GUS 'fixes'
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:13 pm
Adam, only three things are 'wrong' with GUS trucks. The stock bushings are utter junk. Replace those with juicy, tall barrel-shaped bushings that're fairly soft. The baseplate puts the truck at a mellow geometery, so you can Wedge More, or use a Tracker RTS/Dart base and gain 7* of steering (I use Either a B-2 base [hybrid] or an Aggro [TS] with longer kingpins). The axles are under 5/16", so 8mm axles are a wise upgrade. I haven't seen any major stress on my GUS at the ball-pivot, but I would assume that could be a potential weak spot. Using a good lube such as Lithium Grease or spray Silicon, but NOT petrol-based lube should alleviate most turning caused overstress. Oh, don't ollie or curb-hop with a GUS, as that's ASKing for parts failure. As for wedging, I just kinda 'dial it in'. One thing to watch for though is wheel clearance! GUS trucks can turn absurdly deep, way beyond what other trucks will do, so wheel-rub with soft bushings can easily happen.
As for Radikals in G.S., they're very tunable. Just select the bushings that have enough hardness to keep you stable. An example of 'fine tuning' Rads would be Adam Schwippert's set-up in G.S.. To keep the pump 'tame' and not too lively, he runs Radikal bushings on the bottom, and a hard Khiro on top. The less lively, also smaller, Khiro has a dampening effect, and the Radikal now returns to center at a smoother rate, giving Schwippy time to squeeze a deeper pump with squirrelling out or wobbling. Up front, we've trimmed the lower Radikal bushing a tad in diameter, making it resist to tipping less, and sometimes use a soft Khiro conical up top to further loosen the steering. I've noticed that Radikals can be run quite loose without wobble issues (as compared with many other trucks) due to the ball-knuckle in the hanger. These trucks Turn without the Twist you can see in the GUS, but maybe not turn as deeply.
As for Radikals in G.S., they're very tunable. Just select the bushings that have enough hardness to keep you stable. An example of 'fine tuning' Rads would be Adam Schwippert's set-up in G.S.. To keep the pump 'tame' and not too lively, he runs Radikal bushings on the bottom, and a hard Khiro on top. The less lively, also smaller, Khiro has a dampening effect, and the Radikal now returns to center at a smoother rate, giving Schwippy time to squeeze a deeper pump with squirrelling out or wobbling. Up front, we've trimmed the lower Radikal bushing a tad in diameter, making it resist to tipping less, and sometimes use a soft Khiro conical up top to further loosen the steering. I've noticed that Radikals can be run quite loose without wobble issues (as compared with many other trucks) due to the ball-knuckle in the hanger. These trucks Turn without the Twist you can see in the GUS, but maybe not turn as deeply.