Board maintenance: bearings, grip and wheels

A little care keeps your board fast, grippy and safe. Most maintenance takes a few minutes and a skate tool, and it can add a lot of life to your setup.

Tools you need

• A skate tool: a T-shaped tool with sockets for your axle nuts, kingpin nut and hardware, plus a screwdriver.
• A rag.
• Bearing cleaner or a solvent (for cleaning bearings).
• Bearing lube.
• A brush or grip gum (for grip tape).

Bearings

Bearings let your wheels spin. Keep them dry. If they get gritty or slow, clean them:

1. Take the wheels off with your skate tool.
2. Pop the bearings out of the wheels.
3. Remove the shields carefully.
4. Soak or spray them with bearing cleaner.
5. Dry them completely.
6. Add a drop of lube.
7. Put the shields back and pop the bearings into the wheels.

Grip tape

Dirty grip loses its grip. Clean it with a grip gum or a brush. If it's worn smooth, replace it:

1. Peel off the old grip.
2. Clean the deck.
3. Lay new grip, pressing it down from the middle out.
4. Trim the edges with a blade.
5. Poke holes for your bolts.

Wheels and hardness

Wheel hardness is measured on a durometer scale. Harder wheels slide and feel fast on smooth ground; softer wheels grip and roll over rough ground. If your wheels are wearing unevenly, you can rotate them: swap their positions so they wear more evenly.

Check your hardware

• Tighten loose bolts. Loose hardware can rattle your trucks off.
• Check your kingpin nut. Tight trucks turn less; loose ones turn more.
• Replace worn bushings. If they're cracked or squashed, your trucks will feel sloppy.

A worked example: a slow board

Mia's board feels slow, and her wheels make a gritty sound. She takes off her wheels, pops out the bearings, cleans them, dries them and adds a drop of lube. She puts everything back, tightens the axle nuts until the wheels spin freely without wobbling, and her board rolls like new.

How often

• Bearings: clean them when they get slow or gritty, especially after skating in wet or dusty conditions.
• Grip: clean it when it's dirty; replace it when it's worn.
• Hardware: check it every so often, especially before a session.

Keep it dry

Water is bad for decks (they get soft and lose pop) and bearings (they rust). Avoid skating in the rain, and dry your board if it gets wet.

Wheels: flat spots and coning

Two kinds of wear to watch for:

• Flat spots: a flat patch on a wheel, usually from powerslides. It makes the board bump as it rolls. Small ones go away with skating; big ones mean new wheels.
• Coning: wheels wearing into a cone shape, usually from turning a lot in one direction. Rotating your wheels helps them wear more evenly.

Bushings

Bushings are the rubber pieces in your trucks. They let the truck turn and spring back. Over time they crack, squash or lose their spring. When that happens, your trucks feel sloppy or don't return to center. Replacing them is cheap and easy:

1. Loosen and remove the kingpin nut.
2. Take off the hanger.
3. Swap the old bushings for new ones.
4. Put it back together and tighten the kingpin nut.

Deck

Decks wear out too:

• Lost pop: the deck feels soft and doesn't pop like it used to.
• Cracks: check around the trucks, the nose and the tail.
• Razor tail: the tail is worn down to a sharp edge.

When your deck gets soft or cracked, it's time for a new one.

Before every session

1. Spin each wheel. It should spin freely without wobbling.
2. Check the hardware. No loose bolts.
3. Look at the deck. No cracks.

A quick check can stop a part coming off mid-trick.

Steps: rotating your wheels

1. Take all four wheels off.
2. Swap each front wheel with the back wheel on the opposite side.
3. Flip any wheel that's coned so the worn edge faces the other way.
4. Tighten the axle nuts until the wheels spin freely without wobbling.

Common mistakes

• Over-tightening axle nuts. Wheels should spin freely.
• Skating in the rain. It ruins decks and bearings.
• Ignoring loose hardware.
• Using any random spray as lube. Use proper bearing lube, a drop per bearing.

FAQ

How do I know if my bearings need cleaning?

If they're slow, gritty or noisy.

Can I wash my board?

Not with water. Use a dry brush or a slightly damp rag, and dry it right away.

How tight should my trucks be?

It's personal. Start in the middle and adjust.

Next: Warm-ups and falling safely

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