How To Put Trucks On a Skateboard?

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You might own a skateboard at your house but you need to know how to put trucks on a skateboard. Well, it’s not that hard and knowing some tricks will have you going, so let me take you through this quickly.

The fascination towards a skateboard has always remained unmatched and the thought of owning one pump up every individual, the excitement seems to be the most among the teens.

What is skateboard and skateboard truck?

Before we head into the technicality about how to setup skateboard trucks let me put some light on what a skateboard actually is and how is it related to a skateboard truck.

A skateboard is a specially designed board mainly made up of plywood and resting on wheels to facilitate skating on solid surfaces like roads. Now you might be thinking how the wheels connect to the board.

This is exactly where the skateboard truck comes into play, clamping the board to the wheels.

As you know about skateboard trucks now, you should also know which way to put the trucks on skateboard. Let me guide you for this.

What are the components of a skateboard truck?

components of a skateboard truck

Is it important to know the components? Yes, absolutely. Learning about the essential parts in the skateboarding trucks is a must before you know about how to assemble a skateboard. It will ensure you to learn easily about how to put skateboard trucks together.

Let us quickly get on with them.

  • Base-plate: This is actually what its name suggests fits at the base of your board with bolts around to affix the truck to the skateboard.
  • Hanger: The hanger is the 2nd most vital part and is pivoted with the base-plate via the pivot-cups.
  • Kingpin: Thekingpin is a specialized pin or screw-like structure which has its key role in fixing the hanger using nuts & bolts.
  • Bushings along with Washers: Built using polyurethane, bushings are crucial for turning mechanism and are situated between the hanger and the base-plate. Washers (metal discs) are present on bushings in order to restore the skateboard to its initial position after a turn.
  • Shaft & Locking nut: The shaft or the axle is similar to what we find in every mobile vehicle. Made up of steel, the axle emerges from the hangers. The wheels are fixed onto the axle using axle locking nuts.
  • Speed-rings: Located between bearings & hangers and also bearings & axle-nuts, they are tiny meant for ensuring that the bearing doesn’t rub against other parts.

How to put trucks on a skateboard?

Which way do trucks go on a skateboard?

Now that you know the components of the, we can go ahead with the skateboard setup guide.

You need to know which way to put the trucks on the skateboard properly to ensure swift movements while skating. The process to set up a skateboard is fairly simple and you can get it done by 15 minutes provided you have some knowledge about it.

Skateboard truck assembly is a favorite to the skaters and they usually love to put the trucks on skateboard themselves as it allows them to fine-tune their skating board as desired.

Let us now know how to set up skateboard trucks.

Gathering the components

Prior to collating the parts to build the skateboard truck, we need to gather the vital components required in this process. You can make a check-list as below to make sure you have everything ready before you start.

  • A grip-tape
  • The deck of the skating board
  • 2 skateboarding trucks with
  • 4 good quality wheels
  • 8 bearings, 8 speed-rings
  • A razor-blade& a screw-driver
  • 2 kingpin nut & bolt
  • 2  axle nut & bolt
  • A file & a wrench
  • 2 bushings& washers

Gripping the Skateboarding Deck

The edges of your new deck need to be properly gripped using a gripping tape. Put your deck upside down and then apply the grip tape horizontally on the base of the deck and give a thumb-pressto it.

 Now mark the outline by moving a file along the edges. After this, use a razor blade to remove the excess portion of the tape to ensure even edges.

Prepare the Trucks

It is very essential for you to know how to set up skateboard trucks and prepare it for getting mounted. For this,you can follow the simple steps listed below.

  • The base-plate of your truck will have 6 holes among which 4 identical ones are for affixing It to your deck.
  • Use the other 2 larger holes. In one of the larger holes, the hanger should slide easily. Check for it and put in the hanger.
  • Now you need to secure it using kingpin nuts & bolts.
  • Before you push in the kingpin make sure that you have added bushings to both its ends.
  • Once done, go ahead and push them through and use the wrench to tighten them firmly.

    You need to repeat this process for the other set too and make it ready.

Mount the Trucks

It is now time for mounting the trucks to your deck. The deck will have 4 mounting holes present on each side. You need to punch through them using the screwdriver and insert 4 screws on each side.

Now turn the deck upside down and slip the truck through the screws and the base-plant and affix them tightly using nuts and the wrench.

Setting the Wheels

Last but not least is the main portion of this leaningis about dealing with the wheels. To do this successfully you can take my advice as follows.

  • First, you need to remove the axle nut from the extended portion of the axle.
  • Now slip a bearing through the axle followed by a wheel.
  • Push the wheel down as hard as possible to move the bearing to its centre.
  • Now slip the other bearing and press again till you hear a click sound which will ensure that the bearing is successfully fitted in the wheel.
  • Now slide in a speed-ring, followed by the wheel (with bearings) and then slide the 2nd speed-ring. Use the wrench to tighten the wheels to the axle.
  • Put back the axle nut and tighten it up to ensure that the wheel is locked to the axle.

Similarly, repeat this for the other 3 wheels too.

Your skateboard is now ready for skating. Make sure to test it out once in the indoors before skating on the busy roads.

Now, as you have given this a thought about which way do trucks go on a skateboard, I would like to treaty you with a key fact.Remember that each of the skateboarding trucks should be placed in such a way that bushings and the kingpin are always pointing to the inner side.

Conclusion

Be it your new deck or your existing one, installing the trucks are now easier. You need not worry anymore about how to put trucks on skateboard. It is always recommended to use a skate tool for assembling a skateboard.

Every skater must opt for the skateboard best trucks with correctheight and width to ensure the best performance and experience. The trucks must fit the entire width of your skateboard to maintain the centre of gravity.

A bonus tip before we wrap up – The trucks on a longboard are quite different to that on skateboards, they are usually wider.


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