Split truck angles, wtf are they? and why should I care? and other stuff about trucks

The lesson I wish to teach here is that you can setup your trucks in a way that increases stability (reduce the chance of wobbles to zero!) and also increases agility, all at the same time! You can make tighter turns and curves at higher speeds and sharper angles, all while reducing the chance of wobbles to zero and increasing your confidence, safety and ability no matter what you are doing or where you are riding. Who wouldn’t want to have some cake and eat it too? Interested?

Split angles are just another name for having two different truck angles, it could be in any configuration but I thought I’d break down the most common uses and setups that I have found work for me with electrics.

wedging overview dcef3e2324f1a851a3b6db5fe3ecf859

Split angles can be achieved many ways, the Evo deck is a fine example of angles built into the deck itself. Different trucks, baseplates, wedges and decks, all contribute to the truck angle and change it. The term “split angles” could mean almost any configuration and that fact means it could contribute to a setup that’s completely impossible to ride if you don’t know what your doing. That’s why it’s important to understand split angles if you are going to seek the benefits of using them.

landyachtz-evo-side-view

When we say, “truck angles” we are specifically talking about the angle of the truck pivot in relation to the deck (it’s leverage). Measure all truck angles by the pivot itself, not the kingpin (common mistake). All trucks, be them TKP or RKP or even things like Moe’s 3-link trucks, all have an angle, even if it’s zero.

randalangles

I discovered split angles myself when I bought a Carver skateboard, they are more of a “surfskate” than a skateboard and are designed to pump in a surfing style to propel them forward. I used one of these to commute to work for a year once, it’s a great workout, but I wanted more speed and efficiency. Carvers are designed for fast acceleration with a low top speed and I was always sweaty coming into the office, lol.

Carvers have a unique truck setup, with a TKP (traditional kingpin) rear truck with rake like an old Tracker RTS (pumping slalom rear truck), while the Carver front trucks are super weird special designs. The CX is a RKP (reverse kingpin) with crazy amounts of rake and it really does work, it feels like surfing and everyone should get a chance to try one of these. The ability of these boards comes from the extreme split angles and rake of the trucks.

The physics of pumping is debatable and it’s not important for electrics unless you wish to charge while riding and get a workout. All you really need to know is that split angles make pumping more efficient, just like a flexible deck and well-tuned bushings. Split angles have been used in skateboards for decades to significant effect.

I soon discovered something called LDP or Long Distance Pumping. And this is what the ultra skaters do to break those 24-hour endurance records, I believe they are above 300 miles within 24 hours now (unpowered). This was obviously the more efficient way for me to get to work without sweating as much. These take what is learned from old slalom setups and surf skates like Carvers to create the ultimate pumping machine. The Subsonic Pulse and Skate Kings Blaster are notable examples of a long slalom board to facilitate a longer wheelbase and pumping trucks under a flexible deck with tons of leverage. They are not meant to be stable or for high speed but for a giant longboard they can turn on a dime (put a pin in that thought).

Then came the Gbomb bracket setups which allowed you to pump a lowered deck, combining pushing and pumping efficiency into one setup made to go far. The newest Gbomb model, the Black Panther, comes with a zero-degree rear torsion tail truck, it’s lightweight and totally unique. It can be paired with a Bennett Vector, Bhanger or Poppy front truck which all turn like mad with tons of rake. This is the most extreme example of split angles you will find and it works beautifully.

Rear truck at zero degrees, front truck at 65 degrees (0/65)

Ok now that you have some examples of extreme split angles here is some more practical use for us electric builders. Because that’s why we are here, right?

Downhill riders discovered split angles a long time ago and they use them to reduce speed wobbles. While a LDP rider will take the front angle to 65 degrees and the rear to zero, a downhill setup will be more moderate, angles in the 20-45 area and gently tuned for how fast they are going. These days downhill setups have trended toward very narrow truck widths to gain traction in the corners, and with such narrow and fast turning hangers, the angles have been going down, along with the wheelbase to keep the turn radius the same while having more stability. A giant longboard simply isn’t a necessity anymore to gain stability for high speeds, we now have very low angle trucks which do the same thing on much shorter decks.

