my beef with original's trucks... i love the way they ride, they just seem to fall apart and take soooo much maintenance for an every day commuter. this should be in the review section, but silverfish's review chart thing doesnt give me the questions to do this company justice.
1. in 8 months i've ripped through 4 pairs of those weird plastic bushings. they just wore out with this strange pattern where the hanger slides into them, giving the truck some extra "play" even when i cranked them as tight as possible.
2. if those bushing were cast with metal instead of plastic... maybe the wearing out problem wouldn't happen.
3. after a 30 minutes session, you have to get in there with an allen wrench and tighten the kingpin up again. especially if you have ridden the same pair of originals for more than 6 months.
other than the constant upkeep, i dig the carve and the mad pumping these trucks serve up. i just dont want to clean/tighten kingpin /replace bushings so often.
I tried my friends Original's once. Obviously he wasn't very good at maintaining them. They squeaked to hell and were extremely tippy. They fell to either side so to go straight you had to pretty much balance on the thing. That kind of killed my first impression of Originals. Hopefully I'll ride a good pair of 'em some day.
Kaha's to replace Originals?
Probably don't need those to get the job done.
Chargers 10"
Grizzly 1052
Force R7
Paris 180's
Revenges
All can be super carvy and pumpable if set up with better than average bushings (Stims, Karrot).
people keep telling me that,
but i'm doing it. i do some DH too, i've got the money and i hear nothing but good stuff about kaha's. plus i rode a friend's pair of kahas. there isn't anything like them.
I tried my friends Original's once. Obviously he wasn't very good at maintaining them. They squeaked to hell and were extremely tippy. They fell to either side so to go straight you had to pretty much balance on the thing. That kind of killed my first impression of Originals. Hopefully I'll ride a good pair of 'em some day.
i re-lithium grease mine once a week, every sunday. eventually the bushings just fall apart. not worth the hassle IMO
I use krytox aeroplane grease - wonderfull. But, your'e right, I also need to replace bushings from time to time, because sand and dirt grinds them down. I need to replace the bushings of my conventional trucks as well, so this is not the point.
I secure the kingpin with two regular nuts instead of the single large one and give the top-nut a drop of locktite. If you tighten the nuts against each other (do not overtighten!) they will stay in place.
What I dislike about the trucks is the huge amout of play and the noise.
Last week I have found a truck that rides a little similar to originals. You can carve deep. It's quiet. Turns well and even better than Originals when wedged. But rail pressure has to be a little higher, if you want to carve really tight - and it's an conventional truck: I tried the Tracker Racetrack S 180mm with soft bushings. Lovely surf-feel. But the disadvantage is, that you will get wheel bite in deep turns as long as your board has no cut-outs. So these trucks will not replace the Originals under my Ed E., because the cutouts of the Ed E. are to tiny. Instead I decided to cut a new board like the toothless speed board without the dropthrough, because the trucks are already low.
yeah, its the play that bugs me, not really the fact that bushings have to be replaced. i tighten them when i get to each class on campus. and its also really hard to cross step on them, if you step on the rail, they dive into a turn, and you get pitched from the board.
come december it'll be kaha time. (sorry original, you just lost a customer)
I dont think that Kahalani Trucks will be a good substitute for Originals. Kahas will ride more like Randals or Holeys and if you are changing from Originals, the action of these trucks will feel stiff or lethargic unless you aren't going a little faster. You will have a different ride.
i think its something youre doing wrong. For 2-3 years, my trucks are still running great, and the bushings are in perfect condition. Its true that you have to tighten the kingpin often, but other than that, theres no complaints. most trucks eventually squeek as well, so im not bothered by the little squeek it has.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onedorsfirew
I don't know if that would even be fun to have a shlong that small.
Well what sort of "grease" were you using on them? If you are using WD40 or any other solvent, it will break the urethane/plastic down giving the characteristics you have described.
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I dont think that Kahalani Trucks will be a good substitute for Originals. Kahas will ride more like Randals or Holeys and if you are changing from Originals, the action of these trucks will feel stiff or lethargic unless you aren't going a little faster. You will have a different ride.
well i am actually looking for that more lethargic, stiffer, more traditional longboard truck, hence... kahalani. randals would be my next option but kahas are just so bad ass after i got a chance to try them out. i DH too. so its multipurpose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferrarimk13
i think its something youre doing wrong. For 2-3 years, my trucks are still running great, and the bushings are in perfect condition. Its true that you have to tighten the kingpin often, but other than that, theres no complaints. most trucks eventually squeek as well, so im not bothered by the little squeek it has.
i put 5+ miles on my board a day, sometimes 10-15 miles. i commute, alot. maintenance of originals is a pain in the ass for me, just from the sheer distance i travel every day.
getting tired of Originals
