Gear Information Vol. 2 & Photo Contest

Bushings – Small but mighty. Those little rubbery fellas sit on either side of your truck's hanger, so usually you'll have two per truck, some people stack 'em too, it really depends on your setup and on what you want to do with it. Either way, bushings greatly influence and alter the way your trucks behave, so if you're bored with what you have but can't afford a new set of trucks, playing around with bushings is a cheap alternative and you'll be surprised at what difference new or different bushings can make, so let's take a closer look....

1. Material and Durometer
Just like wheels, bushings are made from urethane. The duro(meter) is represented by a number/letter combination, for example 80A, with the number standing for 'hardness' (the higher the number, the harder the bushing). The 'A' stands for density, which is measured on a scale of A to D, with D being the densest. Most skateboarding wheels and bushings are on the A scale.
As is often the case in longboarding, you really have to play around to find out what bushing type and combination suits you, with your weight playing a big role as well and also how tight you normally have your trucks – if you like to crank them up to the point that your bushing's spilling out of its seat on either side, you'll probably want to try some harder bushings. It is also a common misconception that harder bushings are the way forward in Downhill – a harder duro does not equal more stability.

2. Shapes
Bushings come in different shapes depending on what purpose they are meant to serve. It's the combination of duro and shape that characterises the bushing's feel:

a) Barrel Shape
A cylindrical bushing offers stability while also allowing a fair amount of turn. Often used in Downhill skateboarding or generally as the bottom (meaning the bushing closest to the baseplate) bushing of a setup.

b) Conical Shape
The widest side sits in the bushing seat (as shown in the photo). This shape allows for deep turns, especially if you opt for a taller cone, which makes these babies ideal for carving.

Exhibit A: Cone bushing with flipped cupped washer



c) Stim Shape
The name refers to the Tracker Stimulator, which was the first bushing of this kind. Some people also call them 'stepped'. The Venom Eliminator or the JimZ are popular bushings of this type, which mostly finds its use in Downhill Skateboarding as it offers a good amount of stability with little turn.

Exhibit B: Barrel, tall cone, short cone, Stim shape bushings (from left to right)



3. Washers
Most trucks will come with a set of stock bushings and washers. Some people don't bother with washers at all, they do however support the bushing nicely which can increase its longevity. Make sure that the washer and the bushing match in size. Flat washers allow for maximum turn. Cupped washers (bushing cups) will increase compression around the area they encase, so the more you lean, the more your bushing will compress which limits the depth of the turn as more power is required to achieve the same amount of turn compared to leaving the washer out.

Exhibit C: A selection of different washers



The height of your bushing/washer combo will determine how long your kingpin should be and you'll find that many stock kingpins are too short, especially if you intend to run a set of double barrels. Kingpin threads that are too long can damage your bushings from the inside out, so ideally you'll have a kingpin with a shortened thread if you want to use tall bushings.

Exhibit D: Long kingpin with shortened thread



To keep the winter sweet this year, Sixxa is kindly donating some clobber for our autumn photo contest, so go on and send us your favourite shot of yourself on or with your longboard this summer. All submissions to the usual address please which is blog[at]huegelherzblut.de, you've got until the 30th of November to dig out your favourite photo. The winning pic will be published on here and we'll be in touch to sort out sizes etc.