Bushing Set up Help

Hi @Alphamail

What’s the benefit of changing the pivot cups ? I have TB Caliber II clones, haven’t tested them yet but I’m interested into improving the ride, especially when it’s so cheap !

Replacing the pivot cups, provides a smoother feel, there’s no stiction (the friction that tends to prevent stationary surfaces from being set in motion.) or unevenness in the feel if you have a new and consistent pivot cup, they do like to get chewed up and some don’t work well, the aftermarket ones are designed to fit perfectly, which is important. Most American made trucks have a good enough pivot cup and I only replace them to upgrade or when they wear out. I have yet to see a Chinese truck with one that is even acceptable for me…I would always replace the cup if I was forced into using a cheap trucks.

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I recently just installed the Indy pivot cups and have yet to ride them, here’s a 109mm T hanger Indy spinning Seismic Focus wheels, upgraded with Riptide’s pivot cup, and a nice Riptide barrel under a Bone medium short cone, I made this for a Freestyle setup which I want to turn, pump and roll, things typically you wish to stop on a Freestyle, but I’m going to try and tune and control it. I have a custom 80’s style deck coming from Deckcrafters for this setup…it should be a pleasure to ride…

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@Alphamail I recently ordered some bushing and pivot cups for myself and my daughter’s board. At 50lbs I went with a one of the lower duro bushings for her. She can turn on a dime now.

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Hello all, I am a little confused by a couple of posts regarding Torqueboard 50 degree V2 trucks and Caliber II hybrids (matching Torqueboard hanger with a Caliber II base plate or a Torqueboard base plate with a Caliber II hanger)!

The pivot cup that fits the full Torqueboard 50 degree V2 trucks is our Indy 96a WFB pivot. It is dimensionally very close to the stock pivot and goes into the base plate a little easier than we like to see but it is tighter on the hanger pivot nose so it does make for a functionally good tight fit when assembled.

When hybridizing the truck using a Torqueboard hanger with a Caliber II base plate or a Torqueboard base plate with a Caliber II hanger, all bets should be off regarding using the Indy pivot since the because the Caliber II base plate has a .700" hole in the base plate and the Torqueboard base plate has a hole diameter of .625". Conversely the hanger nose of the Torqueboard hanger is .434" and the Caliber II hanger pivot nose is .500" so the combinations should be incompatible. What am I missing?

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I measured the pivot nose on the TB 218 truck hanger that I have, it is .505. It fits very snug in my Caliber II baseplate with WFB Caliber II pivot cup.

I did put a set of Caliber II hangers and TB base plates with stock pivot cups together to utilize spare parts for a budget project. Will update on the quality of the fit as soon as possible.

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I just measured two brand new @Torqueboards 218mm trucks I got on Black Friday, and found that the pivot nose on both hangers is slightly oval. I measured .495" and .508" widths on one hanger, and .493-.498" and .503-.508" on the other, depending on what part of the nose I measured. I wonder if the design has changed slightly or you got an earlier version of the truck out of a different factory?

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Both @Namasaki and myself have the TB 218 hanger on Caliber baseplate with WFB Caliber 2 pivot cups. I don’t know about the standard length TB V2 50° hanger/truck

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Then what truck is this? https://www.electric-skateboard.builders/t/torqueboard-50-v2-trucks-what-trucks-are-they-really/10090/17?u=alphamail

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That’s the regular length caliber 2 style clone from TB. Don’t know the dimensional differences between it and original Caliber 2, but they are different

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You know, I’m not really sure. Maybe Dexter @Torqueboards can help explain. I don’t recognize the baseplate in this pic from your other thread, but since he sent these to you as the DIY/Torqueboards 50° v.2 trucks, they must be the newest version, but a different design. The main thing I notice on these, is that the pivot cup is extended outwards on the baseplate, which is different from the trucks I have.

This is what my TB 50° v.2 trucks (blue) look like, although I got them almost two years ago. They look dimensionally very similar to a genuine Caliber 2, despite some small design differences. They do have a circular pivot nose though, measured at .475". They are next to a TB 218 truck, for reference, which are the TB trucks most of are interested these days, if I’m not mistaken.

And with a Caliber 2 baseplate, for more reference.

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I haven’t received my parts yet so I haven’t been able to test and tell you what exactly it is, I want to change. Since all the pros here are raving about RipTide rubber and they are kinda hard to come by here in GER, I would like to just order some bushings and pivot cups and see how it turns out. I know similar setups have been commented on before, I just want to make sure I got everything more or less right.

  1. TB 218mm (is the upgrade to original Caliber II Baseplates worth it?)

  2. stock bushings

  3. I want what almost all the riders here want - a smooth carve at slow speed and a stable ride at high speed. I know having both is difficult so I am definitely putting more emphasis on the stable ride and avoiding the much-dreaded speed wobble.

  4. Type of skating: Electric commuting and pushing my speed limits without going to the mountains

  5. Deck: Never Summer 2013 Status. It is rather stiff for a longboard but it has some flex. Will have to cut some wood away and/or add a riser against wheelbite because I’m getting 107mm abecs

  6. Rider weight: 82kg

So using the info I got from this thread I am thinking of getting the following:

Comments and suggestions?

Asides from pivot cups and bushings, would it be a good idea to stick TB 218 hangers on Caliber II 44° degree baseplates in order to make it more stable? Does anyone know if that fits?

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@koralle do you have a set of calipers that you can measure the pivot cup in the TB 218mm trucks currently? Using calipers to the .1mm or .01mm should be perfect. I need the Outside diameter, Inside diameter, depth and overall length of the pivot cup that is in the trucks

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Nah sorry it will be 3 weeks until I receive the trucks. They are super common with the builders here so someone please help out!

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Thanks in advance for your help!

  1. Paris
  2. Stock bushings
  3. Want to fix my wheel lift issue without sacrificing high speed stability
  4. E-commuting at 20-30mph
  5. Omen dropship. won’t get wheelbite
  6. 150lbs

Thank you so much for this I was just pondering this very question regarding bushing setup

I have a loaded vanguard with riptide green cone roadside and red barrels boardside. I weigh 210 and this setup is stiff and non reactive. I’d like a more carvy setup My push longboard has Randal 2s 150 length with venom blue bushings road and boardside I use this setup to practice my crosstepping for longboard surfing. I’d like to mimic this setup for eskate Any suggestions are greatly appreciated Thank you Dan

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Hey Dan, if the green RipTide Cone cone is 97.5a, it is extremely stiff. First thing to try is replace the cupped washer on the cone with a flat washer or just flip it over. With the amount of king pin threads showing, are you cranking it down really tight? If so back it off a bit in addition to changing the washer set up. If that doesn’t get you where you want to be, try the Cone in the boardside position with a flat washer so it will deal better with your weight and deflect more than in the roadside position.

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Hey @GrecoMan are the base plates 50 or 43 degrees and is the stock set up Cone/Barrel or Barrel/Barrel (I have seen them supplied both ways)?

50 deg, cone/barrel

thanks!

@GrecoMan it is interesting you are getting wheel lift with that set up. First thing to try is changing out the washers from cupped to flat to see if it becomes more supple. Under what conditions does wheel lift occur? Right turn, left turn, both, and is it front, rear or both?

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