Fine-tuning a longboard with bushings explained

Bushings, pivot cups and washers are some of the smallest budget items that you can use to permanently change the handling and comfort of your longboard. They can be customized to your style of riding and they offer a series of components that can give you optimal turning, stability control and more. Swapping out bushing components regularly will help you to enjoy a safer ride on your longboard and ensure that you can change the feel of your board from the stock and likely rigid nature of the ride.

Bushings can often be swapped out based on your riding style so that you can get a proper stiffness and improve your turning and stability. Like most longboards today, our electric boards use a reverse kingpin truck which differs from a street style skateboard. You can use custom bushings on this form of truck just as you would with a street style skateboard and by changing them out regularly, you can preserve the quality of your longboard ride.

Choosing the ideal bushings

Bushings may look like a colourful piece of plastic that you simply affix to the bottom of your longboard but they can do so much more. Bushings are made out of a strong urethane and they are introduced to your longboard setup through the trucks. Most longboards require a two-bushing set in order to adjust the ride. The hardness and the shape determine the way that the bushings will affect the handling of your longboard.

Our Hypertruck™ bushings for Lacroix longboards can be changed out to offer better cruising or the potential for much faster handling in your longboard. If you are noticing a difference in your ride quality or you have noticed that the trucks are taking longer to respond, changing out your bushings can be an excellent choice for keeping your longboard on the road and handling well. This is a low-cost performance upgrade for your longboard and by doing the appropriate setup on these bushings, you can keep your board much safer on the roads.

Durometer

We offer bushings in a few different durometer combinations. Durometer measurements will determine how hard a bushing is to push down. Softer bushings are great for smaller riders because they offer better response rates and harder bushings are better for riders that are larger. You can find a density that suits your needs for handling and for your riding style. In terms of downhill riding, you will generally always want a much harder bushing to account for the high speeds. For a regular cruising bushing, you can often choose something a bit on the softer side for improved handling.

In order to find what works best for you, it is sometimes best to get a set of bushings so that you can change up the way your setup works. If you are feeling like the bushings you have on are restrictive, you can choose something that is going to be a bit softer and more responsive for your longboarding. By getting out and riding with different bushing settings, you can find what works best for you!