Confused by the mysterious world of skateboard trucks? January 24 2014
Here’s a brief guide to those metal thingies that keep your wheels fixed to your skateboard.
Skateboard trucks are the T shaped metal parts that bolt onto the underside of a skateboard deck and attach your wheels and bearing to the board. Until the hoverboard becomes a reality you’re going to need them!
Why so many different sizes?
Skateboards come in many different sizes. The width of the deck needs to be similar to the axle width of the truck. Your style of riding [street/park/vert/etc] will also be best suited to the handling characteristics that are caused by the different size/shape of truck.
That is not to say a truck doesn’t work for a different size deck / riding style [It will! You can ride any deck with any truck to some degree!] but for best performance then you should follow the recommendations of the manufacturer.
When considering buying some trucks, the width of your truck axle should closely match the width of your deck. The truck size can be measured by the width of the hanger or the width of the axle.
Trucks consist of the following components:
Axle: The metal rod that runs through the trucks from one bolt to the other, which you connect the wheels to. [Measured from end to end]
Hanger: The T-shaped metal part that the Axle runs through. [Measured along its width excluding the exposed axles where the wheels sit]
Baseplate: Attaches the hanger to the deck
Bushings: The rubber shock absorbers that sit around the hanger assembly. These can range from soft [which allows the board to turn easily] to hard [which helps make the board more stable].
King Pin: The metal bolt which keeps your truck together.
Here’s a general size guide to width from two of the biggest manufactures:
Destructo recommends the following sizes:
5.0 For decks 7.75’’ – 8’’
5.25 For decks 8’’ – 8.25’’
5.5 For decks 8.25’’ – 8.5’’
Thunder recommends the following sizes:
145 for decks 7.9’’ and under
147 for decks 7.9’’ – 8.2’’
149 for decks 8.2’’ – 8.4’’
151 for decks 8.4’’ or wider
*most manufacturers follow similar size ranges.
Next to consider is the Truck Height.
This is the distance between the hanger and the bottom of the skateboard deck
Many riders find a medium height truck works well for most general riding. Riders looking for specific responsiveness from their set-up sometimes choose Low or High alternatives to suit their favourite style of riding.
Low Trucks: Stable for landing tricks. Use with smaller wheels 50mm, 52mm or 53mm
Medium Trucks: Great for general mix of street and park riding. Use with 53mm, 54mm, 55mm, 56mm wheels.
High: Best suited to general cruising. Use with 56mm + wheels.
Hopefully this guide has helped you navigate through the mysteries of Skateboard Trucks.
Remember that you need two trucks... Trucks are used in pairs!
When you shop online for trucks you will see that many retailers will often quote their price based on a single truck price. This is quite misleading. [You will always need two trucks unless you’re replacing one that’s broken] so make sure you’re not buying a single truck.
Our prices always reflect the cost of a pair.
If you need more info then contact us.
info@stormnriderstore.co.uk
To see our range head here:
http://stormriderstore.co.uk/collections/all/skateboard-trucks