CV880;
Nice post.
If I may add two items for the A330/A343/A345/A346; their main gears also tilt to provide greater tail clearance during the rotation and flare manouevres.
The trucks are hydraulically driven by a "pitch trimmer" to, and held, in the tilted position during takeoff and are leveled during the retraction sequence.
At landing they are again hydraullically held in the tilted position until spoiler deployement. When they "unlock", the airplane can thump down pretty hard at times. "Beating the bogies to the ground" is a challenge on the A330 and A343, less so on the A345. I haven't flown the A346.
In addition to this, the main-gear oleos on these aircraft are mechanically shortened during the retraction process, for the reasons you've outlined - clearance in a small space! But I'm not sure why the body gear on the A345/346 is tilted opposite to the mains. They, and the single-axle A340 design ride a bit higher at initial touchdown, and don't touchdown until the mains are "unlocked" and fully on the runway.