This downhill setup features 47/23 split angles

The best truck solutions for electric longboards I have found, that are readily available, are the Calibers and TB218 (Torque Board 218mm). Both use the same baseplate geometry and you can interchange them, even with Randal and other brands as well. This means you can tune your truck angles without having to use wedges or bent decks, and you can find upgrades to make them work much better.

Caliber II trucks work the best with Riptide pivot upgrade in WFB 96a, use an ice pick and pliers to take out the old one and put in these, you will thank me. Same thing on the TB218 and Randal baseplates. http://www.riptidesports.com/wfb-96a-pivot-cup-choices/

Caliber II’s take Riptide barrel bushings, because the truck is only 180mm wide the leverage isn’t high when compared to the TB218. Riptide Krankz work perfectly for beginners in this application and are very forgiving. Sometimes I prefer APS for a more precise rebound which I use for long range riding and even WFB for a squishy dead feeling if I’m going to do some speeding. Use the chart on his website to find the right ones for your weight.

Torque board 218mm trucks are wide and have a ton of leverage, they also have a wider bushing seat, lending better to the Riptide Cannon bushings on the road-side. I really like the Fat Cone bushings on the board-side of TB218 trucks, but I weight 200lb’s, lightweight guys may get away with Cannons on the board-side, who knows. Try it and let us know.

The following is stolen directly from Riptide’s website, experiment and find what you like. The most common is the barrel/barrel, I would always start there and change as needed.

• The Cone / Cone setup is for those looking for a very carvy or surfy feel. With this choice, the further you lean, the less resistance there is.

• The Cone / Barrel setup is for those looking for a carvy or surfy feel but with a bit more stability. With this choice, the resistance is constant throughout the range of motion.

• The Barrel / Barrel setup is for those looking for higher stability at higher speeds but still highly maneuverable for slides, high speed carving and downhill applications.

• The Barrel / FatCone setup is for those looking for higher stability at higher speeds but still highly maneuverable for slides, high speed carving and downhill applications. This setup is ideal when you need to restrict the ends of the lean to prevent wheelbite or if you just like a more progressive feel to your setup.

• The Barrel / Chubby is our go to set up for most applications due to its versatility. It is excellent for Freeride, Fast Freeride, Technical Downhill, Downhill and just flat out speed.

If you are using a single motor or dual diagonally mounted, go with the Calibers. If you are building a short wheelbase, like less than 19 inches from inside bolts to inside bolts, then go with the 44 degree Calibers on front and rear. If you are going for a faster more stable long wheelbase setup like most people are, then a split angle is the best option. Get the Randal 35-degree angle baseplate for the rear truck, and 50-degree Caliber baseplate for the front. this way you don’t need wedges or you can further tune with wedges after that. Rule of thumb is to not have the front truck over 65 degrees.

Rear 35 degree baseplate further dewedged a few degrees.

Front 50 degree baseplate wedged even further.

With a split angle setup, you can haul-ass at high speed without wobbles that are generated in the rear, since the rear truck just leans more than it turns now. And to make up for that lack of maneuverability, the increased front angle at 50-65 degrees will help you get around those turns you need to carve on your favorite routes. Tune your front angle to make it around those turns, altering them or changing them based on your experience in your area on your routes. That part is subjective and both the front angle and your wheelbase will determine if you make those turns in style or you must get off and reset the board.

If you are using or wanting a dual motor setup, TB218 are the shit, they are wide enough to carry some big motors and one of the only solutions now. As I stated above, these take the same baseplates so you can also use the 35 degree Randal baseplate in the rear to make the rear end feel dead and stable, while using any Caliber 44 or 50-degree truck with a combo of wedges on the front to get the desired turn radius. Keep in mind this also allows the truck to lean a lot more in the rear so pay attention to your motor clearance if you’re going to run those giant motors side by side. I have had to use 1 inch risers on my TB218 setups, get a strong stable riser for these super wide trucks, they need a kingpin upgrade as well.

