*NEW* Official Guide To Riding Indys For Downhill

[upsetter]

How to run Indy’s for Downhill Skateboarding.

Welcome to my tutorial on how to run Independent Skateboard Trucks for Downhill Skateboarding. First and foremost I would like to say that this tutorial in no way is intended to convert people to ride Indy’s. This is simply a guide to my methods and other pro rider’s methods to riding Indy’s and hopefully give some insight to those interested in riding Indy’s for Downhill. So let’s get to it.

One would ask “Why Indy’s for Downhill? Whats the benefit? Why go through the trouble of making a truck work when there are plenty of other trucks that are stable right out of the box?” Well what may shock some people is the fact that Indy’s were originally designed as a Slalom and Downhill Skateboarding truck. In fact the first “Production Run” of Indy’s were 10 sets of off-set’s. I personally ride Indy’s for three reasons:

The first being how low they are. My top mount set up with Indy’s and big zigs is just as low as a Drop though with Randal DH’s and big zigs. And for another comparison my drop-thru with Indy’s and 83mm Cherry Bomb’s is lower than an Evo set-up with 83mm flywheels and Randal DH’s.

The second is the axle placement. On a Randal style truck the axle placement is behind the bushings and king pin. On an Indy it’s placed in front of the bushings and king pin. There is roughly a ¾ inch difference, give or take. What does this mean? A board set up with Indy’s offers more axle to axle wheelbase then the same board with a Randal style truck.

The Third being the Turning. I skate everything. Street, Pools, Bowls, Slalom….. If its got a hard surface im gonna try to skate it. So its kind of a good feeling knowing no matter what im skating, im gonna get the same feeling when I lean and start to turn.

So now that I have addressed why I personally ride Indy’s for downhill, It’s time to address the stability issue and the different methods of setting up Indy’s for Downhill.

Everyone knows that the key to a good Downhill truck is stability. To achieve stability with any truck regardless of the make, the king pin angle is almost in all cases is reduced. With out getting into degrees or numbers an easy way to translate this is the more vertical the king pin (strait up and down), the more stable. To achieve this we use a process called “De-Wedging”. This is a standard application in Slalom for the rear truck to prevent washing out. Anyways, Indy’s on there own turn like a mother and when taken up to speed can offer a mighty mean wobble. By De-Wedging and reducing the kingpin angle the truck becomes more stable. The more vertical the kingpin, The more stable.

Notice how the kingpin is nearly strait up and down.


The easiest way to De-Wedge a Truck is to use hard wedge risers. The ones you want to use are the ones that have the most angle (see picture). Other options are cut up risers (my method on top mounts), Bearing Spacers (my method for drop-thru’s), Hard Bushings, Wood or anything else one could think of…as long as you reduce that kingpin angle.

This is the kind of wedge riser you want to use. Stay away from wedge risers with less of an angle.


This is a good combination. The combo feels similar to a randal DH in terms of stability.


This combo is what I run on my top mount. I cut off the thin part of the wedge riser and place it on top of a hard 1/8 inch riser for bolth front and back. by doing this I get another 1/8 inch lower than just using a wedge riser by its self.


Here I use Bearing spacers for my drop thru


This combonation I ran at Paskapoo and Maryhill last year. Flat front, De-Wedged Back. This is also the combination Sean Mallard uses on all of his boards.


This is the combo Lee Dansie runs. Wedged front, flat back......Cranked down. Gnarly if you ask me.


Other thing's one needs to know about riding Indy's is the kingpin issue. Unless you have an older set the new king pins are too short to run any kind of good bushings. and on top of that the kingpins are knurled so you cant just put a regular one back in. A good method to get around is a process Slim uses that you can see at the following link. SkullandBonesSkateboards.com ~ View topic - Stage 9 Indy kingpin conversion how-to with pics

And about Bushings..... I know bushings are personal preference but I personaly use a jim z top for my bottom and a indy stock botom bushing for my top as shown bellow.


So that covers just about everything I can think of. Also keeping in mind that these methods wil probably work on most conventional trucks. I personaly have not done this on other trucks but feel free to do so and let us know how it turns out. If anyone has any question feel free to PM me. Below are my two race boards set up with indys.

Top mount Madrid Pin Missle with Indy 215 hangars, ACE base plates and pink gumball rain wheels (usualy I run Green 80a Big Zigs)




My Drop Thru With Indy 215's and 83mm 80a Cherry Bombs. This is my High Speed Board.

[esteban]

i love you.

[upsetter]

Originally Posted by esteban

i love you.

Say that again and ill delete the Post!!!!!!!! Anyways, Hope it helps.

[nicthekid220]

this made up my mind, im buying some 215's.

[RBriggs85]

Cue the New Trend.

I see lots of top mounts with 215's on Mile High's website, did he pay you to post this?

I might give it a shot for a freeride board.

[[Ian]]

Sickies! I needs me some 215s.

[toxictrix]

Yay thank you very much.

[Slim]

Thanks for the pics and info on the various set ups! Right on.

[Blix]

Awesome! Who need Maguns when you can use plain old Indys! If I`m ever buying a speedboard, I will certainly try this.

[onthespoke]

Mile high already has the supercharger with indys, i almost grabbed it.
I've got some 215's and love em, even though a bunch have told me they're horrible. I've got them on a carving/cruising set up right now but i'm sure they'll be put on something else sometime soon.

[Jam]

Your post was very interesting and informative. I enjoyed reading and learning from it. I do, however, feel that silverfish moves in trends and too many people will end up going around saying "OMGZ indys are like the best dh truck evar and that's what all the cool ppl are using." I am afraid of that sort of thing. Thanks very much for the article though.

[onthespoke]

Originally Posted by Jam

Your post was very interesting and informative. I enjoyed reading and learning from it. I do, however, feel that silverfish moves in trends and too many people will end up going around saying "OMGZ indys are like the best dh truck evar and that's what all the cool ppl are using." I am afraid of that sort of thing. Thanks very much for the article though.

Isn't the issue then with the trend followers and not the setters?