ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

I'm looking for a bit of Seismic history.

When were the German-made seismics discontinued? What widths did they come in? What spring colors/stiffnesses were available then?

Apart from the internally-threaded axle, what other differences were there between the German-made seismics and the later composite models?

Hi Eric,

It's funny that I'm answering your questions on this website, since we both live in the same town!

To begin with, the last time Seismic trucks were manufactured in Germany was 1994. They came in 110mm, 135mm, 146mm and 157mm widths.

Springs were available in silver Extra-Light, red Light, gold Medium, and black Heavy strengths. Red Light springs were standard in all widths except for the 110mm, which came with the silver Extra-Light springs.

Ah, those were days of extremely naive, dreamy idealism!

The composite trucks in Asia were actually made using the original German dies, so the differences were few and subtle. Over time at the Asian factory, we made many refinements and adjustments, and ultimately we even sourced some of the components from the original German suppliers.

In the end, the main differences were:

- widths (110mm, 135mm and 157mm - we got rid of the 146mm width)

- subtle contouring differences on the ends of the 110mm and 135mm hangers, and on the bottom of the baseplates (due to die adjustments)

- different color scheme for the springs - yellow Extra-Light, green Medium, purple Heavy (Of course, with the aluminum trucks we expanded the number of spring strengths to eight.)

- kingpins with shoulders recessed inside the baseplate (for greater strength)

- secondary fastening clips used on the tips of the kingpins

I think that covers most of it. Thanks for your interest in this old history!

Thanks Dan!