I’ve been dicking around with designs for suspension systems for skateboards for years and never
really finding anything worth building. I have seen alot of good designs in recent years, many on here,
but most are big and heavy, on an already heavy beast. I’ve tried to come up with something much
lighter. Not so much an off roader but a street board, some thing you can take on a bus or train and
commute on. I’ve been dreaming about this kind of thing since the 80’s!
Back to year 2000 or so, there was a lot of hype about Hydrogen fuel cells, Aprillia even had a working
scooter. And I was thinking about using that as a power source for my emerging skate design.
O.k. so it looks laughable now, but at the time I thought I was on to something.
Well as you can guess, this was never built. So nearly twenty years had passed and I still havn’t
built one but recently I went a different way with the design and I wanted to show you guys to see
what you think of it. The main focus was to use leaf springs instead of coils. as a way to make a
compact, durable unit. While researching advances in the tech, I was surprised to find lots of other
interesting designs, some composite, some titanium. For this on I’ve based the spring on Ti grade 5.
For the quantity required the cost shouldn’t be that bad(wild speculation). Also there has been no
FEA testing, this is eyeball engineering at it’s best/worst, you decide.
I’ve got a bit of a thing for hub motors, I know not for everyone but for this they are
clean, quiet and reliable(Hobbywing at least). As to the electrics inside, it’s just me
dicking around, nothing has been decided. Really though the trucks are the focus here.
The exploded view is of the rear with rose joints to act as an adjustable rake angle.
The front is set at 27 degrees, very close to Bioboards 27.5. Again, I just guessing.
So you want suspension for a smoother ride, but you also like hub motors? Hub motors are the exact opposite of smooth when it comes to anything that isn’t perfectly paved. I’m still on hub motors so I’m not bashing them
That aside, if you have that much height by default then you might as well take advantage of the extra space on the underside of the board to store the esc and battery pack. The suspension system already adds some complications to building the board and there is no reason to add to that by storing the esc and battery inside the deck, or at least not for the initial build.
If you ever make the suspension system a real thing and need some people to test it then I’d be willing to. Unlike many other people on here, I like tall boards already and I’m 100% comfortable with extra height. I know you are no where near that point but just wanted to throw the idea out there if you ever do
For a commuter board friendly to trains and buses, you probably want a handle under the nose though, positioned such that when you grab it, the weight is balanced and it hangs straight down. With the battery in the deck, that wouldn’t balance, you’d need it on the bottom like @ApproachCautiously mentioned.
I think it could work but it would make the board not beginner friendly and a bit harder to balance since you’d be raising your center of gravity more than if it was bellow the deck. My comment was more about not wasting the space that is available and also not making it more complicated than it needs to be.
Still a good thing to point out as a possible issue to keep in mind
Your CAD skills are exceptional! And the ideas presented are really unique. I don’t know enough about mechanical stuff to comment on the suspension, but maybe @Tony_Stark might have some input.
I don’t think its a board I would enjoy riding because of the small deck and high ride height. With the deck so high above the pivot axis of the trucks it may feel quite weird to turn, and the suspension appears to have a lot of travel which will make the handling not that predictable because you’ll have a partial steering delay as the suspension loads up in a turn, and then unloads coming out of a turn.
I have learned a lot with suspension on skateboards but I hold most of it close to my chest for now.
Is there any damping in the suspension or just leaf springs? Damping will be very crucial to make that board feel predictable
I would like to add, have you checked the stress and deflection in the suspension linkage under the torsion and lateral loads that will occur during a turn? That may degrade handling beyond what the ‘idealized’ scenario that Tony outlines above. Those parallel link arms smell kinda spindly to me, but I’d like to be wrong about that.
Hi Peeps, thanks for you’re comments, it’s good to read them.
The ride hight seems the biggest concern, leading to unstabiltiy. I’m thinking the same, but This seems
like one on those issues that your only going to find out after a sketchy first ride. I suspect it wouldn’t be
that much of a trouble under 20 mph, but a short high board is bound to get wobbly at some point.
About the battery being under the deck, I like the thought that it woud add to stability but I’m going
for a bit stealth. It’s still illegal to ride these in most of Europe, so it’s just to help you stay under the radar.
b264, the tail saver is also a grab handle.
