Skateboard Trucks Buying Guide

One of the most important parts of any skateboard is the trucks. Acting as the connection between your deck and wheels, trucks influence your board's turning, stability, and performance while skating. While skateboard trucks may seem straightforward, there are a variety of truck styles, sizes, and considerations for selecting the best pair of trucks for your needs. In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about skate trucks so that you can find the perfect pair for your board!

If you’re itching to build your board and don’t care too much about which skate trucks to put on your deck, there are still a few key decisions to make your purchase worthwhile.

Here are the 3 most important factors to consider when choosing skate trucks:

1. Know Your Deck Width & Select Your Truck Size

• To select truck size, it is recommended to pick a pair of trucks that are about the same width as your deck. For example, an 8-inch deck should be paired with 8-inch trucks.
• Trucks that are too narrow and don’t reach the edges of your deck will be unstable.
• Trucks that are too wide for your deck can cause wheel bite, contact with your shoe while pushing, and additional functional problems while trying to perform tricks.
• Aim to have your truck size be within .25 inches of the width of your skate deck.

2. Choose a Truck Profile (Height of the Truck)

• Truck profiles refer to the height of your truck with the three profiles being low, medium, and high.
• Low trucks are generally preferred by street skaters due to their extra stability, responsiveness, and performance when it comes to performing tricks or grinds, but they have a smaller turning radius.
• Medium or Mid profile trucks are more universal between skate styles and mix in some of the pros and cons of low and high trucks.
• High profile trucks offer a larger turning radius than low profile trucks and greater clearance between your truck and deck which allows for larger wheels to be used, but they offer less stability than low trucks. Generally, high trucks are preferred by transition skaters and street skaters. High trucks can also be used on cruiser skateboards, or longboards.
• There is no right or wrong answer for selecting truck profile, it really comes down to personal preference, performance goals, and board feel!

3. Consider Truck Brand

• Selecting trucks from a trusted brand is highly recommended.
• While you can find trucks for cheap on various wholesale or foreign websites, you generally get what you pay for and considering that a truck malfunction could send you flying off your board while riding, selecting a pair of trucks from a trusted brand really is a safety thing!
• Additionally, non-branded trucks will not typically last as long as known name brands, making the savings not cost effective from having to replace them quicker.

We’ll cover each of these considerations in depth to help make sure that you find the best trucks for your needs, but first, let’s go over all the different parts of a skate truck.

• Baseplate: The flat piece of the truck that attaches to the deck. It provides the foundation for other truck components and ensures stability.
• Mounting holes: Bolts go through the top of the deck, through the mounting holes, and are tightened with nuts, keeping the skate truck attached to the deck.
• Hanger: The triangular metal piece that supports the axle. It's key for turning, determines your wheel width, and is needed for grinding.
• Axle: A long pin that runs through the hanger and holds the wheels. Axle nuts sit on the outside of the axle, holding wheels in place.
• Bushings: Soft urethane rings fitted around the kingpin. They cushion the hanger during turns and affect the truck's responsiveness.
• Kingpin: The large bolt that connects the hanger, bushing, and baseplate together. Adjusting the kingpin nut tightness can change your board’s turning and feel.

Each component can be customized for a tailored skateboarding experience, influencing everything from how you carve to how you land tricks.

Selecting the right size trucks for your skate deck is critical as a mismatch in truck to deck sizing can impact your board's balance and performance. A skateboard truck's width is measured by the length of the axel. Trucks should be as wide as your skateboard deck, give or take 0.25 inches. Making sure your deck and wheels align will offer you optimal stability and control.