The axles of the TB218 trucks are longer than your typical skateboard truck and you can simply use spacers to get the desired width, think of them as variable width trucks because you can put the spacers on the inside or outside of the wheel bearings depending on the needs of your setups. Obviously precision spacers from companies like Don’t Trip will help a lot, bearing spacers work in a pinch, but I would recommend finding some thick precision spacers made for the job.

The take away for eskaters is that we can learn from all those types of skateboards that came before. We can take the agility of a Carver and combine it with the stability of a downhill setup and take advantage of everything learned before and push it forward. I now view split angles as a necessity on eskates to increase performance without any drawbacks, who wouldn’t include the feature in their build?

If you need specific help with a setup already built and you are getting into tuning the finer details, post what you have and what you want it to feel like over here in the Bushing Setup help thread: Bushing Set up Help - #439 by mmaner - ESK8 Mechanics - Electric Skateboard Builders Forum | Learn How to Build your own E-board

Here’s a Turning Radius Calculator which will help you understand how everything relates: Turning Radius Calculator | Nelson Longboards

Here’s some very detailed math on your turning radius setup thanks to Nelson longboards: Different Wheelbase Same Turning Radius? Dial in Your Next Setup With | Nelson Longboards

If you have any questions speak up so everyone can hear you and if anyone has edits or additional info to add, please do. Congratulations on getting through my post, I commend your thirst for knowledge. As a reward, here’s a video of my fat ass pumping a gbomb… My 1st gbomb!! Finally.. now I need to work on my form.. #gbomb #ldp #ldpskate #skateboarding #longboarding #longdistancepumping | By Sean | Facebook

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Nice post @squishy654 you captured alot of great info here. Kudos man.

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Brand spankin new to all this… recently got some caliber 2 trucks and plan on having a 42/50 setup… maybe even adding 7 degree wedges and making it 35/57… double barrel bushings… is this what im looking for? Any suggestions?

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Nice post, I’ve been using the TB 218mm trucks with the Miurskate almost precision kit and it’s been my favorite truck set up so far, feels carvy for me but super stable at higher speeds. My bushings hardness is different upfront its softer 90a and in the back I’m running 97a

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That’s a great start for the wheelbases we end up at with electrics, yup, great start dude, you are on track…Only suggestion would be to to try to change the angles as much as possible using baseplate options before wedges. find a 35 degree plate for the rear and then you won’t need any wedges there, just risers. Wedges change the way the truck forces function and also might bend hardware in ways that make them weak. @Alphamail might have better info as to why wedges should be the last resort over baseplate or deck options.

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@squishy654 what base plate would fit the TB218mm trucks I’d rather not use a wedge.

Edit I just saw you said Randal base plates would work nice!!!

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This is a good way to “mimmik” what split angles do, and typically when you have different angles, the leverage on each will be different, meaning you will be forced to use different bushing duros on the front and back.

If you stand on a 35 degree truck with a 90a bushing, it will be easier to lean over than a 50 degree truck on the same 90a bushing, and if you wish the front and rear to match in feel and reduce the chances of wheel lift, then the lower angle truck should feature a harder duro bushing or even a different shape. I personally run a Fat Cone on the board-side rear of my commuter setup, giving that extra leverage more bushing to compress and better matching my barrel/barrel in the front. get it?

In this way, both angle and truck width impact the amount of leverage put on the bushing, and we “tune” this fact using different duros and shapes in certain places. That’s a subject better suited for the bushing thread and it’s been talked about already, but highly related.

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May I have a question?

If I wanted to make long distance pumping longboard with a flexy bamboo deck I have (similar to vanguard) what trucks would you recommend? SLalom set up with RKP and bennett vectors or RKP paris 150mm with angled risers?

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beginner pumping trucks pairs:

Bennett Vector 109mm in the front
Tracker RTS 106mm in the rear or Bennett Vector 109mm in the front
Randal 125mm 42 or 35 degree in the rear

there’s also special modded Randals for the rear too like the “SKANDAL” 108mm

Advanced LDP truck pairs:

Don’t Trip Poppies front and rear

Don’t trip Bhanger in the front with any rear

Gbomb torsion tail or Don’t Trip Delirium zero in the rear with any front above

There’s many options, here’s some pictures of them…

Delirium 1964

Bhanger 1989

Torsion Tail TTS450x290

Adjustable baseplate Poppies (basically) 1969

Bennett Vector with spherical bearing mod

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Probably the biggest argument against split angles is that it takes away the ability to ride switch. That’s basically non-applicable here, so split angles should really be totally standard for eskaters.

