Stoked to be here! Since I manufacture RipTide Bushings I have extensive knowledge of bushings and how to set up your trucks to do what you want to set up to do, including wedging and dewedging. Unfortunately, many trucks for the electric market are clones of other trucks at least in appearance but they do not necessarily use the same sized bushing as the trucks they look like. If you want help setting your trucks up, I created this thread for that purpose.
In order for me to make an informed bushing recommendation, I would appreciate the following information:
The brand of truck you are using plus the base plate angles and hanger width. If it is a clone, I need the bushing Outside Diameter, Inside Diameter height to the .1" or .1 mm, and shape (normally a Cone/Cone, Cone/Barrel or Barrel/Barrel for stock set ups).
If you are using aftermarket bushings, I need the bushing brand, duro and shape that are in the trucks currently.
I need to know how the trucks feel and what you want to change: Do you want it looser, tighter, more stable, less stable, more rebound, less rebound, etc…
Type of skating you want to use the setup for.
Deck you are using and how likely the set up will wheel bite.
How much you weigh.
To keep things simple (I hope), when I respond to your question and you have additional questions, I will add to or edit my initial response. Does this board notify you of edits like it does likes and responses?
Fantastic to see you here now.
I followed your instructions and bought pivot cups and bushings for my tb218 trucks and they were transformed.
All you need now is a great UK distributor…
@RipTideSports On Caliber E 50s, which at least appear to have standard caliber bushing seats, what would i want for something loose but snappy and not change the angle much?
I used to run venom double barrels, the white ones (don’t know the durometer off the top of my head) and they were close to the snappy i wanted but were too tight. Now i’m running purple nipples, which are also close, but still not quite loose enough.
What would you recommend? I want something that will carve, but will pop back to straight nicely and give that feeling of stability at speed. I feel like i was close on both the purple nipples and white venoms but not quite there.
@longhairedboy, have you replace the pivots with our WFB 96a or 100a? That alone will reduce the return friction thus improving the “snap back”. Venom White is likely SHR 94a, purple nipples are 87s so you are all over the map. What do you weigh? Pop back is also affected by how tight you have the kingpin set.
Hi Brad @RipTideSports! And thanks for all the help you offer to the community!
Let me tell you about my setup.
Riding original Caliber II 50 degr 184mm trucks pretty loose (especially the front truck) with 1/4" to 1/8" angled risers wedged/dewedged
Pivot cups swapped for Venom 97A’s
Bushings front truck are (boardside/roadside and cone/cone) Venom SHR 94A / Venom standard 93A with regular Caliber cupped washers
Bushings back truck are (barrel/barrel) Venom standard 97A / Venom SHR 94A with cupped washers
I switched to this setup (cone/cone) recently because I wanted to improve the turning radius. It HAS improved, but I’d also prefer that the board is stable up to 28 mph, which is my top speed. Haven’t ridden faster than sub 20 with this setup. Front trucks are a lot more responsive - follow every little move of my feet. Not in a scary way at these speeds, but I’m not sure how it will perform at faster speeds…
I usually ride at speeds around 22-24 mph with some carving. Want to be able to make sharper turns as this is my commuter used in a downtown area.
Deck is a Slipstream DFA 36 and with a full extreme lean I will definitely get wheel bite with my 97 flywheels. Never happened when riding though and it probably won’t…knock on wood.
I weigh around 170 pounds.
Any obvious flaws or room for improvement with better stability at speed without loosing turnability?
Hi Brad, thanks for your invaluable advice! On my older setup I exchanged the stock bushings to your Krank offerings and pivot cups. 93A barrel boardside and 90A cone roadside, that gave me a better turning radius and stability at max speed. I really like the progressive behaviour of these bushings and the high rebound to kick you back straight.
Being based in Japan, I had difficulties ordering local because most of the Japanese riders are more lightweight, they do not stock 96A duro here. I went ahead and ordered the stuff directly from your site which ended up being cheaper then ordering it locally, I just had to order enough volume to make up for the shipping.
Your personal note on the invoice is really appreciated!
Greetings from Japan,
a happy customer.
@longhairedboy, I would suggest KranK 87a Canons all around, running at least one flat washer up front and cups in the back of you Symmetrical Caliber 50 degree setup
@RipTideSports, If I were to send over a truck and base plate would you consider making a batch for them? I’m sure some others would be interested in this.
