Truck Restoration (DIY)

[phil6x]

Hey everyone,
Have you ever found a crappy old pool board in someones garbage?
and then say to yourself,
"What do i have to lose! I should take it home!"
Then you find out it must have been made in the 70s and the wheels are garbage, the deck is de-lammed, bearings are dead
, but
you still notice those pretty cool looking classic trucks!


..well that is my story and today was a snowy, wet day so i decided to go into my garage and fix up those old trucks!
here is what you can do!

First gather materials!


steel wool,
bushings,
pivot cups (i didn't have)
new nuts (if needed)
Comet bleach powder
Rags
bucket with warm water
and gloves are a GREAT idea
(also you may need skate tool to disassemble trucks, mounting hardware will be VERY rusty)



First I took apart the old a$$ board so I had all the parts, this is when you realize the bushings and pivot cups will NEED replacement.

Next I held the hanger under water for a little bit, I then covered it with Comet Bleach, I used a rag to rub the comet powder all over the truck, and get off some older grim and nasty stuff,

Then submerse it in water again and clean of the Comet residue,

Now use your Steel wool and comet powder on the truck, I pushed down hard when I scrubbed in a circular motion and the grim came right of, you will repeat this multiple times on different surfaces of the hanger, until you are satisfied with the shine and cleanliness of the hanger.( I used my thumbs with the steel wool for max pressure)

Now repeat this step with your other hanger.
(make sure you clean out all surfaces of the hanger!)


Now do this to your Kingpin and Base plate!

(look how much cleaner it is!)

if you would like use a metal polish, and apply it to a rag and rub it on the truck, then buffer it with a clean rag,

Now re-assemble your truck with the new Bushings and pivot cups, (and hardware)
make sure your bushings fit the old school truck!

I did my trucks in about 30min,
but if i had spent about an hour i could have had MUCH better results!
(as you can notice, by trucks aren't perfectly cleaned, it was very cold out, and i had to study for finals, but if you spend more time you will have much nicer results!)




thx for reading!
hope this helps!

[Shimotakimas]

Cool, this gets a sticky sometime in the future. I have a box of oldschool trucks and wheels that can use this treatment.

[tinypete]

Sweet!
Now if only I hadn't thrown out my really old trucks a couple months ago.

[phil6x]

thanks shim!

[phil6x]

oh, i never used the vinagar BTW

[Momona Boe]

Cool trucks! Nice post.


Suggestion - buffing wheel. Much easier than steel wool and better results. I just set one up on an old bench grinder I found in the basement to clean up some oxidized guitar parts. What took me an hour with steel wool, now takes 10 minutes.

[.secrets]

nice! good diy

[EBasil]

Phil6x, Momona,

Will you two collaborate on an update to this, also showing similar work with the buffing wheel? If you've got/take larger photos and send them to me, I can clean/edit them up a bit, too. This is not only great material for a DIY sticky, but for an article on the site.

[phil6x]

Phil6x, Momona,

Will you two collaborate on an update to this, also showing similar work with the buffing wheel? If you've got/take larger photos and send them to me, I can clean/edit them up a bit, too. This is not only great material for a DIY sticky, but for an article on the site.

I WOULD LOVE TO!
but those where the only old trucks i had!
Ill see if i can come along anymore

[rwadley]

here is a good article, but it needs pics.

Art of Skateboarding - Restoration

[EBasil]

I WOULD LOVE TO!
but those where the only old trucks i had!
Ill see if i can come along anymore

Approach Boe. He's got piles of trucks dating back from when his skateboards had wooden wheels and no bearings. He's older than Bahne and twice as pretty... Seriously, I bet you guys will have fun with this if you get together.

[Momona Boe]

Hahahahaha! Guilty!

I'll look and see what I can find. I know I have some old X-Cals and some ACS 430's

[phil6x]

when the windchill -30
workin on old trucks is a pretty good way to blow off time
id love to work on some more!