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Skateboard Truck Buying Guide
Choosing skateboard trucks can be complicated, but in general, if you buy from a well-known skateboard truck manufacturer and ensure you get the right size for your deck, there's a good chance you'll be happy with your purchase. If you buy a complete skateboard, the trucks are already mounted and their size is specifically suited for the overall setup.
Overview
Skateboard Truck Parts Explained
Let's start with the basics before we get into the finer details. What exactly are skateboard trucks? Simply put, trucks are the metal T-shaped pieces that attach to the bottom of your skateboard deck. They are responsible for holding the wheels and consist of two main components that rotate, or pivot, against each other: the baseplate and the hanger. These are held together by a bolt – or kingpin – that also holds the bushings. Let’s break down the main parts of a skateboard truck:
Baseplate
The baseplate is the flat metal part mounted directly to the deck via 4 bolts. One of the functions of the baseplate is to distribute the weight of the skater evenly across the entire truck to provide stability, and at the same time, it distributes the impact of landings to the deck. The pivot cups are also found in the baseplates and they are responsible for the hanger’s ability to pivot. Therefore the pivot cups affect the smoothness of your turns. Being the direct link between the deck and the hanger, the baseplate is essential to the truck and your overall setup.
Hanger
The truck hanger is the largest component of a skateboard truck. It is an oblong metal bar that assumes a triangular shape towards the pivot, which goes into the pivot cup in the baseplate. The hangers grind directly on the rails, copings, and ledges and therefore they play a vital role in your grind tricks.
Axle
The wheel axle extends through the inside of the hanger, and it has threading on both ends, where nuts are fastened to hold the wheels in place. Over time, the outer threads can wear down (especially if you do a lot of rail stands), but they can be re-threaded with the right tools. Many T-tools are equipped with 5/16" axle re-threaders. If you've needed to re-thread your trucks in the past, a skate tool with re-threader is a practical solution. Find one in our selection:
Kingpin
The kingpin is a large bolt that goes through the center of the truck and holds all the different truck parts together. With the kingpin nut, you can adjust the tightness of your trucks. Kingpins can snap from the forces they endure, but they can be replaced.
Truck Bushings
Bushings are the rubbery cushions that sit between the baseplate and the hanger. They facilitate the transfer of pressure from your feet to the hangers, and in this way, they influence the agility of your setup. The firmness of the bushings affects your turning ability:
- Hard bushings: Stiffer and more stable trucks, which can be an advantage if the trucks are wobbly. Hard bushings require more effort to initiate turns.
- Soft bushings: Great for carving and cruising, and for skaters who enjoy the feeling of loose trucks that respond swiftly to their movements.
Learn how to install skateboard bushings, or find a new set of bushings, washers or hardware:
Now that you're familiar with the different parts of a skateboard truck, let's explore some key considerations when choosing the right trucks for your setup.
Skateboard Truck Sizes & How to Measure Skateboard Trucks
Skateboard trucks sizes have two variables: width and height. Here, you will get a brief introduction that will help you determine which size of skateboard trucks to choose.
Skateboard Truck Width
Matching your truck’s width with the width of your deck is important. In skateboarding, you don’t want the width of your trucks to deviate very much from the width of your deck. Trucks that are too narrow will feel unstable, whereas trucks that are too wide can get in the way of your shoes when you push, and the extra width also makes it more difficult to do flip tricks.
Skateboard truck brands describe the size of their trucks with numbers that refer to the hanger width without counting the width of the axles. However, the axle width defines the overall truck width, and the overall width of the truck is the measurement that you want to match the width of your deck.
At SkatePro, we specify the axle width of the individual trucks in our selection, so you don’t have to consult a skateboard truck size chart that converts the truck manufacturer’s sizes to inches.
Skateboard Truck Height
Truck height refers to the distance between the baseplate and the center of the axles. In other words, truck height (or truck profile) defines the distance between trucks and deck. When choosing truck height, there are two main concerns: the distance between your deck and your wheels, and the distance between your deck and the ground.
Skateboard truck height is typically divided into high, medium, or low trucks, making it easier to choose. Let's consider the characteristics of these three:
- Low Trucks (46-49 mm): Since the deck is closer to the ground, it is easier for kids, beginners, and short-legged people to control a setup with low trucks, simply because it will feel more stable. Don’t go above 53 mm wide wheels unless you use risers to increase the distance between the wheels and the deck!
- Mid Trucks (49.5-53.5 mm): As you might have guessed, mid trucks are the versatile and golden middle path between high and low trucks. Measuring in at 49.5-53.5 mm, mid trucks are a great choice for most skaters. Don’t go above 56 mm wheel diameters unless you add risers.
