08/08/22 Update: I have received confirmation from Waterborne that I was correct in what ultimately caused the failure. The adapter I originally received was always defective and never performed as it was supposed to. It was always hard to turn it even when on my board and leaning heavily, and the inability for the adapter to turn itself anytime I hit any small bumps is what allowed stress to build up on it until it finally snapped out of nowhere.
If you have an adapter and are worried about the same failure happening, then just check to see if you can easily turn the adapter with just one hand. So long as it moves freely and you make sure to maintain the bearings inside of it then you’ll be safe. The company also seems to be taking this incident seriously and working to make sure it won’t happen again.
All that being said, knowing just how much abuse this part can take when it isn’t able to properly dissipate the extra force on it just goes to show how strong it really is.
Original content:
I was just on my way to my local hobby shop when out of nowhere my surf adapter snapped in half sending me flying.
I have never previously seen any visible damage to it that would indicate any sort of damage was done to it, and haven’t done anything that would have weakened the part.
From what I can tell, this was likely an unexpected product failure, but to be safe I wanted to post about it here so anyone else using one can check theirs over for potential damage before they continue using it.
I didn’t take any photos immediately after the fall, but the sidewalk didn’t even have any significant bumps when it failed. It was just paved normally in the area. They advertise the part as being usable for eskate too. While I don’t know my exact speed, I do know it was uphill and an area I always go slower at due to questionable sidewalk planning on that road. So I was going 15mph at most when it happened, and I always slow down for any significant bumps since it is painful to go over them at a higher speed anyway.
The resulting injuries from the fall
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Before cleaning it up. This is probably the first fall I’ve had that left a significant amount of blood at the fall location due to loosing two chunks of skin during it.
After cleaning it up but from the side
This type of burn + gash is honestly one of the more annoying types as they can’t be sewn up to heal faster and it takes forever to fully heal. You can see a scar from a similar wound to the top right of the small gash. It took over a year for that scar tissue to be almost on the same level as the surrounding skin
RIP my nice belt. My pants took some damage and so did my shirt but no holes thankfully
The most minor area as the fall was taken almost entirely by my right elbow
I will be directly contacting the company as they do offer a lifetime warranty, but I just wanted to post here for the safety of everyone else. The area that snapped would require you to remove the truck to get a good view of it and so any damage may go unseen until it is too late. If I didn’t have the muscle memory of always catching my falls on my elbows and knees first then this fall could have easily resulted in a broken bone.
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Thanks for sharing. Username checks out 
Edit: …and glad you’re ok! 
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That wasn’t even planned lol. Although I’m glad it didn’t apply to the random couple who saw me fall and pulled over to see if I was okay. They saved me from having to wait for an uber in 101 f heat and from having to use my shirt to stop the bleeding.
I’m honestly super glad that my right elbow took the fall though as my left knee is still a bit messed up from my fall 2 months ago. It is fine for normal use but the BCL or ACL and the cushion thing between the bones has not fully healed yet.
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Oooof that’s hectic. Hope you heal well dude
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first i am happy you okay and also happy its was at 15mph , if the truck is made of magnesium mixed with aluminium it will crack for sure , if it made of quality aircraft aluminium it will resist to torsion and vibration , just my 2 cents …
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after checking the pictures I can tell you the material is porous indicate me is low grade aluminium mix ,
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I have over 1500 miles on that adapter with no issues up until now. their site implies that it is well made with strong materials as well but I’ll have to wait and see how they reply to know for sure.
as of right now, I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. just the fact that they offer lifetime warranties tells you how confident they are in the product.
If given ample evidence that shows it isn’t well made Then I won’t hesitate to go against them though.
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ok great but i hope you wear helmet, body armor . gloves and knees pads so next time if you crash it can save your life
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I wear only the helmet and gloves are only for 60 degree and below weather. other pads aren’t made in my sizes or are uncomfortable enough to bother me so I won’t use them.
The damage caused by not wearing pads isn’t life threatening, and I have fully accepted the burns I risk getting my falling on my elbows and knees without them. I do always suggest that other people should use them though. I’m just well versed in first aid and the pain caused by the burns doesn’t bother me much.
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ouch… Hope you get well soon
If you don’t mind me asking, approximately how much do you weigh
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lol you sound like me when i was 16 year old i am 3x old now and and fews motorcycle crash later l got migraines since 2006 so be careful
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I think like 130 give or take 5 pounds. It does fluctuate a bit. The board is around 20 pounds on its own.
Jokes on me, I have already had migraines for the last 10 years and I’m currently 24 now. Also have a ton of health issues to the point I’m disabled and it is normal for me to be in some sort of pain daily.
Luckily none of them significantly impact my ability to skate and they just cause inconveniences when on my board. A while back my physical therapist even approved of eskate but didn’t want me on a manual board for any long period of time. She did not approve of me falling though 
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This is the first time I’ve seen waterborne break like that, especially on low speed & low load (130lbs is literally the weight of a leaf when it comes to people who ride esk8).
Personally I never felt the need to get one of those, good bushings solves your problems 99% of the time whether you want stability or agility
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That’s why I’m currently thinking this was some one off product issue. Plus with the amount of use I have with it with absolutely no issues before now it feels like it might have always been damaged but the load on it was so low that it just now failed on me.
I just like them because it gives me more turning ability without needing super soft bushings that may (or may not) end up decreasing my high speed control. Plus I love the extra height that gives me the ability to jump up before hitting bumps to make it less uncomfortable on my knees. Trying the same thing on just a flat deck + trucks didn’t work/feel the same.
at 215 and 5"6 its not option for me to fly out the board 
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Oh shiz I only use these on a push board but thought about electrifying one day. Wonder if that extender put more load right on that failure point.
Just out of curiosity, what’s the rest of the build look like?
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Wow. 130lbs is light. The break had a grainy kind of appearance. Fatigue? I was seriously thinking about making a build around the Waterborne system. I have never heard of Waterborne adapters failing. Thanks for sharing and glad you are not too banged up.
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It would really help if someone with metal experience like @Savage1 could chime in. I would like to hear his thoughts.
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From what I can see by the pictures on my phone, those look to be made from castings, as the material looks to be porous. So that is not great. Their website states that they are made from aircraft grade aluminum🤔. There are aircraft grade castings, like A356 but still not as strong as 7075 or even 6061T-6
This statement in itself is inaccurate. Magnesium is actually added to 6xxx & 7xxx series aluminum for added strength. 7075 actually has more than twice the Mg than does 6061. That said, the addition of zinc to 7075 is what aids in its great strength. (A356 castings actually have less Mg than 6061).
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This is the kind of part you DONT want to have cast
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