Can I Make It?

[SuiteSuccess]

7 hours ago, steiny93 said:

For us, regarding u-turns; with the deck long enough to support 90 degrees then the u-turn limit will be the turning radius of the hdt.  (going forward singled mid I can't go 90 degree's moving forward).

I know if I can make sharp turns by driving the path with just the hdt first.  If I don't have to back up and any room to spare exists on the inside all is goodness.  If I have to back up to make the turn with the hdt then the 'hold my beer' event starts

 

You are correct.  The problem as you can see from the picture I posted is the trailer turns inside that radius by 3-4 feet and with a building in the way the 42’ trailer becomes the issue, not the truck.  The truck could be approaching that left road straight on but the trailer is still approaching at a diagonal making the left corner of that building come into play.  Luckily it was no issue.

[orca]

Here is a utube video about the unfortunate outcome of not taking tail swing into account!

RV Life: $25,000 damage to our camper | Don't let Tail Swing Wreck Your Camper | RV Insurance tips - YouTube

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Our DRV Memphis has about 12-14' of overhang behind the rear most axle.  There is enough tail swing that I am very careful in tight areas.  When we're double towing the Smart it tracks pretty close behind the rear cap.  But it will swerve left before making a hard right.

[rickeieio]

Well, it appears tail swing is a bigger issue than I realized.  We're never had it be an issue, so I "assumed" it wasn't a worry.  Both our 5ths have had relatively short overhang.  Never assume.

Edited June 9, 2021 by rickeieio

[Deezl Smoke]

 Math and physics. One steering axle. Pushing or pulling. Since you can not slide the trailer axles, and the king pin is fixed position in relation to the drive axle, it's all about the direction of travel.

Forward, or steering out front, you can go from a narrow passage to a wide passage, but not opposite. Backing, or steering at the rear, you can go from wide to narrow, and/or, depending upon how narrow, from narrow to wide.

 Or...........fold your mirrors in, and go full squirt.

[Dollytrolley]

I ALWAYS thought that the highly DETAILED manual for RV'$ should include the ground handling turning radius diagram the Boeing scribbles in the back page #3,721.1t

Once the tail light is about 132 ft Behind the last set of wheels you can tend to get some tail swing going and then of course there is that tail flipper horizontal thingy about 49 feet wide and then those wing things that at high altitude ain't long enough but on the ground way way too long......

Now the hard part...... remembering all those darn radius numbers on a foggy rainy night......

 

Drive on...... don't swing your tail into the baggage carts. ...

[Pete Kildow]

On 6/5/2021 at 3:25 PM, rickeieio said:

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that unless your hitch is crazy far behind the axle, on a truck with a very short wheelbase, tail swing is very unlikely to ever be an issue.  The trailer wheels will track inside the radius of where the front truck tires tracked, and so will the rest of the trailer.  I can see it happening with a short day cab, but not something with a sleeper hauling a smart.

Has anyone ever heard of a trailer hitting something because of tail swing while moving forward?

Yes I have and it happened to me. Pulling forward out of a campground. Split rail fence next to the road. Pulled all the way across the road(Campgrounds road), tires touching grass when I turned left. Tail end of our 5th wheel hit the split rail fence.

Thousands later it was fixed. Now I started driving OTR in 1984. And would have bet $$ that the tail was not even close to hitting. But it sure did, hung right where the cap meets the camper on the right rear.

Sad part I never felt it happen. Guy at the dump station stopped me. When he told me. I think you hit something, I thought he was drunk. But nope I had pulled the rear cap away from the body at the bottom.