Bushing Guide
A quick and clear explanation of everything to do with bushings and what affects them.
Taken from 'fish. Bushings. Different types and how to set them up. by gavmck
Bushings. Probably one of the most important parts of your longboard setup. These can dictate how your board feels to an amazing degree.
Board getting boring?
Want to liven up a setup but don't have much cash?
Need a little more stability?
Play with your bushings! One of the cheapest parts of a longboard that also has one of the biggest effects on the ride...
Lets begin with setting them up. I'm gonna use the example of a Randal truck cos that's what most people run and this info can be easily ported to other hardware heh.
Randals begin with 2 'cone' shape bushings, one larger than the other, 2 cupped washers and a 2.5" kingpin.
Hardness:
Bushings have a perfect compression point (How tight you crank your kingpin). This is when the bushing is 'engaged' at the center point, when the truck is not turning, but not too tight that the bushing is already in a state of compression. There should be no slop if you wiggle it before you can feel the bushing engage. It should have a smooth feeling. The sides should not be bulging out at all at the center point.
If you have slop, use softer bushings. If you have bulging edges, use harder bushings.
Washers:
Personally, I like flat washers. These allow for the maximum turn depth, whilst still retaining good rebound. A cupped washer will make the bushing compress more towards the edge of the bushing as you turn. This gives a more progressive turn. The resistance to the turn will build up faster the more you lean. This often limits the turn depth a bit as you will need more force to get the same amount of turn when at the peak of the turn. Using no washers will give you a deeper turn, but with less bounce back at the peak of the turn so it can feel a little squirrely or 'twitchy'.
Flat washers should match up roughly with the edge of your bushing. Use a bigger one for things like JimZ, medium for barrels and you can go quite small for cones.
Shape:
The shape of a bushing gives a lot of it's feel (apart from the urethane compound). Standard shapes are 'stepped' like an eliminator or JimZ, Barrel or cone.
Cone shaped bushings do not have much support in the center and offer a greater turn depth. This makes them great for craving when you want a flowy ride that never goes in a straight line.
Barrels offer a stronger center point whilst still retaining a good bit of turn. They will offer less depth than a cone shaped bushing, but you get a bit more kick back out of the turns at the peak.
Stepped bushings offer the strongest center point and the least turn depth. This is why people often like them for downhill as they feel very 'stable' with the strong center point and do not turn too much so you drift out too far.
Compound:
The urethane formula used to make your bushings is really quite important. Generally there are three things that make up how a particular urethane 'feels'. Squish, bounce and compression. Squish is that feeling of sqashyness like foam or rubber. Bounce is how much it 'bounces' you back out of the turn. And compression is how far it compresses before you can feel the bounce. Below I offer my personal opinions of these values (Out of ten) for most major bushing manufacturers. Unfortunately I am unable to give scores for ABEC11 because my delivery seems to have been delayed. Will post up when I get em in though...
Khiros - Squishy, but not much
S 5
B 4
C 4
Holeys - Squishy with light bounce at the peak of turn
S 7
B 6
C 5
Bones hardcore - Smooth thoughout the turn
S 6
B 6
C 7
Venom barrels - Mad compression and bounce
S 3
B 8
C 7
Venom Eliminators - MAD bounce in the soft duros
S 3
B 9
C 5
JimZ - Smooth and supported
S 4
B 5
C 5
Sabre - Squishy feel with mad turn depth and a good kick at the bottom
S 8
B 7
C 9
Abec11 - Where's my order?
S ?
B ?
C ?
So there's my slightly dodgy summary of bushings, enjoy!
Taken from 'fish. Bushings. Different types and how to set them up. by gavmck
Bushings. Probably one of the most important parts of your longboard setup. These can dictate how your board feels to an amazing degree.
Board getting boring?
Want to liven up a setup but don't have much cash?
Need a little more stability?
Play with your bushings! One of the cheapest parts of a longboard that also has one of the biggest effects on the ride...
Lets begin with setting them up. I'm gonna use the example of a Randal truck cos that's what most people run and this info can be easily ported to other hardware heh.
Randals begin with 2 'cone' shape bushings, one larger than the other, 2 cupped washers and a 2.5" kingpin.
Hardness:
Bushings have a perfect compression point (How tight you crank your kingpin). This is when the bushing is 'engaged' at the center point, when the truck is not turning, but not too tight that the bushing is already in a state of compression. There should be no slop if you wiggle it before you can feel the bushing engage. It should have a smooth feeling. The sides should not be bulging out at all at the center point.
If you have slop, use softer bushings. If you have bulging edges, use harder bushings.
Washers:
Personally, I like flat washers. These allow for the maximum turn depth, whilst still retaining good rebound. A cupped washer will make the bushing compress more towards the edge of the bushing as you turn. This gives a more progressive turn. The resistance to the turn will build up faster the more you lean. This often limits the turn depth a bit as you will need more force to get the same amount of turn when at the peak of the turn. Using no washers will give you a deeper turn, but with less bounce back at the peak of the turn so it can feel a little squirrely or 'twitchy'.
Flat washers should match up roughly with the edge of your bushing. Use a bigger one for things like JimZ, medium for barrels and you can go quite small for cones.
Shape:
The shape of a bushing gives a lot of it's feel (apart from the urethane compound). Standard shapes are 'stepped' like an eliminator or JimZ, Barrel or cone.
Cone shaped bushings do not have much support in the center and offer a greater turn depth. This makes them great for craving when you want a flowy ride that never goes in a straight line.
