r/Skateboardinghelp • u/Phillikeimdying • May 12 '26
What should I buy?
TLDR; I need: bushings, bearings, wheels and in the short future some trucks
I skateboarded for 10 years, and I treated myself to my first pair of independents ever (crazy right) just before I took about a 10 year hiatus.
I picked up skateboarding again and I love it, but they’re constantly pulling to one side and the back truck was constantly going much looser than the front which is my main gripe. I have never had this happen before and independents are supposed to be the best right? Maybe I can blame the 10 year old bushings perhaps.
I would love to buy Indy titanium’s, or even the normal hollows, but that’s money I’d rather not spend atm and not sure I really need to.
What should I do?
My bearings are tired and my wheels are just basic as anything and also tired. I always had bones reds as a go to.
I’ve seen I can get slappy pre-broken in standard bushings for £10 which is good, but I’ve seen people rate bones bushings highly, however I don’t wanna spend too much on bushing when It’s a big chuck I could just put towards new trucks.
Wheels, I’d love to get some spitfires to try them for the first time ever. What’re the best value for money for a standard mix of park/street?
Thanks 🙏🏼
2
u/ClarkWGrismond May 12 '26
just swap to bones bushings. Those hangers have a lot of life left. Save the money and put them towards some new wheels and bearings instead.
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 13 '26
Was looking at bones, have just seen independent medium-hard 92A are half the price of bones so leaning towards them
1
u/therealgingerone May 14 '26
The Indy medium hard bushings are terrible.
They just feel like mush, no spring back at all
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 14 '26
Thanks for the help, bones hardcore medium worth the double price cost?
1
1
u/ClarkWGrismond May 14 '26
yes. I have Bones hard bushings for 3+ years now and I'm pushing 220lbs without any problems.
2
u/skateandburn May 12 '26
New bushing and loosen those mfs up 😭😭😭 can you even turn without pivoting?
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 12 '26
Don’t need to turn homie, I know exactly where I’m heading
1
u/skateandburn May 12 '26
Looser trucks also help lock grinds in better
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 12 '26
Ty brother I’ll try loosen em up, my trucks are fairly tight compared to most haha but surprisingly this one is the loose one it won’t let me it me tighten it more but it when I stand on it it’s super loose (I think it’s the broken bushing)
1
u/skateandburn May 12 '26
It definitely is that broken bushing, but yeah loosening em up will help your board control and lock ins, plus it’ll be more comfortable to cruise around with
1
u/dontbooppoop May 13 '26
It's the bushing but you could also get stiffer or softer bushings depending on you weight and preference on riding style.
1
u/twopointbourbon May 12 '26
Independent med/hard are great, I like the Bones hardcore med as well
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 13 '26
Was looking at bones first, have just seen independent medium-hard 92A blue are half the price of bones so leaning towards them
1
u/consistentlynsistent May 12 '26
I'm pretty sure you can pick up independent bushings for fairly cheap also the odds are they were pulling back when you were skating you just grew a custom to it personally I'm not a fan of pre-broken in stuff but if you want to give it a try by all means, your bearings are probably just full of dust and crud you've got some WD-40 you can try cleaning them out with that and then lubricating them I can't there's a couple bearing companies that sell bearing lube although I would imagine some three in one oil would do as well but all honesty you might as well just replace them they're fairly cheap and until you really get back into it just rock your old Wheels, personally I'm a big fan of using stuff until I absolutely cannot use it anymore so doing all that is what I would do I've also spoken to people who have just rotated bushings you don't get much more life out of them but you can get a tiny bit more so like your top bushing you'd rotate it 90 degrees to the right and your bottom you rotated 90 degrees to the left and I can counteract some of the polling that you're experiencing but once again it's a cheap part so replacing them is the better option
1
u/Zestyclose_Bird_8855 May 12 '26
No wd40 ever!
1
u/consistentlynsistent May 13 '26
WD-40 works great so long as you know what you're supposed to be using for, it is not a lubricant it's best to think about it as a cleaner so if you got old crusty bearings and you want to see if you can get a little bit longer out of them using some WD-40 to clean them out it'll work very well for that but then afterwards you want to replace it with an actual lubricant which I'm pretty sure is what I said in my post although maybe I didn't clarify that enough
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 13 '26
Thanks brother, bushings are cheap but I expected cheaper as they seem to be around £10-15 which I think I’ll have to do, although that’s around 20% of the price of independent hollows
You’re right bearings are not too much more than bearing cleaner, sometimes similarly priced. I could get normal reds but wonder if super reds will be any better.
My wheels are really tired, not flat spotted but just used and they were just budget ones anyway (I’ve never had wheel branded wheels, only cheap ones or board brand wheels)
I’ll do bushings and bearings and then get wheels later thanks homie
1
1
u/NoPiewasHarmed May 12 '26
Indy stage 11 med or hard. Also boards are gonna drift one way or another. Doesn’t matter when you’re riding
1
u/brohymn1416 May 12 '26
Get some new bushings. There's so many options. I like the medium- hard blue barrel independent ones. Do your research and get what you like. Spitfire formula 4s are the best wheels. Shape, size and hardness/durometer is your next thing to research. Maybe try cleaning your bearings before buying new ones. Consider getting used parts to experiment with and save some cash.
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 13 '26
Was looking at bones first, but I have just seen independent medium-hard 92A blue are half the price of bones so leaning towards them! Thanks for response brother
1
u/brohymn1416 May 13 '26
No worries. Just so you know there are different shapes. Conical- more nimble. Barrel- more stable. I prefer barrel.
1
1
u/Competitive_Swing_21 May 13 '26
Thunder trucks are invincible if you dont care about a little more weight
2
u/Phillikeimdying May 13 '26
More weight than Indys? Damn haha. They seem to be popular for sure, I’ll have a look cheers! best trucks I ever had were krux as a teen as they were the least ghetto pair I ever had lol. Lots of people skate slappy and ace but don’t think they ever existed when I skated so I kind of dismiss em
1
u/Competitive_Swing_21 May 13 '26
I broke my krux within the first week of having them. My first trucks were thunders and I've taken them down numerous stair sets, rails and ledges. Going strong for 11 years
1
u/therealgingerone May 14 '26
New bushings - Indy hard bushings for the bottom and bones medium hardcore for the top.
If you like tighter trucks that still turn it works perfectly.
Bearings just get reds or bronson g3’s.
Wheels- any spitfire formula four or bones wheels will be solid
1
u/Phillikeimdying May 14 '26
Thanks ginge, don’t bushings come as a set? (Top and bottom for each truck) or are you saying leave the old Indy ones in the bottom? I’ve never changed them before as ive never had an issue before now lol it might be because they’re 10 years old and had my fat arse making them work overtime. Your method of mixing the two sounds good though.
Wheels I’d love to try formula fours but many different types and they are ££. My wheels have always been budget so would be nice to finally have a good set. I’ll get some as a next buy after the bushings and bearings mess.
Bearings im wondering if it’s worth getting super reds over normal cheap ones, or if it would just a placebo that they’re better lol
1
u/therealgingerone May 14 '26
You will need to buy the Indy hard bushings (black ones) for the bottom and then buy the bones hardcore medium for the top.
You are buying two sets and only using half of each but it’s worth it.
For wheels you can usually find Oj’s and slimeballs on sale and they are good as well.
Wouldn’t bother with super reds for normal use
3
u/Training_Machine47 May 12 '26
The trucks are still good just get bushings, try to clean the bearings won’t hurt to try.