Each skate truck brand will typically have their own identification for truck sizes, or they will use inches to identify their truck sizes. Here are the truck size ranges that work for most skateboards:

• 6"- 7.25" truck axles will fit 6" to 7.5" wide decks
• 7.5" truck axles will fit 7.25” to 7.75" wide decks
• 7.75" truck axles will fit 7.5” to 8" wide decks
• 8" truck axles will fit 7.75” to 8.25" wide decks
• 8.5" truck axles will fit 8.25” to 8.75" wide decks
• 9" truck axles will fit 8.75” to 9.25” wide decks
• 10" truck axles will fit 9.75” wide and above decks

Be sure to reference individual brand truck size charts, but for the most part, it is easiest to look at the actual inch measurements for trucks when shopping around and find the closest fit for your deck.

Truck Profiles refer to the height of trucks, or the distance from the hanger or axle to your skate deck. There are pros and cons to different truck profiles so understanding how they affect board performance is important for skaters to understand. Besides affecting the performance of your board, choosing one truck profile over another will also influence what size wheels you should use. The type and size of wheels that you choose is heavily dependent on your style of skating and personal preference, which is the same for truck profiles as well.

The key with selecting truck profiles and wheel sizes is to avoid wheel bite, which is when your wheels come in contact with your board while riding, typically resulting in an abrupt stop and a bad fall off your board. Be sure to check out our guide on how to choose skateboard wheels if you're not sure which set of wheels would be best for your needs.

Here’s the difference between truck profiles, wheel size ranges, and how they cater to different performance needs:

Low Trucks – Recommended Wheel Size Range: 50 – 53mm wheels

• Short kingpin, less distance to the ground from the deck, smaller wheels must be used to avoid wheel bite.
• Since low trucks make your board sit closer to the ground, they offer more stability and response while riding, performing tricks, and grinding.
• This makes low trucks geared towards non-beginner, technical street skaters who desire a quick, responsive feel.

Medium or Mid Trucks – Recommended Wheel Size Range: 52 - 54mm wheels

• Mid length kingpin, more distance to the ground from the deck, midsize to larger wheels can be used.
• Mid trucks are versatile and popular for park, or street skating.

High Trucks (Standard Choice) – Recommended Wheel Size Range: 53mm and up.

• Long kingpin, longer distance to the ground, larger wheels can be used.
• Thanks to their height, you will be able to press further down on the board from side to side, enabling you to make sharper turns without wheel bite.
• With the extra height typically comes less stability and responsiveness but this comes down to skater's skill and preference on board feel.
• This makes them popular for street skating, transition skating, carving skateboards, longboards, or for skaters just looking to cruise around town.

• Note for beginners: If a truck is not identified as "high" or "low" by a manufacturer, then they are typically equivalent to high trucks.

Understanding the pros and cons for different truck profiles and wheel sizes available should help you dial in your skateboard preferences!

Besides the size and height of your trucks, the material that they are made from will affect their weight, strength, and longevity. Before getting into the individual truck materials, you will often see the term, “Forged” to describe trucks. This refers to the construction of the trucks and means that the baseplates of those trucks have been forged instead of cast. This process makes the baseplates stronger and a little bit lighter.

Forged trucks can be made from one of the various materials that we’ll cover next:

• Aluminum Trucks: A popular choice for their balance of weight and durability. Ideal for most skaters.
• Titanium Trucks: Lighter and stronger, they are perfect for skaters who prioritize performance and don’t mind the extra cost.
• Steel Trucks: Extremely durable but the heaviest. Suitable for aggressive skaters who need extra strength.
• Hollow Trucks: Some trucks will be labeled as, “Hollow”, meaning that they have hollow kingpins and or axles. This helps reduce the weight of the truck.

Inverted kingpins, also known as reverse kingpin trucks, are a variation of traditional skateboard trucks where the kingpin is mounted on the opposite side compared to standard trucks. In traditional trucks, the kingpin is mounted facing downward, while in inverted kingpin trucks, it faces upward.

The primary purpose of inverted kingpins is to alter the truck's geometry and performance characteristics.

