Reliable Caliber II truck motor mounts?

Hi,

This is a simple question but looking through the forums and through my own DIY projects I haven’t found an answer yet.

Is there a motor mount for Caliber II trucks that is known by the community to be reliable?

By reliable I mean something that will go hundreds of miles before having any problems, sometime similar to what you will find in production boards. For example, I spent over $500 on mounts from marcmt88 and every single one of them has failed in multiple ways, if not immediately they will fail after 25km of riding or so.

Some ways that it will fail:

  • c-clamp doesn’t fit well on the hanger and eventually it will be lose due to to the pressure from the belt. (All 4 mounts did that eventually)
  • connection (5 bolts) between the c-clamp and the arm is not strong enough and eventually the arm will “fall” down
  • idlers have a variable adjustment but they can only really be used when they are in the loosest position, because there they are against the mount and they can’t move, any other position will eventually move.

And yes, I did use threadlocker on all bolts and waited 24 hours, I even upgraded the bolts and added stop washers and stop nuts in conjunction with thread locker but it’s not enough. I accounted for things like impact (e.g.: put them on a position that will be favoured if a rock hits the arm at the bottom). After 4 of these mounts on to brand new pairs of Caliber II I’m convinced that the design of these mounts is flawed.

At this point I spent some much time fixing the mounts (only issue in my entire build) that it’s souring the e-skating experience.

I will never see the $500 back but I still want to buy another mount and be able to ride my eskate to work without having to fix it everyday. Is there a mount that perhaps is simpler (less adjustments) but it’s reliable?

Thanks!

1 Like

@dickyho mounts are well regarded, he did have a bit of an issue with bendy metal on one batch but I believe its all sorted now. Also available in long and short versions.

2 Likes

never had any problems with my mounts and have had 0 reports of problems from customers.

I have put over a 1000 miles on my prototype board without issues and I haven’t even used loctite. I don’t recommend using the mounts without loctite btw, it’s just easier as I am constantly tweaking and testing with this board.

1 Like

I havent had any issues with my clamps I got from him. I will say it does help to put speed rings in between the idlers because they are bearings

For less you could have better trucks and never deal with clamps again.

1 Like

Used Enertion mounts for years with 0 problems, now I Run TB reverse mounts with idlers and they have been really solid a so far I’ve had them a few months and they have not moved at all.

Can’t recommend @torqueboards mounts enough they are solid after the clamp was updated a few months ago.

3 Likes

All clone enertion mounts are solid. https://miamielectricboards.com/shop-1/motor-mounts

2 Likes

@JLabs mounts are super simple

https://buildkitboards.com/collections/motor-mounts/products/motor-mount-1?variant=4993928921118

4 Likes

On TB trucks they are pretty snug but the split clamp on Calibers needs to be shimmed with some heat shrink to get it to fit the slightly smaller profile. I can see this being an issue down the road on mine unfortunately.

1 Like

I’ve heard nothing but good praise for UNiK mount.

https://www.unikboards.com/fr/boutique/support-dual-moteur-mount-caliber/

4 Likes

@torqueboards mounts. Torque each screw to 16Nm with loctite 242/243. Rode over 1000km on shitty roads with no problems - officially my favourite motor mounts of them all.

2 Likes

I have had bad luck with the marc mounts as well but ended up implementing two fixes that solved the major problems.

Problem 1: profile ring does not sit flush with Caliber trucks and eventually wobbles free Solution: Not a great one but I eventually tightened it so that it was perfectly perpendicular to the axle direction and then just poured some epoxy in between the gaps. This obviously makes it more of a permanent solution but it has held for a good amount of riding now, whereas before it would wobble free after just a mile or so.

This problem, IMO, is more of an issue with the caliber mounts vs a design issue with marc’s mount as calibers do not have a continuous profile across their length.

Problem 2: idlers slip free to their max position. this one is tied in with a bonus problem 3, which is: the idlers end up flaring outwards at their tips as the bolt that they sit on is quite small and they get a ton of torque applied to them when under load. Solution: I took a piece of aluminum bar stock, drilled out two holes that are at the correct ‘clamped’ position, and then got 2 longer bolts to mount through this plate. Installing it is kind of a pain but it helps. Note that this brace doesn’t solve the problem, but greatly minimizes it.

I also added an extra set of bearings as the original two were not fully engaging my belt (which was really exacerbating the flaring issue) due to my mounting configuration.

20180512_163707

Just to vent a bit… this is what is so frustrating about this hobby. In theory, marc’s mounts are perfect. From their photos and design intention they look as if they should solve all problems. In practice though, even though it’s priced in the ‘premium’ segment as far as mounts go, it just still doesn’t work on the road. I went through 3 cheap ebay mounts, each one slightly better than the last but still all value priced, and after being frustrated with all of them I finally told my self I would just spring for the 60 dollar mount. Well, of course, even it still doesn’t work well… I guess this is what we get for trying to mate components onto parts that were never designed to receive these add on components.

5 Likes

His latest mounts have fixed all the design flaws. https://www.janux-esk8.com/product-page/janux-dual-motor-mount-with-stabilizing-crossbars-raw-finish

I have hundreds of miles on his first design and had similar issues to @craj1031tx and just under a hundred miles on his latest design. On the latest design, I have no issues with the motor arm slipping since they have a fixed position or the idler pulleys now that he uses acetal rounds instead of skate bearings for the idler pulleys.

1 Like

I would highly recommend trying out the latest mounts. Also, please release a single motor version of this latest caliber mount on your website @marcmt88. Your mount is the only mount anyone should even consider using for eSkate if they want something that won’t come loose and is easy to get the perfect tension.

1 Like

All of the issues and fixes and re-inventions to make mounts more solid…Its not really even the mounts that are the issue. The truck is the problem. Caliber 2 Trucks and all of their clones suck for so many reasons.

Get better trucks and you wont have all of these other issues.

6 Likes

I can highly recommend @e.board_solutions caliber mounts. They fit perfectly and don´t wiggle loose over time (something that happened with my hk motor mount). :smile:

2 Likes

What value segment trucks would you recommend? Calibers are 50 bucks shipped on Prime and they are the most widely supported trucks out there from a motor mount prospective. Not everyone is looking to spend hundreds of dollars on Surfrodz (sp?) + custom made, low volume mounts for them.

I understand that in the eskate world you certainly get what you pay for, and if you cheap out you’ll end up paying much more in the long run. With that being said, I think the general consensus is that calibers straddle the middle ground between working well and being cheap, in that you should be able to get a full working mount + truck solution for ~100 bucks (calibers + marc’s mount.) Again, my vent is that this well regarded and widely used solution and yet it still doesn’t work.

I would vouch against TB mounts – the only way I’ve managed to get them to stay on without wiggling is to have some of the screws that hold down the mount to the truck with a pointy bit, and some with a flat bit, and then red loctite. Issue is – I can no longer unscrew the mount I did that on (stripped my screwdriver when trying (used a wrench to hold it for more leverage)). In the future I’ll definitely go for a mounting solution that comes with a cross-bar to hold the mounts in place, because all the time I save with esk8ing comes back in maintenance time for these things.

1 Like

Surfrodz TKP - $120 and can fit dual 6374.

And possibly $90~ when black friday comes (if history repeats)

@Rusins We have a New 2PC Clamp that should be easier. Email us :smile: