How to shim ur Kingpin.... Your longboard kingpin

So I finally upgraded my Crail Kingpins to 3 inch ones... catch? They don't fit as well.. massive slop going on. Hence the Shimming. Gilbert mentioned the need to "fix" standard kingpins to fit crails to me ages ago. I put off getting 3 inch Kingpins cuz the 2.75 ones were okay. In anycase, I couldn't run double barrel venoms with the 2.75 inchers..

Heres the link to a Shimming guide on fish since ASRA doesn't have one.

In any case, I thought I might put up a "HOW TO" and contribute a lil back to ASRA. =] The fish guide is pretty good, but I'll put up some pics as well. =]

How to SHIM:

You'll need..
1) Can Drink. Preferably steel.
2) Scissors, Grease, Stanley knife.

Step 1: Buy a can drink. The fish post suggests using a STEEL can, but wth can you find one in Australia? I went around safeway with a magnet. No luck. Got some random energy drink. Try to get a RED can as RED makes your board faster. Even if the RED can't be seen.

Step 2: Drink it... or pour into a glass for later. Clean the can. Just rinse it out so it isn't sticky. You can clean it properly later. Hope you don't need pics for these steps.

Step 3:

Use a stanley knife to cut the top off your can.

Keep going till it comes off. Be careful of the edges, they're sharp!

Repeat with the bottom of the can.

Half the can, twice. It's easier to work with and handle.

Step 4:
Measure the depth of the hole in the baseplate. Cut the bit of can, but a little less than the depth of the kingpin hole. Otherwise, the Shim might stick out and eat your bushing. Cut along the curve of the can.

See how the length of the aluminium curves around the kingpin? You don't want to fight the curve of the can, so just follow it. Carefully wrap it around the kingpin. Be careful not to kink the metal or you'll have to start over! Cut it off about 7/8 the perimeter of the kingpin. You'll need that little room for your kingpin to fit.

Step 5:
Shove it in! Gently. Wait... you remembered you need to disassemble your trucks right? Good job. Now, shove it in. Gently.

Step 6:
Get your nut in place. Don't know if anyone else has this, but my nuts don't sit well with the crails. There's this tiny gap.

You can mount your Kingpin the other way. There will be much less slop if you do, but the threading will eat into your bushing! Tough choices.. I choose slight slight slop and stay-fresh bushings.

Step 7:
Work your kingpin slowly into the hole. Try not to displace the shim. I didn't need to grease my Kingpin, but you might want to. The kingpin will shape the shim so it fits snugly to the walls of the hole. Once you've done this, carefully remove the kingpin without moving the shim. Assemble your trucks!

As you tighten your kingpin, the thread might eat into the shim and move it out of the hole. Well, if you are really picky about it, try and try again. I didn't have this problem on the second truck I did. Just luck I guess.

Step 8: Rinse, Repeat.
MOUNT YOUR TRUCKS!!!

On a side note, don't stinge on getting that can drink and shimming your trucks with aluminium foil! It comes apart at some later date like confetti!

good luck!