Hey guys, title basically covers the question, but to drag it out, I’m looking for input on best approach or feasibility of running bergs on a 36" switchblade, and avoiding wheel bite while maintaining the low profile with drop thrus.
I tried some very wide (for this board) hangers, but the bergs would still bite the corner of the releived area, obviously raising it and bottom mounting works but I want to try and keep this thing as low as possible and maintain the stock look and feel of the deck as much as possible.
The only obvious (to me and my addled brain) atm, that seems viable, is to shift the baseplates foward in the slot as far as possible and drill new holes. The original non esk8 trucks have bases that will shift fairly far as the nub on the end is relatively relieved, but other bases I have on hand wont shift as far forward in the drop slot. Even with those original bases, it’s not quite enough clearance without cranking the trucks down very tight but it’s most of the way, and I’m not sure I will want the trucks any looser once I actually get this going anyway, but regardless I’d have to make custom mounts(not a prob) and question the suitability of these for esk8 application anyway.
Right now I’m leaning toward relieving (milling) the drop slot a bit more on either end of the board to be able to push other bases just a little but further out. Anyone see a problem with this, or should I just grind the wings down on the body instead? I’m hesitant on that frankly. I’m arguably expert with the belt grinder, I use one daily for a living but still, a little tweak even if done well can ruin the aesthetic of something that’s already just right, as the switchblades are imo.
Anyway, just fishing for some input and second/third opinions here, in case I’m missing something or someone can point me to a setup that works out of the box?
To give you a sense of what you can get away with, I ran bergs on a Sportster with drop through baseplates and 220mm hangers
Things to note is Paris V2 baseplates are compatible with BN and Caliber II hangers, and they sit about 3/8” forward compared to Caliber II baseplates; lower angle baseplates will bite less, I never had issues with the 43° plates; and sanding the corner of the deck is an easy way to get a lot of clearance
Cutting the drop through slot bigger will help a lot for sure, just be careful that you don’t introduce cracks and use the biggest washers under the deck you can fit (I have washers with a flat edge that I really like because it almost sits against the baseplate)
Not running anything in particular yet, that’s part of the question, but the trucks that came with this board that have the best clearance pushed all the way foward in the drop slot are older Bear trucks, the gen with the logo cast or engraved into the hangers.
I picked this board up a couple years back just for the deck, second hand, with the intent of making it into an esk8. Was basically in “ridden once and got scared” condition. I’m guessing it was a complete setup from somewhere, was on 70mm thanes.
I’m not set on any particular truck setup other than keeping with the OG LB vibe, with the caveat of running Bergs and trying not to go insane ass wide with the hangers for clearance.
So I tried some TB 220mm hangers with spacers, which came out to approx 250mm, in the existing (centered) bolt holes, and still caught the corners of the “wing” tips, just standing on it. Admittedy I didnt have the bushings cranked down or anything, but the way it bit seemed anecdotally more dangerous than the way they do with the narrower hangers to me, because they make extreme point contact with that corner…
I shouldn’t have any prob milling the slot out without cracking it, knock on wood lol, but I can definitely fab some cross-bar “washers”/anti sink plates up, which I would prob want anyway if just to hide the old bolt holes and make it look cleaner.
Yeah seeing your sportster helps, thanks man. Running the same orange Bergs myself lol. Typically not my color but they just have some je na se french something or other about them!
Story checks out. Why am I interested? Besides altruism, I saw the loaded 105mm new urethane and thought, “why not dad bod”? I know they are going to sell out and never be available again.
I didn’t love this board. Mainly bc it was supposed to be a compact travel board, but the loadedxunlimited drive train and remote didn’t inspire confidence.
