Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Longboard Trucks

Trucks are a crucial part of a longboard. They keep the deck attached to them and we can attach the wheels on them. So, basically they act like an engine for your longboard.

Trucks are mostly responsible for your longboards stability and turning capability. The perfect pair of trucks will make your longboarding experience smoother and more enjoyable. 

Now, choosing the best longboard trucks for you might need a bit of work. You need to have a sound knowledge about longboard trucks. That’ll save you from any unexpected incidents in the future.

It’s ok if you don’t know much about them. In this article, we are going to walk you through every feature you should focus on before buying them.

We are going to start with the introduction part and continue with the buying guide.

1. Familiarize Yourself with Trucks

Before buying a longboard truck, you have to know more about the trucks. A truck has many parts that makes it complete. You can either buy pre-assembled trucks or you can purchase the parts separately and assemble them.

The main components of a longboard truck are:

• Axle: It is the long pin that will attach the truck to the wheels. It goes through the hanger.
• Hanger: The hanger is the largest part of the truck. It has a triangular shape and is made of metal. It supports the axle.
• Kingpin: It is the big bolt that does the job of holding all the parts together. It fits itself inside the bushings.
• Bushings: The soft urethane rings that are placed around the kingpin is called the bushings. They help the board to pivot and turn smoothly.

2. Trucks Size Matters

Choosing the truck with perfect width is very crucial for your longboard. The width of the trucks is highly dependent on the width of your board deck. Try to choose the truck that has width as close as the deck width.

If you can find the exact width match that’s wonderful but if you don’t that is not a big problem. The reason why we insist on the equal size is that you will get the best outcome from that. 

Wider trucks are more stable but less responsive and narrower trucks are just the opposite. 

So, choosing the length of the truck will also depend on which riding style you are going to perform with them.

For downhill and freeride lovers, 10’’ or 180mm trucks will perform the best. But if you are interested in cruising, carving, or freestyle, then you should get 9’’ or 150mm trucks (with less than 9’’ wide deck).

3. Different Angles To Look For 

To make perfect turns with your longboard, you have to be careful about the baseplate angle. The baseplate is the rectangular shaped metal piece that attaches the deck to the truck by screwing. The baseplate angle is the angle of the kingpin respective to the baseplate.

50-degree baseplates are the most common angle for reverse kingpin trucks. Generally, this is a very high angle and it makes the trucks tall. With this angle, you will get a large amount of turn by putting minimum pressure on the side of the deck. This angle is perfect for cruising, carving, freestyle, etc.

Now for a competitive or experienced downhill rider, a baseplate with a 44 or 42-degree angle will provide the best outcome. It will turn much less than a 50-degree baseplate. That makes it more stable even at high speeds.

There’s another setup called Split Angle setups. In this setup, riders use a high angle baseplate on the front truck and low angle baseplate on the back. That makes the board more responsive on the front side and stable in the back. They use this setup for downhill riding.

4. Choosing The Perfect Kingpin

In which direction your trucks kingpin is going to face is another crucial decision to make. Mainly there are two kingpin truck options available in the market: Standard Kingpin Trucks and Reverse Kingpin Trucks.

• Standard Kingpin Trucks: 

This one is a versatile looking truck option for you. This one is suitable for those who like to cruise around town. 

These trucks are mostly used for skateboarding in the park or the street. You can also use them for smaller cruiser longboards because they offer a low ride height. They also come in smaller sizes.

• Reverse Kingpin Trucks: 

This type of truck is very popular among long-boarders. They love it because of its lively performance and responsive nature at slow speeds. Plus, it offers more control and stability when you’ll go at higher speeds. 

They have a higher height than Standard Kingpin Trucks. It creates a smaller wheelbase so smaller cruiser boards with kicktails aren’t compatible with it. 

You should go for this truck if you got a deck with a 20’’ or more wheelbase. It will perform great for freestyle, downhill or freeride boarder’s.

Wrapping Up

There are many more minor features, but we think what we mentioned are enough for you to choose the best trucks. 

Still, if you are very much interested to know more, then you can research about Truck Bushing Seats, Dual Pivot Trucks, Flipping the hangers, Precision Trucks, etc.

Buying the perfect Trucks for your longboard mostly depends on your board and your riding style. We guess you already know about your board, so now you just have to decide what’s your riding style is going to be. You figure that out and it will make the Trucks buying process super easy for you. 

Hope it was helpful. Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions.