My bushings wont go on, there just isnt enough room!

The fix? Put them in warm water, and put them on a stove. When the water is boiling, wait about 2 minutes and remove them. Instantly put them on the kingpin WITHOUT THE TRUCK and tighten them quite tight. Wait for them to cool down to room temperature and they should go on no problem!


The bushings are coming out of the cap!

The fix? Well there are 3 types of bushings. Soft, Medium and Hard.

If your bushings are soft, then they are designed to be put on loose trucks. Because they are soft, they allow for sharper turning. If these are popping out of the bottom cap, then you probably have them on to tight, plus with yoru weight your forcing them to squish too much. The looser they are, the more 'squish' room you give them.

Medium bushings are not too soft, not too hard, designed for medium trucks (ironic isnt it?). The fix is the same as the soft ones. You probably have them on to tight. Too loose wont matter much here.

Hard bushings are the most annoying to put on. They dont squish at all, which means you DEFINATELY need to boil and compress them. These squish out because you dont have them on tight enough! Its weird, I know, but if you have them on tight, you wont be able to squish them out anymore! So just grab your skate tool/socket/wrench and tighten away!


My bushings popped out and now they are deformed!

The fix is simple, just put all your weight onto them while rolling them around and they should regain their shape. Should this fail to happen the first time, simply keep on doing it (or geta heavier person!)


My trucks are all up the left! (Lop sided)

Remove the trucks, and dissasembe them, then put the truck back together, swivelling the bushings, so they aren't lop-sided.

If that fails, use the method below.

This has only been tested on hard bushings therefore I cannot garuntee it will work for all of you.
First, your going to want to grab a spirit level (the little things with bubbles in them that show how flat (or not) things are). Put your skateboard on a perfectly flat surface.
Then, grab the level and put in on both wheels.

Find which trucks are screwed up and how much they need to be adjusted. Adjust the trucks using your hands and pushing down on whichever wheel will make them straighter. Once you think you have them level, use the level to check or put your board on the ground to see if it wobbles. If not, tighten your trucks to the point where they cant go any tighter without unevening them again. Put your board somewheres and then simply put weights on them to flatten out the bushings in an even manner.

The next day, grab your board and tighten them again to the max (they should still be straight). Go otuside and ride, and when you come in, chances are the wont be straight.
Simply repeat the level part and tighten them as tight as they’ll go. I doubt you’ll need to tighten more than twice, but if needed, go for it!

(Remember that the tighter your trucks are the easier your kingpin will snap!)


I need to grip my deck!

You’ll need:

Griptape,
An exacto/stanley knife/razorblade,
A file,
*A hairdryer can be used*

Also whatever you need to take off your trucks if reapplying.

When reapplying, the only thing different you need to do is remove the trucks and the griptape. Removing your trucks is simple, so I wont explain.

Removing griptape, well that’s still pretty easy. Take your hairdryed and heat up the bottom of the griptape to make it sticky. Just peel it off. If you don’t wanna use your hairdryer, just use your knife to pry it off.

DO NOT USE A HEAT GUN, IT WILL WEAKEN THE GLUE HOLDING THE PLYS TOGETHER

This next part if the same for reapplying and applying.

Scrape off some of the laquer (laminate) from the top of the deck. (This helps the griptape stick better)
Peel off the back of your griptape & put it on the board as evenly as possible so as to avoid bubbles.
Use the paper to smooth it on, smoothing it from the middle out.

Once it is on, use your file to flatten the edges all around the board. Then, use your knife to cut off the excess griptape. Be sure to puncture any air bubbles you do find and flatten them after, and also make sure to poke holes for your trucks.

Make sure to sand around the edges, when you are done, so the griptape won't peel off as easily.

You might not have the perfectly gripped board you wanted the first time around. Ah well...

My bearings are filthy dirty!

This one is short and sweet. Simply make a mixture of dish detergent and water and put it in a glass or bowl, whatever you want. Put your bearings in and mix them around, but don’t leave them in too long.
Stir them around to help clean faster and possibly more efficiently.

Take them out and dry them off immediately to prevent rusted bearings. This should remove dirt and other buildup in your bearings.

If that doesn't work then take out your bearings again, find the problematic one(s) then turn on a desktop fan.

Wipe any grease/dirt off the bearing before and after doing this.

There should be a bit in the centre you can hold your bearing against, then hold it against it as it spins, If the bearing refuses to spin, then add more pressure, until it starts spinning freely.
Hold it there for about a minute, & then see if you can spin it with your fingers, If not, then your bearing is unfixable.

If your bearings are rusted, there isnt anything you can do. You can buy rust remover, but I cant guarantee it will work the best.


"My kingpin snapped & it's stuck!"

This is possibly the most pain in the arse thing skaters have to do.
First, remove and completely dissassemble the truck. Then put the baseplate into a bowl of freshly boiled water. (Mind your fingers!)

Wait a good 60 seconds then carefully remove it, take the snapped off part of the kingpin, put it right above the broken bit, and beat the **** out of it with a hammer.

You'll need to perservere, this is perhaps the most pain-in-the-arse thing you'll ever have to do, but it'll save your baseplate.

Don't worry about the baseplate becoming rusty, it'll dry off super quick 'cause the water's hot.


"My deck's all chipped, so I can't do grabs!/I have really bad razortail!"

If you have acess to a power sander, I recommend you use it, otherwise, find someone who does and beg...

If you have lots of time (10 mins) you gan just use standard sandpaper/unused griptape, but I highly reccomend the power sander.

Use the power sander primarily on the nose/tail.
(IMPORTANT) To maintain a normal board shape, sand around the nose/tail in a crescent motion, and also keep the deck relatively steady.

DON'T OVERDO IT!


I cant' get my wheels off!

They make tools for this called wheel pullers. You can find them at nearly ANY hardware store. The wheels may need a flat surface for the hooks on the puller to catch, but use a puller if you can.

Put anti seize on the shafts before you put your wheels back on.

ALTERNATIVELY.

If you have a grindstone (Spinning wheel made of stone, works like super sandpaper) then us it to smoothen off the bit of thread that's wrecked.

If you want to grind an akle, grind it with a nut on it.
That way the nut will recut any threads as you screw it off.,

Better ideas are... Wire brushes are for cleaning threads. use a tap and die (the die part) to recut threads if they are flattened or cross threaded, or simply use an axle re-threader, which you can pick up at many skateshops

try not to grind the shaft with the nut off, unless you want to save your nut! (Which will probably be unthreaded anyway...)

If this doesn't work, or you don't have acess to a grindstone, then youll need some super heavy duty plyers.

Take the truck (Perferably still on the deck) and put the plyers, to the inside side of the wheel, then hit it really hard with a hammer, do this until the wheel comes off.

(There is a slim chance that you may damage your outermost bearing &/or bend the axle)



Hope this was of help to many fellow skaters.