SKATER'S EDGE
the minds of
troubled skaters
Bob Denike
Every once in awhile I'll get a note in the
THRASHER mailbox from some skater out
there who has a real good question. They
come in all shapes and sizes, written on
anything you could possibly write on. Most
are illegible with pretty bad spelling, but the
bottom line is someone has a question, and
for some strange reason, they think I can
answer it. Most deal with skate mechanics,
kind of a "How do I solve..." type of thing.
So without further delay and as quickly as
possible, let's start at the bottom of the pile,
the worst of the letters, and see what goes
on in the minds of some troubled skaters.
The first is from a kid with a rattling board.
I assume he is the type you hear coming
down the street long before you actually
see him. Anyway, the answer to this mind-
boggling problem is simply: tighten all the
nuts and bolts on your deck. Now if it still
rattles a bit, 99% of the time it is originating
from the T-bolt hardware holding your slide
rails or tail guard on the deck. Tighten them
and put a drop of Loc-Tite or Super-Glue
on the thread. Amazing!
This next one is a problem as old as
skating itself. Sounds like it's from a kid.
who insists on cranking his trucks down so
tight that most of the time he is tipping up
onto two wheels when he cruises down the
street. The problem: His truck bushings are
squishing out from the sides of the bushing
cups. The answer: First, purchase harder
urethane bushings. Second, buy deeper
cup washers. Third, and read this carefully,
try a little trick I used to do when I worried
about stuff like this. Get some griptape and
cut out a little circle the same size as the
bushing. Grab a hole punch and put a hole
in the middle of the grip tape, like a
doughnut. Now stick this circle, removing
the paper backing, on the inside of the cup
washer. Do you follow me? Read that all
over again. Put your truck together and
now, with the urethane bushing against the
rough surface of the griptape, you'll have
no more slippage or squishing. Remember,
do this only if you actually worry about stuff
like this.
Here is a letter that I get all the time from
all those poor saps who go through bear-
ings like crazy. The problem: rusted and all
together dusted bearings. The answer, and
it works everytime: Stay out of water. Once
water hits them, they are gone. I don't have
the time, energy, or desire to actually ex-
plain how to overhaul a set of bearings.
Here's a good one. This schmuck is ask-
ing how to prevent his kingpin from getting
ground down when he does his daily require-
ment of grinds on his front curb. The best
way to deal with this, and you can only do
it with certain brands of trucks, is by doing
the following: First, look at your back truck
and visualize it assembled with your
kingpin (truck bolt) upside down. This is
what you want to do: Take the truck apart,
tap out the kingpin with a hammer, put the
truck back together with the kingpin upside
down and put the locknut in the hole that
once housed the hexnut end of the kingpin.
Now, carefully thread the kingpin in there
and you're done. Now, as you tighten your
trucks, the threaded end of the bolt will pro-
trude into the baseplate instead of hanging
below the axle where it gets ground. (Note:
you should have at least 4 hollow riser
pads under your trucks so the threads don't
dig into the deck itself.) The kingpin will
thread down into the baseplate and away
from being ground down. One catch, all
warranties are probably now null and void,
but who cares?
Here's on I can't believe. Someone ac-
tually wasted 22c to write a letter and ask
me how to solve this problem. This skater,
who probably has one of those boards that
never gets scratched or wasted looking,
says he tried to return his board to where
he bought it because the wheels rubbed
on the underside of his deck and ruined
his paint job. He was surprised when they
refused. Look pal, don't worry about stuff
like this and go have some fun. There is
nothing you can to to prevent wheel marks,
scratches, etc., your wheels are going to
rub occasionally, and your deck is bound
to get marked no matter how much protec-
tive plastic you screw on. His letter goes
on to ask where he can buy manufacturer's
touch-up paint for his board. Another solu-
tion: Quit skating.
Oh, here's a real life-threatener, a prob-
lem right up there with solving world hunger.
The question: "My trucks squeak when I
turn, what can I do about it?" The answer
is to do one of two things: don't worry about
it or put a couple of drops of oil on and
around the pivot cup.
Well, I can't take much more written
abuse so I think I'll end it right here. But
wait, I almost forgot the biggest pile of let-
ters, all asking that mind-boggling question:
"How do I prevent my board from break-
ing?" O.K., I give in, but I'm only going to
answer this once. The answer to the board
breaking problem is: When you ride, think
of your board as your leg stretched across
two chairs. Now, with this in mind, would
you expect someone to jump up in the air
and land on the middle of your leg with
above average force and have no damage
occur? How about off a park bench or the
edge of a wall? Just think of your
skateboard as your leg. Unfortunately.
they'll both break if you come down on them
wrong. Here's another idea: land with your
feet over the trucks (baseplate). Enough of
this. Keep the good questions coming, take
care and skate safe.
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