• Increased Stability: Inverted kingpin trucks typically have a wider turning radius compared to traditional trucks. This wider turning radius provides more stability at higher speeds. Street skateboarders might appreciate this stability when skating fast down hills or navigating rough terrain.
• Responsive Turning: While they offer stability at higher speeds, inverted kingpin trucks can also provide responsive turning at lower speeds. This responsiveness allows street and transition skateboarders to make quick and sharp turns, essential for navigating through obstacles, executing tricks, and maneuvering in tight spaces.
• Enhanced Carving Abilities: Carving refers to making smooth, flowing turns while maintaining speed. Inverted kingpin trucks are often preferred by people who enjoy carving, as they offer a more fluid and controlled carving experience compared to traditional trucks.

Bushings might be small, but they're mighty in influence. As reviewed in our anatomy section, they are soft urethane rings fitted around the kingpin. They are the only part of the truck that is commonly replaced by skaters.

Bushings come in a variety of durometer options, which essentially means hardness options. Soft bushings make it easier to turn, perfect for a flowy, responsive ride. Harder bushings stabilize the skateboard, essential for high-speed skating or larger skaters. Experimenting with different bushing durometer or hardness can dramatically change how your skateboard turns, stabilizes, and reacts.

Over time, you may need to replace bushings as their performance may change with more use. The stock bushings on most trucks are typically a medium level of softness, so if you want to experiment with harder options, pick up a pair of bushings to install yourself.

The steps for replacing or switching out your bushings are straightforward and can be done in less than two minutes as shown in our video below!

Here’s the steps for replacing your bushings:

1. Using a skate tool, loosen and remove the kingpin nut from the truck
2. Remove the top bushing washer
3. Pull the truck hanger out along with the bottom bushing and washer
4. Take your new bushings out of their packaging and separate the top bushings from the bottom bushings
5. Place the bottom bushing washer on the kingpin or just the bottom bushing without a washer if it does not need one
6. Grab the hanger and put it back onto the kingpin on top of your new bottom bushing
7. Put your new top bushing back on top of the hanger and put the bushing washer back on top of your new bushing
8. Tighten the top bushing washer back onto the kingpin and you’re all set!

Truck riser pads are flat, plastic, rectangular pads placed in-between the deck of your skateboard and the truck.

Riser pads are not necessary but can offer a variety of benefits such as:

• Creating more space between your deck and your wheels, which allows for more wheel clearance.
• Make your skateboard taller or sit higher off the ground.
• Can help reduce impact on your deck when your board lands on the ground.
• Can help reduce the likelihood of stress cracks forming on your deck where the truck baseplate sits.

Using or not using riser pads is a hot debate amongst skaters, some swear by them, while others can’t stand them. It really depends on your personal preference, so if you haven’t tried them out before, or are finding that you keep getting wheel bite, they can be good to experiment with!

In addition to standard trucks that you see on most popsicle shaped skateboards, there are also specialty trucks available designed for carving skateboards, surf skate skateboards, or longboards. Carving, surf skating, or longboarding is about cruising and using sharp, tight, or smooth rounded turns to gain momentum and speed. To meet these performance needs, a truck that can pivot sharply and allow the board to rotate more freely is needed.

This makes riding a carver skateboard, surf skate, or longboard similar to surfing in that the rider can use similar techniques to what they would do while surfing: Crouch, use their body like a spring, use their shoulders and hips for turning, and utilize a pumping turn action to generate force on the board, which generates momentum on the ground. So essentially, with surf skate or longboard trucks, a skateboarder can use surfing-style techniques on a flat surface to gain momentum without having to kick push off the ground with their foot.

This style of skating is most common amongst surfers and has grown in popularity over the years as a means for practicing the feel of surfing while not in the water. You will also see skaters riding bowls, tracks, or at the skatepark riding this style of board. Adding a sharp turning board to your skateboard quiver is also a plus as it provides a fun and efficient way to get around town! The most popular brand to advance this truck technology and surf skate culture is Carver skateboards, making them a top option amongst riders wanting to experience the feel of surfing on land.

There are a handful of truck options that have become staples in the skateboarding industry as tried and true options. These trucks have proven to be quality made, offer optimal performance, and cater to a variety of skate styles, making them among our favorite options. Let’s get into them and find some options that you can’t go wrong with!

