We have long held the opinion that Channel trucks would benefit from using a single bushing in place of two. We first tried this several years ago with the large format Carveboard from the minds of Brad Gerlach and his father Joe and really loved the results of replacing 24 parts with 2. Unfortunately Carveboard has suspended production with Joe’s untimely death but we are attempting to help revive them.
We now set our sights on the MBS Metal Matrix II for this conversion and we tested the first ridable prototype of the setup today and we loved it so we will be seeking several additional testers to determine if what we have is worthy of becoming a thing. Thanks to @MBS for their continued support of the DIY scene.
A couple of things we have done is reverse the preload direction. In place of pushing the bushing towards the base plate, the conversion pushes the bushing towards the hanger. In addition, the conversion integrates a bushing retainer and an adjustable hard stop for hanger travel. If you want a strong center with two bushings you need to preload them more than you would like for actual riding. With the single bushing the center is naturally strong and the turn is more linear due to the indirect loading of the single bushing compared to the direct loading of dual bushings. No machining of the MBS Metal Matrix II is required to install the conversion, it is plug and play
@Venom121212 should be considered. He knows the riding properties of matrix quite well, he rips it on them from speed runs to his prowess in the game of D.I.R.T.
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This is cool. I want to point out the only downside I can think of. Some people who ride channels like to use different bushings on each side to even out the differences in toe/heel lean.
Also, now that I’m thinking bushings, have you guys over at riptide ever tried using stacks of different durometer bushings to tune in the rebound and softness at different levels of lean? It’s an idea I had a while back and forgot about. I don’t use a lot of barrels, or I’d chop some up and try it myself.
Multi-durometer bushings average the constituents so more work than they are worth.
Lean bias could possibly be achieved in this system by preloading one side more than the other but more than likely it will cause the board to lean when unweighted or be in a continuous turn toward your weak side. Might want to work on your technique to balance your Right / Left turning ability. I ride regular and have the heel of my left foot on the front edge of the board and the ball of my right foot on the edge of the board in the back.
I’m not a fan of channels anyways, just have heard about a lot of guys who rock split durometer. I ride goofy, rkp. I have noticed that my heelside turns are FAR stronger than my toe side, unless using a binding.
But preload probably does indeed cover the differences. Your krank formula is freaking magic, I rock orange cone/fatcone in almost every position on all my boards. One orange otang in the front, though, entirely because they are softer.
