Skateboard Trucks

Already found your perfect skate deck? Then it looks like you’re all set to find yourself a pair of brand new skateboard trucks! We know the importance of getting your setup just right so you can tear up your terrain of choice on your own terms - that’s why, at Blue Tomato, you’ll find skate trucks of every height and width imaginable to make every day on your board a rad one.

When we talk about the height of a truck, we simply mean the distance between the baseplate and hanger. Or, to put it more simply, how far away are your wheels from your deck? As per usual, at Blue Tomato you’re spoilt for choice.

If you choose a pair of low trucks, you’ll be rewarded with huge amounts of stability through your landings, making it that little bit easier to land those flip tricks bolts - ideal for street skating. There’s just one problem: Wheelbite - the bane of every skater’s life. It happens when your wheels and deck make contact due to mismatching trucks with wheels that are too big. Unfortunately, with low trucks it’s difficult to completely eliminate wheelbite, but it’s probably best to avoid riding wheels with 50 mm to 53 mm diameters.

On the other end of the skate spectrum we find high trucks. Logically, with these skateboard trucks there is more distance between the hanger and the baseplate. The biggest advantage of which is that the higher position of your deck helps you generate huge amounts of pop. You’ll immediately notice how much easier it is to get your board into a steeper position, giving your ollies more height than ever before. Wheelbite becomes a thing of the past - you can ride virtually any wheel diameter without encountering any problems. The only thing to expect is a little physical instability that comes naturally with extra ground clearance.

If you see yourself as more of a skate all-rounder, mid trucks are the ones for you. These trucks are adapted to give you the best of both worlds, letting you ride up to 53 to 56 millimetre wheels without having to worry about wheelbite. If you’re a beginner looking to get into the sport, mid trucks are going to be the most fun for you.

Truck width is to skateboards what binding size is to snowboards. To make sure you get the most out of your setup, your hanger width and deck width need to match up, particularly in street and vert skating where stability is a huge plus. So that you know exactly which deck width goes with which trucks, Blue Tomato has created this handy table for you.

One thing you still have full control over having bought your trucks is the way it turns. By tightening or loosening the Kingpin, the linchpin of your trucks, you can adjust how hard or easy it is to turn your skateboard. The bushings, the little urethane discs on your trucks, are also responsible for the way your setup performs. They cost barely anything to buy, but can completely change the feel of your new setup.

But what’s the point of it all? When you’re riding at high speeds, like in the half-pipe for example, a bit of additional stability is going to make for a much safer, more enjoyable ride. A harder setup is also useful for street skaters. Riding soft trucks is going to be way more fun for laying down wide carves or for grinds, but a loose kingpin will make for a butt-clenchingly shaky ride at high speeds.

You’re probably going to want to be able to adjust your skate setup on the go and for that, we present the skate tool. These handy little companions mean you won’t have to bring your workshop with you wherever you go, but you can still make those minute-but-meaningful adjustments to your trucks.

At Blue Tomato you’ll find a huge selection of skateboard trucks from all of your favourite brands. Right at the forefront of the group are the likes of Venture Trucks whose lightweight construction and eye-catchingly colourful finishes have been a favourite in the skate world for years. Of course, we also stock skate dinosaurs Independent Trucks who bring over 30 years of experience to the table and, with it, top quality trucks packed with style. Independent also offer a lifetime guarantee on all their trucks, so you know they’re confident in their product! Damn right!

If you’ve been tearing up the streets for a good amount of time already, you won’t want to overlook Tensor; the company was founded by none other than Rodney Mullen… need we say more? Their trucks are usually finished in Magnesium making them insanely lightweight and convincing a number of pros to switch allegiances. The trucks are also reinforced with plastic at the slide points to make sure you only finish a grind when you decide it’s time to.

Blue Tomato has a massive selection of skateboard trucks just waiting for you to explore, so get to it!