Key Features

Durability: Independent trucks are renowned for their durability. The Stage 11 Standard Truck is built to withstand the demands of street, park, and transition skating. It's made from high-quality materials and construction techniques to ensure longevity.

Versatility: These trucks are versatile and suitable for different styles of skateboarding. Whether you're hitting the streets, skating ramps and bowls, or cruising around, the Stage 11 Standard Truck can handle it all.

Trusted Brand: Independent is a well-respected brand in the skateboarding community, known for producing high-quality trucks that stand the test of time. The Stage 11 Standard Truck continues this legacy of excellence.

Key Features

Low Profile Design: The Ace AF1 Low Truck features a low profile design, meaning the distance between the skateboard deck and the axle is minimized. This lowers the center of gravity of the skateboard, enhancing stability and control.

Hollow Kingpin: The Ace AF1 Low Truck features a hollow kingpin design that reduces weight without sacrificing strength. This gives skaters the option for a lightweight yet durable truck.

Responsive Turning: The low profile design and precise geometry of the Ace AF1 Low Truck contribute to its responsive turning capabilities. Skaters can make quick and precise turns, essential for navigating through obstacles and executing tricks.

Key Features

Inverted Kingpin Design: The Slappy ST1 Trucks feature an inverted kingpin design where the kingpin is mounted facing upward rather than downward. This design choice provides enhanced stability and smoother turning, making them particularly suitable for street skating and navigating urban environments.

Hollow Construction: These trucks include a hollow kingpin and axle, which reduces weight without compromising strength. The hollow design contributes to the overall lightweight nature of the trucks, improving agility and maneuverability.

Versatility: While these trucks may excel in street skating they are also versatile enough to be suitable for transition skating.

Key Features

Lightweight: Titanium is lightweight compared to traditional materials, reducing overall weight without sacrificing durability.

Responsive: Lightweight construction enhances responsiveness, allowing for quick and precise movements during tricks.

Technical Skating: Ideal for flip tricks and technical street skating.

Key Features

High Profile Design: The Venture OG Polished High Truck features a high profile design, meaning the distance between the skateboard deck and the axle is relatively higher compared to low profile trucks. This design offers more wheel clearance, making it suitable for larger wheels and preventing wheel bite.

Durable Construction: Venture trucks are known for their durable construction. The Venture OG Polished High Truck is built to withstand the demands of skateboarding, including impacts from tricks and rough terrain. It's made from high-quality materials to ensure longevity.

Versatility: These trucks are versatile and suitable for different types of skateboarding terrain. Whether you're cruising around the streets, hitting the park, or riding transitions, the Venture OG Polished High Truck offers reliable performance and control.

Once you have your trucks, it’s time to install them on your deck! Be sure to check out our how to build a skateboard guide to learn about the various steps for truck installation.

Once installed, regular maintenance on your skateboard hardware and trucks is key for maintaining desired performance. Over time and with more use, the components of your skateboard will become looser, affecting your board feel, turning, and general performance.

Here are some tips for maintaining and adjusting your trucks:

• Check your hardware, make sure that your bolts are not too tight or loose, adjust according to your preference.
• Check your bushings to make sure nothing looks off and keep an eye out for axle bend over time
• Adjusting the kingpin nut tightness can transform the way you ride, making it either more rigid or more responsive. This will heavily influence your ability to turn the board.

These minor tweaks can significantly improve your skateboarding experience. To adjust these parts, it is highly recommended to pick up a skate tool. Skate tools let you adjust your skateboard, such as tightening and loosening your trucks, axle nuts, and hardware without having to buy a set of separate tools.

Selecting the right skateboard trucks is a mix of art and science, balancing size, height, material, and your riding style preferences. We hope that this guide will help ensure that your next ride is tuned perfectly for your skateboarding needs! If you still aren’t sure which trucks could be best for you, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help.