How Tight Should Your Skateboard Trucks Be?

Learning how to tighten the trucks on your skateboard is a skill you’ll constantly use in skateboarding, but how tight should your trucks actually be? This was a question I struggled with in the early years of my skating since half my friends said loose is the way to go, while others defended tight trucks with their lives. After going back and forth with truck tightness over the years, the one thing you should know is that there is no “one tightness fits all” for skateboard trucks.

The tightness of your trucks comes down to personal preference. However, trucks should be loose enough to turn your board by leaning side to side without needing to kick turn around obstacles. Tight trucks offer more stability at high speeds, while loose trucks make your board easier to turn.

Besides these basic facts, finding the right truck tightness will depend on your skating style. So let’s break down the pros and cons of loose and tight trucks and discover which option is best for you.

Is It Better To Have Loose Or Tight Trucks?

If you ask ten different people their opinions on whether it’s better to have loose or tight trucks, you’ll likely get ten different answers. For example, someone who loves cruising around town will have a different preference than someone who likes skating stair sets and handrails. Similarly, someone who primarily skates bowl will have a different opinion than someone who likes bombing hills.

Does this mean only one of them is right?

Of course not.

It just proves the point that truck tightness is objective, and it’s going to take some experimentation to find the right tightness for your style of skating. So, to help you figure this out, let’s look at loose vs tight skateboard trucks on an objective level.

– Loose Trucks

A “loose” truck means that your kingpin bolt has been loosened off to allow your bushings and hangar more room to move. Standing on your skateboard might feel more wobbly when your trucks are loose. This is because there is less pressure against the bushings, making it easier to pivot the trucks as you lean.

Loose trucks are great for turning since you can lean side to side without ever needing to lift up your nose and kick turn. This is a favorable option especially for beginners who are still getting a feel for turning and balancing.

Loose trucks are also great for more advanced skaters who are skating rails and ledges. With loose trucks, you can lock into grinds with less effort, so certain tricks like crooks or feebles feel much easier.

The downside to loose trucks is similar to the reason they’re so great. Since the truck can pivot more side to side (making it easier to turn), it also increases your chances of getting wheel bite. Wheel bite is when your wheel gets pinched against the deck and locks up under the weight. This usually ejects you straight off the board since it’s as if your skateboard pulled the emergency brake.

Especially when skating drops or stairs, this becomes more common since any weight too far to one side or the other will likely cause your deck and wheel to touch.

Besides wheel bite, loose trucks are more wobbly at high speeds. So if you’re someone who likes to bomb the occasional hill, loose trucks are a lot harder to control and can start to wobble uncontrollably at a certain point (known as the dreaded “death wobble”).

– Tight Trucks

On the other side of things, “tight” trucks are when you tighten the kingpin bolt and add more pressure to your bushings. This makes it harder for your truck to pivot as you lean from side to side.

The big advantage of tighter trucks comes with stability. It’s a lot easier to ride fast in bowls or hill bombs with tight trucks and feels more secure too. Even for those just learning how to skateboard, tighter trucks can help speed up how long it takes to feel comfortable balancing on your board.

Tighter trucks are also better for skating drops and stairs since you’re less likely to get wheel bite. Although it’s still possible, your board doesn’t wobble as much upon landing, therefore making it harder for your deck to pinch the wheel.

The downside to tight trucks is that you can’t turn as easily by leaning side to side and will often need to kick turn around things. If you’re comfortable on your board, this isn’t a big deal, but for those just learning, this becomes a pain.

With tighter trucks also comes increased strain on your bushings. Depending on how tight your trucks are, it can cause your bushing to wear out faster than loose trucks. Especially after hard impacts such as landing off a drop, the added pressure on your bushings with a tighter truck is significant.

So Should You Skate Loose Or Tight Trucks?

If you’re still unsure which team you’re on, here are some general guidelines to help you choose loose or tight trucks on your board.

For those who cruise around town, opt for loose trucks as it’s more enjoyable to ride and easier to maneuver along sidewalks and on sidestreets.

For beginners, start with tight trucks to get the hang of balancing on your board without extra wobble from loose trucks. When learning how to push and position your feet on the board, tighter trucks make life a lot easier.

As for intermediate to advanced skaters, consider what type of things you skate the most. If you tend to skate ledges, rails, and flat ground, opting for looser trucks is beneficial for locking into tricks. However, if you love skating bowl, drops, or stair sets, slightly tighter trucks are a better option for extra stability and a lesser chance of wheel bite.

How To Tell If Your Skateboard Trucks Are Too Tight

You can tell that your trucks are too tight if you notice the bushings begin to bulge or even crack as you tighten. When your bushings are bulging, consider loosening your trucks to prevent them from cracking while you skate. If you still want a tighter truck, opting for a harder bushing will help solve this issue.

The bushing is the (usually) colored pieces of urethane that sit in the middle of your truck. These little cylinders add resistance to your truck as it pivots from side to side and is the main factor in the “max tightness” of your truck. Just like skateboard wheels, bushings come in a wide array of hardnesses depending on how tight you like your trucks. If you’ve cranked down on your trucks and it’s still way too loose for your liking, a harder set of bushings will have more resistance than your previous set was capable of. Something like the Bones 96a bushings are a great place to start if you aren’t sure which hard bushings to buy.

How To Adjust The Tightness Of Your Trucks

You can quickly adjust the tightness of your trucks with the help of a skate tool or a 9/16″ wrench or socket. Flipping your board over to reveal the big kingpin bolt in the center of your truck, this is all you need to adjust to tighten or loosen your trucks.

Placing the skate tool or wrench over the kingpin bolt, rotate clockwise to tighten or counterclockwise to loosen. When loosening the truck, take care not to overdo it. If the bolt isn’t fully threaded, you run the risk of the bolt rattling off and your truck coming apart while you’re skating. So whether you’re loosening or tightening, just make sure the bolt has all the threads engaged!

After you’ve adjusted one truck, try to match the same on the other. For example, if you loosened by one full turn of the socket, do the same on the other truck. Although your trucks may not be identical in tightness, the goal is to get them as close as possible.

Once you’ve adjusted your trucks, flip it over and stand on it. Wiggle it side to side and get a feel for the new truck tightness. This may take a few adjustments until it feels “just right,” but typically, small adjustments are all that’s needed.

Ultimately finding the right truck tightness for you will take some trial and error. I prefer tighter trucks since they offer more stability while riding bowl, and I get wheel bite less frequently. However, if you’re someone who just wants to cruise around town or are looking for a way to improve your grinds, loosening things up is worth a try. Try out loose and tight trucks for yourself and come to a conclusion that suits your style the best!

Happy Shredding

Brendan 🙂