Axle width vs deck width: another dumb question!

I have managed to pick up some brand new indy's tonight. Fitted them to my board.

The end of the axle is about 10mm (1cm, no idea what that is in inches)from the edge of the board. So it's quite tucked away. The actual wheels are about 13mm from the edge.

Is that too much? Does the board give me too much leverage over the trucks? It's bloody loose: the indys have the red soft bushes. I'm wondering if the trucks are a tad too narrow.

I've taken off ventures and put them on my narrow landskate board, but they stick out a wee bit.

Although the indy's are better, would I be better off sticking the ventures back on the wide board so that the wheel/truck are in line with the edge of the board?

What do you skate, mainly?
Street: You'll be fine.
Transitions: Better off with axles going up to/slightly over deck's width.

I/we (other MAS members) can go over every single detail and explanation why of the above, but to keep it short and simple, this is about it... seriously...

All I skate is transition.
Never street, I'm not co-ordinated enough to do street.

http://www.skateboard-city.com/messageb ... p?t=194815

10 mm distance from axle to deck rail does sound too much and its just possible that you will sometimes inadvertently tip the board such that the wheels on one rail side will leave the ground.

A 1/4" here or there doesn't seem to make any difference to skating at my level, although I can tell the difference between matched/mismatched if I focus on how the board leans, but once I'm concentrating on tricks I don't notice. Nevertheless its nice to know that I have got my stuff technically correct.

I was told at a couple of skateshops that 1/8" or so of mismatch is not a big deal, but the wheels should never stick out past the deck. Wheel widths vary, but in general a modern skatepark wheel will have the axle slightly sticking out past its side (like on your board), so an axle which is exactly the same width as a board will place the wheel side slightly inside of the deck rail which is supposed to be perfect. An axle which is a fraction smaller than deck width is also supposed to be perfect. In the past I have ridden Krux 4.0 on a 7.75" board, those Krux are 8" so technically I was on a slight mismatch, on the other hand I always use fairly thin street wheels so the mismatch is marginal - it didn't seem to matter, but I've got technical correctness now with thunder 145 on my 7.75" board and Krux 4.0 on my 8" board. If I stand my board primo (on its rail) then they will sit fairly vertical but slightly lean towards the truck side.

If all you do is tranny (and maybe bowls, but I can't do bowls so can't say from personal experience) then its probably worth trying to achieve a correct match or having an axle (but not the wheels) which sticks out tiny bit past the deck will be OK

See what I mean?

Street: small trucks/wheels
Transitions: Wider (trucks & wheels)

Easy does it...

Ah thankyou.

I'll be swapping bits over tonight then. Wide ventures on to the wide board

Narrow indy's on to the narrower board....

I thought it felt weird last night. Was bloody hard work to keep in a straight line. Didn't have the confidence to drop in on the 4ft last night as a result.

Morning all.

I'd like to add a subsidiary question here. Deck shape and length in relation to the vexing truck width question.

I just picked up a Gordon & Smith Montage II deck and some Powell ATF wheels. 36" deck tip to tail and softies, I'm 6'4" tall and fancied someting longer and cushier for all the cruising around I hope to be doing while I get back into the noble art..

The deck is 9" at its widest point. Where the front axle would be it's 8.5" and where the rear axle would be it's 8". With the added length at 36" just maybe making a difference. I'm after all your opinions please on which truck width might be best from the choice of Independent 149, 159, or even 169. Opine at your leisure..

Thanks all

Dave V

Acc 55's the extra turnyness would be good when crusing

My current set-up is Black Label 8.75 Natas, shaped board so it tapers at nose and tail - not sure to how narrow that is but probably about 8.25 to 8.5ish.

I'm on Ace 44s and a wideish set of Bone SPFs and I'd say they are a good fit. I think Ace 44s roughly equal Indy 149s.

Highly rate the Aces so far, but then only had the opportunity to skate them a handful of times.

Here's the pic from the Next Ride thread

Riiiight .. advice so far appreciated, but I'm still a tiddy bit confused about the board width aspect. Should I be catering for the boards maximum width at 9" or just the maximum board width across an axle, which is 8.5". And does having a longer 36" deck = go wider. It's going to be either the Indy 149 to match the 8.5" or 159 if taking the 36" length + maximum width of 9" into account then.. ?

My name is Dave and I too suffer from Technical Correctnessment ..

My current set-up is Black Label 8.75 Natas, shaped board so it tapers at nose and tail - not sure to how narrow that is but probably about 8.25 to 8.5ish.

I'm on Ace 44s and a wideish set of Bone SPFs and I'd say they are a good fit. I think Ace 44s roughly equal Indy 149s.

Highly rate the Aces so far, but then only had the opportunity to skate them a handful of times.

Here's the pic from the Next Ride thread

Same shape and size as my Agah. 149's/44's are definitely the best fit with standard size wheels. Thinking of putting some 139's and Oj hot juices on mine for some cruiser action.

So glad I'm not the only one that needs to ask these questions.

Someone had taken the time to post this on a different website, so I stole it for our purposes.

Independent 109 -- 101mm -- 6.5in
Independent 129 -- 127mm -- 7.5in
Independent 139 -- 137mm -- 8.0in
Independent 149 -- 150mm -- 8.5in
Independent 159 -- 156mm -- 8.75in
Independent 169 -- 162mm -- 8.9in
Independent 215 -- 183mm -- 10.in

Bang on.. cheeers

Dave Allen, good info, I will follow your lead

stolen from somewhere else:


7.5" truck axle - 7.25 to 7.5" skateboard decks

7.75" truck axle - 7.5” to 8" skateboard decks

8.0" truck axle - 8” to 8.5" Width skateboard decks

8.5" truck axle - 8.5” to 9" skateboard decks

9.0" truck axle - 9” to 10” skateboard decks

10.0" truck axle - 10” wide and above skateboard decks

Thunder 145 - 7.6" axle
Thunder 147 - 8" axle
Thunder 149 - 8.5" axle

Krux 3.0 - 7.1" axle (some MAS have small children)
Krux 3.5 - 7.6" axle
Krux 4.0 - 8" axle

Some 149 size truck comparisons and observations https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Apox_SJ8CeMTdDFYSGk4OElQdUJxWmlkSGtBRXVFRkE and https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Apox_SJ8CeMTdG1iODBrWV9HZTlMYmlFWXY4cE5sN3c from Bertrand's site http://oldmanskater.blogspot.co.uk/

Lance Mountain uses 139's on his 9" and 8.5" boards and all the size charts say is this isn't 'correct.'

I ran 139's on an 8.25" for ages and only got 149's as it was recommended on here to go a bit bigger.

Lance still shreds like fuck and could do on anything. I'm more confident on 149's but I'm still shit compared to Lance.

Bob Burnquist used to ride 8" trucks on an 8.5" deck a while back. His excuse was it was easier for flip tricks. You can run whatever you want to run if it feels right then it is right.

You can run whatever you want to run if it feels right then it is right.

That's a really good point.

Some love it loose and narrow, others like the stability and width...and everything in between.

I suppose the hardest step is working out what you like.