What gear to be in when making tight right turn?

Those old small power trucks you never knew if you were going up one, or down 2 ‘cause you took too long doing it. I had 2 little ones. A 262 and a BC1 290, both with 4+4’s. You’d have a full day in on the levers with either one of them.

 

The examiner got in with me looked over saw those 2 shifters.. and look at me and said.. Son back out of the lot and let's just head out of town and see if you know what to do with both them levers..

 

I got my when I was 18 too ..but Illinois made you drive I knew each state was different..
I caught a break later on. when they later made it mandatory to go to CDL ..so I didn't have to retest for the CDL ..

 

I don't make much per mile, so I have to make up for that with speed. I'll typically take a right turn in 9th. Accelerating back up to speed takes forever if you slow down too much.

If it's a buttonhook, I'll leave it in 10th because of the wider turning radius. Less likely to flip.

 

You need some 36-ply tires. That way you can just jump the curbs in 10th, and you don't even need to worry about the corner.

 

My brother has a picture taken in my grandfathers yard in the late 40’s sometime. A Diamond T 509 in the middle of 4 WB22 Whites, and my granddad sitting in front of them in his shiny new 201 with a grin on him should have been illegal.

 

Plywwod doesn't seem like good tire material, but I'll ask. Thank you.

 

Most right hand turns need to be done in 3rd or 4th, most left hand turns in 4th or 5th. When in doubt go to a lower gear.

Be in the gear you want to turn in 30-50 feet before the turn so the shifting is done and you can focus on the turn.

When in doubt - hook out. You'd rather have the space and not need it than the reverse.

Don't be afraid to stop. Stopping before you hit something is 0ne thing. People may get cranky that you're tying up the intersection for a bit, but not nearly as cranky when you're blocking the intersection for 3 hours while you wait for both a tow truck and WE Energies to get you off the power transformer you just ran over.

 

This is correct, just don’t do it on a road test.