Hanger/Axel Width?

[SeanML]

for the record:

you're just wrong

I love your argument strategy. Call it leverage, call it what you want, but based on the accepted meaning of leverage as a scientific term, it's pretty misleading in this case. Yeah, leverage comes into play, but not in the way most people think ("narrower trucks turn more cuz you have more leverage on your bushings").

Simply.....ride a setup with Randal 180s.
Then swap the 180s for 150s
Then you tell us.

Truth. I want to make it very clear that I fully accept the differences between wide and narrow trucks... that point has led to some strife in the past.

Without physics:

Wider hangers/axles makes for slower response time (which many translate to increased stability.)

Narrower hangers are often thought to be squirrelly to riders.

Wider hangers also add a component of driftiness to the ride. Narrower hangers will grip more.

Also truth, and thank you for putting this in layman's terms. With regards to the last part, I think it's a matter of the angles between the center of mass and the outer wheels' contact with the ground. Same reason why lower riding platforms tend to drift more. As that angle increases (closer to vertical line between those points), the centripetal force on the board is more rotational (rather than lateral,) and vice-versa. More lateral force = more drift.

If the above is somewhat correct, maybe this is why you tend to see more square-profile wheels on topmounts as compared to lower decks... really making use of that rotational force in deforming the outer lip, adding to grip. (that last part could be complete BS, I don't have enough personal experience in racing to give a truly informed theory)

EDIT: kraffft beat me to it

[Chainmaillekid]

Wider hangers also add a component of driftiness to the ride. Narrower hangers will grip more.

I've never seen this explained.

[JamieReis]

I've never seen this explained.

I've always kind of had the idea in my head that there is a very small amount of flex in the truck/axle or whole setup, and the narrow the truck, the less the flex. Wide hangers like long decks will hang more flex when pressure is applied to the middle of either of them. That said, it's kind of like having bent axles on both sides. I'm not sure if that's true, or if it is just the fact that weight is placed further from the wheels, or what, but it seems to be the case in my experience.