Variflex Trucks?????

**denis6902** · 03-19-2007 05:17 PM

Hey guys, just want some comments and some help with these;

variflex skateboard/longboard trucks with 9.00" Aluminium hangers/metal base plates

Has anyone seen these before?

**bucksaw87** · 03-19-2007 05:19 PM

isn't variflex a really low-quality, dept. store brand? i think my skateboard back at home is a variflex...got it for like $20 like eleven years ago

**denis6902** · 03-19-2007 05:38 PM

they look weird, and 9in ...i think the guy is measuring from end of axle to the other end!

**Rustyfriend** · 03-19-2007 05:47 PM

i hear those "Variflex Cloud" bushings on those trucks go for some decent dough on ebay.

i have 2 of them that i found at the dump

**HerBDerb** · 03-19-2007 05:52 PM

Oh, when I read the title, I thought it meant the reverse kingpin Variflex trucks.

**mc99david** · 03-19-2007 05:55 PM

i had thos exact trucks on my board when i was 10 and loved them back then, but i also didnt know any different and its been so long i dont know if i can realy say if they were good or bad

**msk** · 03-19-2007 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by bucksaw87

isn't variflex a really low-quality, dept. store brand? i think my skateboard back at home is a variflex...got it for like $20 like eleven years ago

They are now, but back in the late 70s/early 80s, they were one of the top brands. Lance Mountain, George Orton, Steve and Mike Hirsch, Al Losi, Eddie Elguera, and Eric Grisham all rode for Variflex.

And those Variflex Clouds were the first good aftermarket bushings, the first made of urethane that I can recall...

**denis6902** · 03-20-2007 05:20 AM

excellent msk, props man....raising some good points there, its nice to have to historic background too.

**EBasil** · 03-20-2007 07:39 AM

The bushings were the best, when they came out. As MSK observed, they were either the first urethane bushings or the first aftermarket urethane. They were released well before Variflex had trucks of their own, when it was still a couple of dudes in a Chatsworth warehouse. Within a few months of the Clouds, the market began to shift over to urethane...even Grentec.

**Rustyfriend** · 03-20-2007 12:50 PM

i should get out my clouds and try them on a slalom ride

**EBasil** · 03-20-2007 01:03 PM

Rusty, you may find they break down. Mine are now floating in our giant bag of bushings because they started coming apart.

**Mig** · 03-20-2007 01:36 PM

I think I still have 6 or 8 red Cloud barrels. Some of them are probably unused. Does someones know the duro of the red ones?

I also have a couple of red Snap bushings on the rear MidTracks of my Sims Lonnie Toft 8-wheeler. Can't remember the duro either or where I got them...

**denis6902** · 03-20-2007 04:09 PM

what was used before urethane bushings? just solid rock hard plastic?

How about sponge? LOL!

**EBasil** · 03-20-2007 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by denis6902

what was used before urethane bushings?...

Rubber was.

CL · 08-07-2007 10:50 PM

I got an old ass variflex that i found in a buddies attic, i ripped the piece of sh*t trucks off, threw some indys 169s on the deck, drilled for newschool bolt pattern, and slapped some 58mm 80a wheels on it, its a bitchin ride now. Surprisingly the deck is still rock solid after all these years, and its a killer pool board. Mine had those cloud bushings some of you speak of, they were severely cracked and spread every which direction, i chucked em, i wouldnt pay a dollar for em, i'd rather get some new quality bushings.