Barrels offer a stronger center point whilst still retaining a good bit of turn. They will offer less depth than a cone shaped bushing, but you get a bit more kick back out of the turns at the peak.
Stepped bushings offer the strongest center point and the least turn depth. This is why people often like them for downhill as they feel very 'stable' with the strong center point and do not turn too much so you drift out too far.
Compound:
The urethane formula used to make your bushings is really quite important. Generally there are three things that make up how a particular urethane 'feels'. Squish, bounce and compression. Squish is that feeling of sqashyness like foam or rubber. Bounce is how much it 'bounces' you back out of the turn. And compression is how far it compresses before you can feel the bounce. Below I offer my personal opinions of these values (Out of ten) for most major bushing manufacturers. Unfortunately I am unable to give scores for ABEC11 because my delivery seems to have been delayed. Will post up when I get em in though...
Khiros - Squishy, but not much
S 5
B 4
C 4
Holeys - Squishy with light bounce at the peak of turn
S 7
B 6
C 5
Bones hardcore - Smooth thoughout the turn
S 6
B 6
C 7
Venom barrels - Mad compression and bounce
S 3
B 8
C 7
Venom Eliminators - MAD bounce in the soft duros
S 3
B 9
C 5
JimZ - Smooth and supported
S 4
B 5
C 5
Sabre - Squishy feel with mad turn depth and a good kick at the bottom
S 8
B 7
C 9
Abec11 - Where's my order?
S ?
B ?
C ?
So there's my slightly dodgy summary of bushings, enjoy!
Views: 1077
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Isaac on
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Righto, seeing as you lot seem to like this, I'm going to add an extension to it. WOOO!
Kingpins
Your average kingpin on a Randal truck is a bit small. And a bit weak (Altho Ithink they've changed that). And the wrong way round! Oh dear.
In order to run double barrel bushings like Sabres, ABEC11, Venom etc you will need a longer kingpin. While you're at it, it's probably best to get a stronger one too.
For Americans, you will need a grade 8, fine thread hex head bolt.
For the UK, you need a 3/8" UNF Hex head bolt.
Instead of putting the kingpin through the hangar first, down into the baseplate, I recommend putting it through the baseplate first before you mount it on your board. This is stronger than the other way around and after snapping a few Randal kingpins, I won't run it any other way! It also makes it easier when changing bushings around I think.
So onto size, for double barrels you need at least 2.75" to be comfy and able to adjust tightness at will. For extra big ones (Like those 86a Orange ABEC11 barrels!) you might need to go up to a 3" bolt. If you get it too long, you can always hacksaw it down, if you get it too short you'll just be really bummed out...
Wedging
Wedging and bushings is very important. With a lower angle truck, you have more direct leverage over the bushings, which makes them feel softer than in a higher angle truck. On a board like, say, an Evo this is quite an extreme difference!
To achieve the same force needed per amount of lean at each end of the board you need to run different hardness bushings. If you use the same bushings, then the back will be easier to turn than the front. This leads to wobbles due to increased oscillation of the back truck, heh. It's hard to know exactly what split you want to run as it will feel different for all boards.
On my chinook I used (until recently) green venom barrels in the back (93a) with Red ones up front (90a) to achieve the same feeling. This can be adjusted somewhat with the tightness of the bushings, but not too much or you will lose the characteristics of the bushing in terms of compression etc as well as wearing out the bushings faster.
Different top/botttom bushings
This is where it gets quite fun. Well I think so anyways. To achieve a different turn 'feel' you can use different top and bottom bushings as well as different bushings front and back. Or just different top and bottom. Here's what I think it does to the feel of the turn.
Bottom = closest to baseplate
Top = the other one
Soft top/harder bottom
This provides a very stable center, while still allowing a good depth of turn. As you lean, the amount of turn you get increases expontentially (a bit) so for more lean you get MORE turn. This is due to the top bushing compressing more, which almost acts like a higher angle truck. Gives a fun lively ride, this one is my favourite for everything.
Soft bottom/harder top
This gives a surfy loose feeling in the center with more snap back from the deepest part of the turn. Often liked for downhill, it almost acts as if the trucks angle gets lower the more you turn due to the more squashy bottom bushing. I believe I have heard people stick their lines slightly more with this combo.
Anything I've missed?
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Permalink Reply by Hamish on
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y thank u 4 these wordy explinations my understanding of bushings has sky rocketed =) yeah that really helped kool beans
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Permalink Reply by Elliot O on
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yeah thats krazy with a K!
you know your stuff! jeez i think i might get a fair few more bushings now
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Permalink Reply by Michael English on
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mmm personally i think the soft bushing boardside and harder road side feels crap :( and it makes the trucks really unresponsive but maybe thats just me
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ASRA AdminPermalink Reply by Bugs on -
Try soft top/harder bottom on the front and soft bottom/harder top on the rear to reduce your rear truck angle vis a vis your front while in the middle of a turn.
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yea i was thinking about that just after i wrote the comment... i will do that for the start of my next session... cheers bugs
Bugs said:Try soft top/harder bottom on the front and soft bottom/harder top on the rear to reduce your rear truck angle vis a vis your front while in the middle of a turn.
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u have 2 bushings in each truck... they are the squishy things that controll your turn...
Mack Geddes said:what the devil is a bushing and a queen pin?
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Fitz on -
By joves.
Well chaps, a queen pin is the ................
I give up, biggles will take it from here.
Mack Geddes said:what the devil is a bushing and a queen pin?
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Skittles on -
Next generation... but I haven't had kids yet!
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Permalink Reply by Mike River on
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haha! gavmck... I wonder where he gets all his info???
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