Everything You Need to Know About Trucks: Part 1

Basic Overview:

Paris V2 43*'s on a Loaded Boards Tesseract

Paris V2 43* Trucks on a Loaded Boards Tesseract

Trucks are extremely important when it comes to downhill skateboarding. No one can tell you what trucks are the best or which are better for you. It happens to be one of those things, like many in this world, that is simply too subjective to be compared in a manner of one being better than the other. With that said, there is a lot that goes into a reverse kingpin truck, and although the topic of what truck is best may be subjective, there are obvious physical differences that cause trucks to respond in certain ways that may affect ones riding.

How They Work:

On a reverse kingpin truck there are four components: a baseplate, a hanger, a pivot point, and two bushings. The baseplate of the truck is attached to the board and leans in sync with the board as you change your weight distribution, causing the hanger to pivot over the bushings at the angle of the baseplates pivot point, which then allows the truck to turn. The factors that go into the turn of the truck are based on various factors.

Truck Tightness:

TRUCKS SHOULD ONLY BE RUN AT ONE TIGHTNESS. Tons of people out there try to change the turning of their trucks by tightening or loosening them.paris-43s Although this works, this is not the way they’re designed to change the turn of the truck. Trucks are designed to be tightened down to the point at which the hanger comes out of the pivot point of the baseplate at the angle of the baseplate. Having trucks too lose causes slop, which can be fun to mess with, but can also be extremely sketchy and increase your chance of speed wobbles heavily. Running trucks too tight causes bushings to deform, and eventually break down or blow out, trust me it sucks when your bushing breaks while you are riding, especially the bottom one. This also causes the hanger to run at a lower degree than the baseplate is designed for, destroying your pivot cup and giving a bad pivot point. Usually the ideal tightness is at the point just after loose slop has been removed, and no tighter. Stand next to your board and put weight on one of the rails, forcing the trucks to turn one direction. If your board returns to the center perfectly when you take your foot off the rail, then you know it’s tightened correctly.


The bushings of a truck are one of the key things that go into a truck’s turning ability. Changing bushing setups can make the same truck feel completely different and finding the right one is key. IMG_0187The characteristics that go into how a bushing responds are its durometer (hardness), shape, urethane type, kingpin tightness, washer setup, and placement as the top or bottom bushing.


Bushings are made out of urathane and run on a durometer hardness scale typically between around 78a-96a. Basically it works like this: The lower the durometer, the softer the bushing, and there for the easier it is to make the truck turn. Some argue that there are ideal durometers for individual rider weight categories, and although these may be used as a decent guideline for what bushing hardness to get, these charts in no way represent what you should ride, for that is up to you.



There are a few various bushing shapes and even more have been coming out recently. In this article the three most widely used bushing shapes will be discussed, and these are: Eliminators, Barrels, and Cones. Barrels are the most common bushing shape, and for good reason. Barrel bushings allow for a distinct type of turning in which the trucks turn/lean ratio stays fairly consistent throughout the entire turn. This basically means that with barrel bushings if you lean on the board, it’ll turn proportionally to the amount of lean the rider gives in a fairly consistent manner. Barrels also provide a decent amount of rebound when diving into turns, or pumping. Coned bushings on the other hand have the most dive and do not allow for much rebound.IMG_0194[1] Cones are not common in fast riding and are more common in freestyle, dancing, commuting setups, as they lend themselves well to quick turns and agile movements. Eliminators are the widest of the bushings and therefore restrict turning the most out of the three shapes. With that being said, the turning is only restricted more than another bushing of the same duro. For instance, a 90a eliminator will be more restrictive than a 90a barrel, but may not be more restrictive than a 95a barrel. It is important to understand that eliminators are not designed to decrease turn, but to make the turning more progressive. Since there is more surface area contact between the hanger and the bushing in an eliminator setup, the turning becomes more progressive, rather than divey. In my opinion, eliminators feel comfortable when they are run at a durometer that is about 3a-5a less than your usual barrel setup. At low speeds eliminators do not turn much unless run extremely soft, but at speed they begin to become alive, feeling more like a barrel would at a lower speed.


The urethane formula has an effect on the turning of the bushing. Just like with wheels different urethane formulas of the same hardness may feel different. For example, an 87a Blood Orange bushing may feel softer than an 87a Venom bushing. Different companies have different urethane formulas and each formula has a unique feeling. One of the key components to the feeling of the urethane used is the rebound that is given from the bushing. Lots of rebound makes the truck want to turn back and pump, giving a lively feel. Low rebound gives a damper feeling turn. Rebound is not a good or bad thing and is once again something that is up for the individual rider to decide for themselves whether they like or not.