- High Trucks (53.5-60 mm): Lifting you higher above the ground, there are many good reasons to go for higher trucks. You can mount bigger wheels, and create a nice setup for cruising and carving thanks to the extra clearance between wheels and deck. If you’re into freestyle skateboarding, high trucks will give you a wider platform, making it easier to balance when performing rail stands.
We always specify the truck height in the specifications for the trucks in our selection.
What to Consider When Choosing Skateboard Truck Height - A Quick Rundown of the Variables
Truck height is a matter of personal preference where your style and physical traits are important factors. Here are a few things that you may want to consider when you are choosing between higher or lower trucks:
- Wheel clearance: The distance between the wheels and the deck is determined by the wheel diameter and the height of your trucks. If you like carving and deep turns, you need more wheel clearance than someone who prefers more stable and tight trucks. If you prefer to skate with loose trucks, it is also important to consider whether you have enough wheel clearance.
- Pop angle: The pop angle increases with the height of the trucks. It is easier to pop a low skateboard, but if the trucks are higher, you have more leverage to pop high. So, the smaller pop angle of a lower truck will give you a quicker response and more agility, whereas the steeper pop angle of high trucks will be great if you want to perform “bigger” tricks.
- Pushing: With higher trucks, there’s a bigger distance between your pushing foot and the foot on your deck. In other words, pushing longer distances is less comfortable with high trucks.
- Tricks: Different kinds of tricks are easier or more difficult, depending on the height of your trucks. High trucks give larger platforms to balance rail stands or truck stands whereas the agility of lower trucks may be an advantage for flatland flip tricks.
- Truck weight: The larger the truck is, the more it weighs.
- Personal height: If you are a tall person with long legs, it is easier for you to control a setup with high trucks than it is for someone with shorter legs.
Riser Pads - Adjust the Truck Height to Avoid Wheel Bites
Riser pads can offer a valuable solution for skateboarders who encounter wheel bites, a common issue where the wheels make contact with the deck during sharp turns. By increasing the distance between the deck and the wheels, riser pads provide a simple and inexpensive remedy for this problem.
If you want to experiment with larger wheel diameters or loosening your trucks, riser pads may also become relevant.
For those seeking to address wheel bites or want to enhance the characteristics of their skateboard setup, our selection of riser pads is worth exploring:
It is important that you have the correct hardware when you install riser pads. Check the guide below if you have any doubts about correct bolt lengths:
Skateboard Truck Weight: Heavy or Light Skateboard Trucks?
The trucks are responsible for a significant portion of the weight of your complete skateboard, and many of the recent improvements and innovations in skateboard truck design have been aimed at reducing weight. Hollowing out kingpins and axles, and experiments with different materials, are a few of the measures undertaken to achieve this weight reduction.
At the time of writing this, the self-proclaimed “lightest trucks ever”, the Tensor Mag Light Series, are indeed the lightest trucks on the market. The advantages of lighter trucks are hard to overlook when it comes to tricks, however, the weight differences are not necessarily as noticeable as other characteristics of the trucks.
When considering the weight of your skateboard trucks, remember that there’s a direct correlation between the weight and the size of your trucks. A high and wide truck has more mass than a lower and narrower version of the same truck. In other words, truck weight can be evaluated in relation to wheel diameter and deck width.
Loose vs. Tight Skateboard Trucks – How to Tighten Skateboard Trucks
To loosen or tighten your skateboard trucks, simply adjust the kingpin nut with your skate tool or a standard wrench or spanner. If you tighten the nut, you will need to apply more pressure in order to turn, whereas you make it easier to turn if you loosen the nut. Loose trucks are more agile and lively, whereas tight trucks are more stable and stiff. How tight or loose your trucks should be is a matter of style and personal preference.
The tightness of your trucks affects the turning characteristics of your skateboard, and it takes time and experimentation to find your preferred sweet spot. So bring your skate tool with you when you go skateboarding, so you can try out different settings.
Tighten your trucks if:- You notice wheel bites during turns or when landing tricks.
- You're aiming for a more consistent pop.
- Things feel shaky at high speeds or after landing tricks.
- You find yourself lifting the front wheels to turn.
- You want to do sharper turns.
- You feel restricted and want more freedom to move from side to side.
Turning and carving is also affected by the hardness of your bushings. Bushings are available in different degrees of hardness, usually measured on the durometer scale. The higher the durometer, the harder the bushings – and harder bushings mean tighter trucks. Check out our selection of bushings:
How to Install Skateboard Trucks
You install the trucks with 4 nuts & 4 bolts per truck. We recommend tightening the bolts in a cross-diagonal pattern to ensure that the baseplate is tightened equally across the surface.
We are always ready to help:
