhang, but you're probably right. 12 feet maybe from the back of the rear trailer tire to the bumper

Ok, for me to fully understand this, I need to know what you mean by apex. I looked up apex in my book dictionary, and apex has three meanings in there: 1# the upper most point (the apex of a mountain is their example) 2# the narrowed or pointed end (the apex of the tongue is their example) and 3# the highest or culminating point (the apex of a person's career is their example). -----I don't think that any of those three definitions fit. Unless it is #2. Maybe you mean the apex of my track around a curve is the narrowed end of my track around a curve, but I doubt it.

But on Merriam Webster's online dictionary, I found a definition of apex that I think is probably the meaning of the word that you are using in this context.

Definition of APEX

3: the point of sharpest curvature in a path (such as that followed by a turning vehicle)a driver hitting the apex as he races around a cornerAt the apex of the turn his rear wheels apparently came unstuck from the oil-drenched groove.— Robert F. Jones

That's the definition of apex that you are using; correct?

If so, you are saying that the point of sharpest curvature in my track around a curve is at the tandems. So the rear of the trailer sticks out behind. That DOES make sense to me!

I think you helped me clear up what Long FLD wrote in post #61. Thank you. I needed someone to break this down for me. Now I think I understand the scenario of the OP 100%. Both from my experiences when I was a trainer and from my experiences and observations at school and talking with a friend of mine at a trade school, when you try to help someone understand something, most people will just pretend like they understand something when they don't understand it. This is no lie: When I was a trainer, I once had a student from South Korea who did not understand English very well. I would explain something about trucking to my Korean-American student, and I would ask him if he understood what I just told him. My student would then respond "Yes". Then I would ask my student, "What did I just say?" and he would say "I don't know" lol

Yes; I can see how that would be possible.

P.S. When you said the word apex, did you mean the point of sharpest curvature in a path?

 

Imagine if you were an instructor at a truck driving school, and a student asked you a question about off-tracking and trailer swing, and you responded "Don't be a robot driver. God gave you a brain. Use it or lose it." lol