Help with angled wedges on new SL

[Stuart Karow]

I am new to SL. I have an Insect Sidewinder. I'm mounting a pair of rts/rtx and I have problems. I'm using pan head bolts slightly larger than 2" When I use the 15 or 20 degrees of posiyive wedge (kihro angle wedge kit) on the front of the truck is then not lying flush on the nose end of the wedge. The bolts seem long enough, Someone has suggested that the holes need to be drilled bigger on the front truck. This is not an optio since they are not my trucks.I've tried both the 19.5 WB and 20.5WB set of holes on the board. The trucks mount flush without the wedges I might be missing something very obvious. Please help.

[Karl Floitgraf]

You might want to try going to a local skate shop and see if they have longboard mounting hardware. Sector 9 sells the stuff, it's okay but strips pretty easily.

[Tod Oles]

Stuart,

This is a common problem... Try getting all four bolts thru ALL the wedges and truck holes first. (this may require using longer bolts than necessary on the front holes)

Then try and tighten everything up from there. In some cases bending the front bolts
a bit to the nose of the board will help. just do that without marring the theads though...

Have fun.... cuz it gets worse with thicker baseplates like Randal DHs and Radikals

[Stuart Karow]

Stuart,

This is a common problem... Try getting all four bolts thru ALL the wedges and truck holes first. (this may require using longer bolts than necessary on the front holes)

Then try and tighten everything up from there. In some cases bending the front bolts
a bit to the nose of the board will help. just do that without marring the theads though...

Have fun.... cuz it gets worse with thicker baseplates like Randal DHs and Radikals

I a;ready have fair amount of exposed bolt on he front and I was thinking longer on the front truck's bak holes where I don't have much.. I'm glad you mentoned about bending the front bolts slightly bexause that's what I was thinking. More suggestons welcome. Thank you. Stuart

[Tod Oles]

Stuart,
Did eveything work out alright??

I've gone so far as to make the front mounting holes on the baseplates a little oblong with a small rat tail file.

[Stuart Karow]

Stuart,
Did eveything work out alright??

I've gone so far as to make the front mounting holes on the baseplates a little oblong with a small rat tail file.

Yes. Thank you very much. I was told to avoid modifying the holes at all cost and with that in mind and alot of wrestling with it the screws ended up bending ever so slightly and it fits. I appreciate you asking.

[John Gilmour]

Ooops too late..

Go to Home depot.

Buy 16 domed aluminum washers with neoprene backing. You'll find them in the plumbing or cabinetry section

Use flat head screws (yeah I know they strip but they won't if you do this... )

When the screw head sits on top of the dome they can pivot around very easily and still get full contact. Also the neoprene will deform a bit and isolate the truck from the board giving you a slightly smoother, grippier ride. Put a 2-3 flat neoprene washers in between the base plate and the dome washer (If you like they can also be dome washers that works well). when you tighten it down the neoprene will deform but the screw will stay straight. This will make changing trucks much easier during race time since your hardware will be straight.

If you ever tried to remove bent screws with a power drill during a race..you would know what I mean...you end up stripping a bolt and getting your truck stuck half tightened.



You also won't marr the base plates.

During a race...if you know you are going to stick with a particular type of truck that you are changing to...and you are rushed...well you can just toss the neoprene washers and replace the bent hardware after the race...but trying to unscrew bent screws that are too long during a race to modify something in practice at a race...been there...stripped that----had to break the screws------chipping my rare magnesium tracker hangers...hey..but that is racing...nothing else counts during the race- your expensive gear should become "worthless" during a race.

So do this and your gear will still look like new after a race and you won't have the power drill bit slip out when you hit the bent screw and put a gash through your cool looking grip tape job and the fiberglass finish of your board. hmmm... I think i hear people nodding.......


Using flat heads will help keep your front foot from sliding off the front when you are learning to pump faster. You'll know where your foot is without looking down.

It is really hard to get your stance dialed when you first start out. If you want to see what happenes if your foot slips off the front during hard pumping .........

well look at run 1 of Hester vs Tony Alva....

I loved the look of round head screws....but I prefer flatheads when learning