I’d also like to add, aside from riding trucks with different baseplate angles, or running wedges, another option is choosing a deck with split angles built in. There’s quite a few out there.

Personally I prefer ~ a 7 deg split. I don’t think there’s really good reason to go all the way to a 0 rear for general purpose riding. Lowing the angle of the rear is a great way to provide stability, but its not like a board isn’t stable unless you do that, so I would suggest designing around ‘stable enough’ rather than ‘stable as possible’.

My advice for choosing your front/rear trucks and geometries is to put in the trucks that will give you the turning you want in the front, and the trucks that will give you the stability you want in the rear, and you’ll basically get both. That goes for everything, you’re not just limited to splitting angles. You can split angles, axle offset, hanger width, bushings, so on and so forth to get the best turning in the front, and the best stability in the rear. Even to the point of having completely different designs between front and rear, as indeed you see with a lot of the Gbomb stuff.

Also if you want precision on a budget, I think if you put precision just on the front you basically get most of a full precision setup, because turning is coming from the front.

Lastly, as far as speed wobbles coming from the rear, this isn’t really relevant to the message of the thread, but my take on it more and more has been that speed wobble actually comes from the front, and you control it by putting your weight there. And the rear just has to be stable enough behave on its own without you having a lot of your weight on it to control it. In other words having a more stable geometry in the rear allows you to move more of your weight off of it so you can bring it forward to control the wobble coming from the front.

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@CHAINMAILLEKID Well said dude, thanks for the added info! You are totally correct about the switch thing and the point being moot.

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yep added a 6 degree riser to my front truck and now it is behaving stable and makes me comfortable riding past the 20mph

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Where’s the best place to purchase different kinds of angles wedges?

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Will caliber 2 hangers fit randll baseplates? Why risk wedging if it does dnage to your hardware? Does it depend on the wedge? ( Btw just took your recommendation @squishy654 and got a pair of pivot cups!!)

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On the topic of TB218’s I’ve had them only a couple months and they are warped to shit… like I have to replace them already and honestly doesn’t feel like I got much use out of them… I don’t do crazy anything with this deck it’s my daily commuter to get to and from work, I even upgraded the bushings, because the stocks were trash imo, and it was a solid setup for a good month (1st month or so i waa working bugs out) now i cant even keep a belt on without popping it or shooting it off… just my experience thus far

As for bushings I use riptides wfb 93a chubby’s and 95.5a Fat cones, super stable, no speed wobbles w/ 0 wedges and 1/2" risers @30mph steady cruising

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Wooh, alot to read and learn today. Thanks for sharing your knowledge @squishy654 :ok_hand:

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the PERFECT reference post, replaced about 5 bookmarks for me :slight_smile:

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ebay is a good place or skateshops. Mine are from the company Bolzen.

Thanks for posting this! Nice. I have 4 LDP setups (how did that get so high…) Front trucks are Carver CX, Bennett Vector, and Airflow precision slalom. Loads of fun!

I got confused a bit, so I checked. Randall default baseplate is 50, just in case anyone else gets confused.

Flexy like Vanguard is not optimal because the flex dampens and delays response, but can kind of work. It’s good with Randall IIs, but it’s like a high gear pump. Kick it up to speed then start wiggling.

All setups can pump, but they just feel like different gears. Short wheelbase TKP can accelerate pretty well at low speed but it’s hard keep it going at high speed. Big wheelbase RKP is hard to accelerate at low speed but you get big efficient pumps at high speed.

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Randal base plates come in 35, 42, 50

Caliber II base plates come in 44 and 50 and I found them here a long with lots of other brands. Buy Baseplates and Hangers at the Sick Skate and Longboard Store

Here is a really nice adjustable solution: https://www.valkyrietruckco.com/store/p1/Hildr_Adjustable_Base.html

Here is a chart from 5 years ago of what hangers fit what, randal is listed.

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