The washers used in trucks are also a component that goes into how they respond. The two shapes for washers are flat and cupped. Washers are pretty simple, flat washers give less restrictive turn and less rebound and cupped washers give more restrictive turning and more rebound. Washers also come in various sizes, smaller washers being less restrictive. washersCupped washers are also an easy way to get rid of wheelbite if you don’t want to run risers and don’t mind sacrificing the turn.

Roadside vs Boardside:

Boardside and roadside bushings both have different roles in the trucks performance, and it is important to understand the difference. The bottom bushing (boardside) has more impact on the turning of the truck and its direct pivot, where as the top bushing (roadside) acts as a force to push back on the bottom bushing, and controls how easily the truck gives in or rebounds back. People typically run either the same durometer bushings all around, or a top bushing that is slightly softer than the bottom. It is also common to see people run an eliminator bushing on the bottom with a barrel bushing on the top, or a barrel bushing on the bottom with a cone bushing on the top.


How To Not Blow A Spot

Clyde Man

Our buddy Clyde and the Massachusetts Skate, I mean State, Police.

Over the past few years, as this sport has continued to grow, it has become apparent that many of the newer generations of shredders do not follow the rules of the road, and therefore potentially blow the spot for themselves and others. If you have never had an interaction with a police officer or person of authority, you’re probably unaware that this sport is still frowned upon, even illegal in some areas, and have to always keep that fact in mind.

This means that when you’re skating a road, you gotta treat it like it’s your Granny’s house, that is, you gotta respect it.  People bash other people for stealing their spots all the time, but in reality, most spots are actually pretty easy to find if you know what you’re doing.  So those groms that you didn’t want to find that dope spot you had, they’re gonna find out about it, and when they do, it’s in everyone’s best interest that they know how to respect it.  No one owns any one spot, everyone wants to progress, and there are only so many dope runs in a given area, so chances are as the sport grows, your favorite runs will be skated by others. Many things go into properly respecting a road, and all roads are different, but there are some general rules that should be followed.


First off, it all depends on the spot you’re shredding since all spots are different.  If you’re at your local freeride hill and you got all the neighbors you know and you’re comfortable, then it’s usually ok to post up and hang out, shredding the hill for an extended period of time.  On hills that are like this, you gotta respect neighbors’ opinions, as well as yield to any traffic.  You also can’t leave the hill a mess, leave it in better condition than you found it, don’t leave your water bottle and lunch bags, those weren’t there when you got there, were they?  Another thing to consider is acting sketchy.  Eddie HaskellMad kids act sketchy when they are dealing with adults, because they don’t know the vibe yet and are uncomfortable with the interaction.  When you see someoneacting nice and polite, you are bound to judge them a bit different than if they are acting all sketchy not saying hi, avoiding interaction, or being obnoxious.  When neighbors, locals, and old people are walking by observing you skating, wave, smile, and say hi. Take a second to talk to them, usually they dig it, and usually it will help you in keeping your spot from being blown.  When it comes to traffic in neighborhood runs, just yield and show that you’re in control. Even if you have the control to setup carve into the opposite lane and throw a little backside check in front of that oncoming car, it looks mad sketchy to that car and almost any other random civilian watching.  I always see people continuing their run with a car behind them on their tail, or with a car pulling out of a driveway, or an oncoming car.  If you just come to a stop and wait 5 seconds, it decreases your chances of having the cops called on you.

Another thing to consider, and this is for all types of spots, is that the more people you have with you, the higher the chance that your sess is gonna get blown.  I sometimes see grom crews that are about 30 strong all ripping the same hill – an easy way to quickly blow a good spot.  When skating runs that involve blind turns, always spot the turn, and don’t just spot it, know that you can hit it in the worst situation, know that when that school bus is stuck in his 5 point turn, that you can come to a stop.


New Video: 2012 Recap

As 2012 comes to a close Henry had the awesome idea to create a dank recap edit using the best parts of our best edits from 2012. The result is a fast paced, fun video edited by Henry with additional post work by Erik Mingo. Despite filming most of it, I was even surprised at a few parts and was so amped at the end. It’s a good showcase of the progression we’ve made in just a year, and has motivated us to take it to another level in 2013.

I’m really am so stoked on the result and really couldn’t be much happier. 2012 was a breakout year for us and allowed us to produce some dank videos, photos, articles and everything in between for you guys; we couldn’t be more optimistic for the future. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the support! Don’t sleep on us cause there’s so much more to come!

Cheers to a great 2012 and an even better 2013! EAST COAST ALL DAY BABY!

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