How To Set Up Skateboard Trucks

Skateboard Trucks Guide

Trucks affect the mode your skateboard rides and turns and they have a say in whether you lot can perform tricks or not. Get more insight nigh your trucks and learn how they affect your skateboarding style.

Skateboard trucks are the T-shaped plough parts found under the deck with wheels fastened to. They make certain your movements are transferred to the deck for it to react every bit y'all desire. With the correct set of trucks, both you and your skateboard will be able to perform meliorate.

If you are a beginner, it is a good idea to cull a consummate skateboard where the trucks are already mounted. But if you nonetheless wish to purchase trucks separately, the most important to await into is the width of the truck. However, if you lot have more experience on the board and wish to understand your trucks better, yous can read this guide to get more knowledge about each function and at the same fourth dimension get tips on how to customise them to fit your specific skateboarding style.

Truck size – which size should you cull?

The first thing y'all need to know when choosing trucks is whether the size fits your skateboard or non. The width of the truck including wheels should have the same size equally the width of the deck. This volition provide you with optimum stability on the lath. If the truck is too wide, you volition risk hitting the wheels with your shoes (shoe bite) and if it is too narrow, the skateboard volition be unstable.

How to measure skateboard trucks?

In general, it is non necessary to mensurate the trucks since the size will be offered to you on each of our production pages. If, however, you however need to measure them, you should measure out either the width of your deck or the length of the hanger and then follow our Skateboard Truck Size Guide depicting which truck size you should get for your board and vice versa.

Truck profile – depression, mid or high trucks?

You can choose to go your skateboard trucks in a depression, mid or high setup. Which y'all choose depends on your skateboarding style.

Depression trucks accept a shorter kingpin thus less distance to the ground. Information technology also means that smaller wheels are to be used. Furthermore, the trucks become more stable making this setup peculiarly suitable for stunts.

Mid-level trucks are particularly pop for park or street riding.

High trucks have a longer kingpin thus a longer distance to the ground. This makes them especially suitable for carving or cruising in the city since you will be able to press down the lath further and brand precipitous turns. Bigger wheels are also usually used in this setup. If you feel wheel bites, information technology is preferable to add together riser pads.

Yous will notice the truck profile under specifications when you enter a production page on our website.

Riser pads – suit the truck pinnacle and avoid wheel bites

Riser pads are not a necessary office of the truck but can be bought if needed. They are bachelor in different designs and colours and are usually a pretty cheap accompaniment.

Expensive or inexpensive trucks? Buy from known brands

Since your trucks nearly likely last longer than the deck and wheels of your skateboard, it will pay off spending a chip extra on ownership trucks from known brands instead of saving money on no-proper name upkeep trucks. The quality is typically amend and they will serve yous for a longer time. At the same time, they are more than flexible making it easier for you lot to control your skateboard. You will too be more able to customise your setup to your skateboarding style.

Heavy or lite skateboard trucks?

Heavy skateboard trucks are usually easier to grind on because of more than weight, but at the same time, it can exist difficult to lift the skateboard high up. Therefore it is important to consider whether you should get them heavy or light. If you are not that very large, information technology is important to choose a lite skateboard truck, especially if you lot are planning to do stunts with many jumps. If, on the other mitt, you lot have a lot of strength to kick up the board, heavier trucks can be a improve choice.

Which parts does a truck consist of?

A skateboard truck consists of several parts such as the bushings, kingpin, baseplate, hanger and axle. In this department, you volition larn almost each function to be able to empathise how they bear upon your skateboard.

Kingpin

The kingpin is an essential part of the truck situated inside the bushings, keeping all parts together. In the outcome of a broken kingpin, it tin be replaced, so at that place is no need to purchase all new trucks.

The kingpin is the only part of your truck where y'all can adjust how firm or loose your board is to turn. Afterward gaining more experience with your board, y'all can attempt experimenting more with the settings:

For sharper turns, loosen the kingpin.
For a more stable board, tighten the kingpin.

If you buy a skateboard with a normal setup (complete skateboard), you lot commonly exercise not accept to adjust the kingpin which is prepare to fit a beginner'southward level as a default.

Bushings

The bushings are the round rings made of urethane plastic institute around the kingpin. They work almost similar a jump transferring the pressure from your feet to the truck making it possible for you to turn. The hardness of the bushings determines how much your skateboard tin turn:

Hard bushings are suitable for stunts since the truck volition become more strong and stable making it easier to keep the balance at landings. On the other hand, information technology will accept more to go the board to turn.

Soft bushings are suitable for cruising and carving where you make sharp turns. They respond faster to the pressure from the feet which is transferred to the bushings and farther on to the truck.

Hanger

The hanger is brand specific which means that information technology should be of the same brand every bit the baseplate. Information technology is the big triangular metal part with an beam running through it. It is important that information technology is durable since it is subject to a lot of impacts when making grinds and other stunts.

Baseplate

The baseplate is the flat metallic part mounted directly on the deck. This is where the kingpin and the hanger encounter the skateboard. It has a large size to create an even weight distribution. This ways that your weight is distributed evenly on the whole truck providing more stability and at the same time, the impacts from landings will also exist evenly distributed instead of affecting the same spot over and over once again. This makes the setup more stable.

Centre the baseplate equally much as possible if you want to mount it on by yourself. If it is not aligned, the skateboard will permanently turn to the same side. However, virtually skateboards already accept drill holes ready for yous to mount the baseplate without worrying about centering it. And if you purchase a complete board, both the baseplate and rest of the truck volition exist mounted and set to use.

Beam

The beam runs through the hanger and is the part with the wheels fastened. After extensive use, the axle might start sliding to ane side resulting in one loose wheel and 1 very tight. In example this happens, you lot can use a hammer to gently put it back in identify. Only if the problem occurs more than a couple of times, getting new trucks would be preferable instead of struggling with it.

See our selection of skateboard trucks available in unlike designs, brands and suitable for different skate levels.

Contact our customer support for further advice, should you still have any questions. We are e'er ready to help :-).