Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2003 4:50 pm
Sorry if some of you saw this on NCDSA, but not everyone here comments there.
QUESTION ABOUT BUSHINGS:
I have been playing with bushings on my trucks lately. I am trying to find a comfortable level of "turniness" for myself. Well, my most comfortable setup so far is this (keep in mind I said comfortable, this does not mean BEST since I am too inexperienced to know what best means just yet...): I replaced my RTS and RTX kingpins with slightly longer ones. Please forgive my lack of technical vocab as this post goes on. Anyway, I am using a medium Stimulator with rim cut off on the top (if top is the bushing closest to the deck when truck is mounted) and a hard cut down Stimulator on the bottom (if bottom is the bushing furthest from the deck when trck is mounted). They extra chunkiness of the Stimulators is why I put in longer king pins.
Now, my question: I have noticed that when the trucks pivot the part of the hanger through which the king pin passes lifts slightly from the bushings, leaving a bit of empty space until I initiate the next turn--or as I am learning, until I weight to the opposite edge--and the hanger then lifts from the bushing on the opposite end. Do I want my bushings to be doing this, or are the tops and bottoms of each bushing meant to always be in full contact with the hanger? Does this circumstance have anything to do with performance, or is this simply a non-factor?
Sorry for the lengthy description, but I am just trying to get to know my tools better. The more I can know that what I am riding is working properly, the easier it is to just let it go, not worry about, and focus on my technique and build my general skills. One of my goals this season: to spend less time tinckering with my tools (board, trucks, etc.) and more time getting in runs. For that to happen, my sometimes OCD mind needs to just know that everything else is ok.
QUESTION ABOUT BUSHINGS:
I have been playing with bushings on my trucks lately. I am trying to find a comfortable level of "turniness" for myself. Well, my most comfortable setup so far is this (keep in mind I said comfortable, this does not mean BEST since I am too inexperienced to know what best means just yet...): I replaced my RTS and RTX kingpins with slightly longer ones. Please forgive my lack of technical vocab as this post goes on. Anyway, I am using a medium Stimulator with rim cut off on the top (if top is the bushing closest to the deck when truck is mounted) and a hard cut down Stimulator on the bottom (if bottom is the bushing furthest from the deck when trck is mounted). They extra chunkiness of the Stimulators is why I put in longer king pins.
Now, my question: I have noticed that when the trucks pivot the part of the hanger through which the king pin passes lifts slightly from the bushings, leaving a bit of empty space until I initiate the next turn--or as I am learning, until I weight to the opposite edge--and the hanger then lifts from the bushing on the opposite end. Do I want my bushings to be doing this, or are the tops and bottoms of each bushing meant to always be in full contact with the hanger? Does this circumstance have anything to do with performance, or is this simply a non-factor?
Sorry for the lengthy description, but I am just trying to get to know my tools better. The more I can know that what I am riding is working properly, the easier it is to just let it go, not worry about, and focus on my technique and build my general skills. One of my goals this season: to spend less time tinckering with my tools (board, trucks, etc.) and more time getting in runs. For that to happen, my sometimes OCD mind needs to just know that everything else is ok.