Skateboard Trucks

No, skateboard trucks are not trucks full of skateboards, but they are equally as cool as that thought. Trucks sit on the underside of the skateboard deck and effectively connect the wheels to the board. They do a whole lot more than that however and are a vitally important part of the modern skateboard setup.

Firstly skateboard trucks need to be built of strong stuff. Not only do they have to take the whole bodyweight of a skater, but they’re often subject to much greater forces during landing or when turning sharp corners or berms. This poses a problem as strong materials often weigh a lot, and this is not good for skaters who want to achieve maximum speed or air. For this reason strong alloys such as aluminium are used to create the body of the trucks and thin steel is used for the axels. This keeps weight down but strength up.

Depending on the size of the deck and the skating style, trucks can come in all shapes and sizes. Some protrude out from the sides of the deck, providing greater stability for the board, whilst others have greater height to allow the board to be “popped” more.

You can often alter the rigidity of the trucks by changing the cushioning factor of the bushings. Soft bushings allow for move movement in the trucks around its pivot point, whilst firm bushings keep the board more stable. You can also add risers to the trucks to give the skateboard more ground clearance.