Tony, do you think raising the pivot point, closer to the deck would help?
As to damping, there are soft rubber dampers above the leaf spring, not very well shown, and another
one where the end of the spring where it connects to the bolt running through it. Not exactly oil damping, but better than non. I have actually rigged up an oil damping system, but I pulled the plug as
it was getting way too over complicated. However, it is still an option.
Flyboy, no stress testing so far. I’m kind of with you on the linkages, a bit more meat wouldn’t hurt.
Also the pivot on the axel hanger looks a bit of a weak point.
Glad you like the CAD, it’s taken me forever to get this far, but very much still learning.
If you’re stuck on some odd shape you’re trying to build, let me know I maybe able to create a file.
My one comment is that I would predict that in real life the small wheel size is going to be more of a disadvantage than the suspension will be able to compensate for. I would opt for bigger wheels in the same overall size footprint.
That being said, I’ve never ridden a hunter board, which uses small wheels and suspension, so maybe I’m totally wrong
One significant issue that I have experienced with extra height is if you can’t ride the tall board for a while and end up ridding something shorter for a while it can cause you to make mistakes when stepping down from the tall board. A few days after getting a new battery for my board I had stepped off while waiting at a light and accidentally rolled my ankle
That is not a real barrier to use and is just something you’d need to constantly think about until you got used to stepping off. You’d also want to practice bailing off at low speeds several times on different surfaces and days to make sure you have the muscle memory to catch yourself properly in a fall.
I’d say to just worry about making the suspension work properly first and don’t worry about the height too much, but also keep in mind I like extra height on my boards so I’m biased towards it
But when you kick it up, that’s the part that stays on the street.
The handle is much more ergonomical on the front end. Also, the handle being in front of the front wheels keeps almost all the debris and water and nasty black brake dust off it. So when you grab it, your hand is clean and dry.
High ride height can cause instability, but it’s absolutely dwarfed by the instability that most other things can cause, like trucks or suspension or wheel issues. Or truck baseplates wiggling on the deck. Or low rider skill.
If you make compromises elsewhere to try to get the lowest ride possible, you may not be doing yourself any favours, because those compromises can definitely be worse than the added ride height.
Love the design, however going stealth but adding 4 hub motors, a lightstrip on the side and big ass suspension seems a bit contradicting. Maybe the word “sleek” Is better.
Hi Plurf, I’m not .so keen about the high pressure Hydrogen cylinders though Kaboom!
Hi rusins, how much bigger would you go? The Hunter is the closest thing out there and the
reviews seem pretty good regarding the handling/carving. I havn’t riden one either, I would love
to try it.
ApproachCautiously, I think you would get used to it to a degree, but like you said it’s jumping
from one to the other would feel sketchy. I get it with motor bikes, ride a sports bike then ride a supermoto and it feels so different the way it handles.
Flyboy, great idea, I hadn’t thought of linking them. It would stiffen that lateral flex alot.
b264, the trouble with the handle at the front is the rear would drag, unless you’re very short.
I went with the rear mainly because of the short overhang on the front. That being said, I agree with
what you said as to convenience and keeping it clean. The other reason for the rear is it combines
three parts, grab handle/tail saver/brake light in one moulding.
Bavioze, Ahhh shit! I may have over looked the zillon LED’s. I like sleek though.
I had a tinker with the parallel linkage and ended up linking them as Flyboy suggested. They are also
much thicker, from 5mm up to 9mm and no pockets/cutouts for weight saving. The part they connect to is
also wider and thicker. I kept half of the rose joint set up at the rear to maintain adjustability.
Tough enough??
For sure, I have already long since gotten used to the height again. It was really only on the first day or two of having a working battery when it was an issue. First the ankle problem which would have fractured anyone else’s ankle hyper extension is useful sometimes and then the second was when I tripped over one of my back wheels when walking next to the board. Luckily no one saw me fall of my ass for that one
I am not sure if the height was responsible for me tripping on it though
Also I think I already mentioned that the extra height when bailing off is something you can practice for ahead of time to limit any possible knee damage.
Hub motors are the exact opposite of smooth when it comes to anything that isn’t perfectly paved. 
I’m still on hub motors so I’m not bashing them
Kaboom!
