How I Accidentally Destroyed My Bushings 

This rules! Trucks are the most frustrating thing for me to change & break in. Thanks for making this

This is such a good tip video, I would've had no idea about this but I got my first board in winter from a shop and they knew I was new to skating and warned me about breaking the bushings in. Cheers for all the great videos Sarah!

Hi Sara. I like your videos and be thankful for the time you spend to share all this knowledge. I had the same accident. Bought a new pair of Bones Hard bushings (black) and blew them out on the first session. I made 2 things wrong : 1st- I tightened them at once without doing it gradually. 2nd- I listened to a guy saying that if the bones bushings are squeaky, you just don't use the upper washer. Indeed the noise stopped immediately due to the loss of the friction between the washer and the plastic (top) of the bushing, but as i screw them enough and start skating, after a few minutes they blew out. Even Bones say that they don't need "break in period", i think the key is that this break in period is necessary for every bushing .And always the top washer on because the nut doesn't cover the entire surface of the bushing and presses it unevenly. Many greetings from Greece. Keep up with those amazing and super helpful videos. We need this knowledge from everyone to everyone.

Hey Sarah. I just wanted to come here and tell you how much I appreciate your channel. I'm a family guy in my 30's longing for my youth and trying to get back in touch with my inner kid that I sort of lost somewhere along the way even when I swore to never be that guy. I used to skate in the 90's as a kid and the environment was very toxic. Everyone was dared to do crazy things even if they had no idea how to, everybody had to learn this and that and it was all street street street, highest ollie wins. Most just quit because they didn't have the patience to learn stuff that was too difficult to begin with and/or didn't want to deal with the pressure. At the same time I have incredibly fond memories of those times and I really want to experience some of that again. Well now that I'm an overweight guy with a bit of age and a lot to lose I can't take those nasty hits anymore (just gonna take the reasonable ones, haha) and I also don't have the time or the patience to go practice ollies for 5 hours every day like I did back then. I'm so happy I found your channel and started to look into freestyle type of tricks. I think your ethos is absolutely on point. You are very encouraging and you make people feel good about what they can do instead of making them feel bad about what they can't (yet) do and all this while wearing protection which frankly I think everybody should do. I think you also set a great example of being merciful to yourself. Yesterday I came home after hanging out with my old friends and just bombed down all hills along the way with a grin on my face. I think I really found it again, I'm so happy. Thank you Sarah. For taking the macho out of skateboarding and doing it to feel good about yourself. You are amazing.

Thankyou for sharing and breaking this down so well. I have been surf skating and longboarding for over a year. (Yay Rona!) And I decided to get a popsicle style to practice street skating. I also want this board for my son to practice with. I screwed up the bushings in just a week of riding and I went right into doing ollies. I also had cranked the kingpin nut tight that I blew the back truck of the bearing in two,places. It felt and looked different like yours. I got discouraged because I didn't know you could do this. When I started with the former board I never messed with the truck till I got used to it and still dont do so on my surfskates (just the thruster bolt). I appreciate you making this video and feel better about making a mistake like that. Can't wait to try this again when the new bushings arrive. Be safe!

Really cool setup and this deck is to awesome!

I literally did the exact same thing! Thank you for this!

Great video Sarah. Very useful to know that about bushings. I don't think I broke mine in properly but they seem fine, and thats after around 2-3 months. I will ensure next time I have new trucks I will do some transition first.

Thanks for the tips! I know what you mean with not wanting to ride the new board. So shiny! It's hard to come to terms with the fact that whatever you use to skate will get ruined eventually. The board, wheels, bushings, clothes, shoes...and your ankles and shins!

As someone who will be skating in cold weather in 3-4 months, this is good to know. Thanks!

3:15 forbidden gummies 👀 I didn't realize it was possible to break them like that. It sucks but I like how you can replace all the little bits and parts in a skateboard when something breaks or stops working instead of throwing the whole thing away.

Just loosened my new trucks mi-video! Thanks for the tip!

Great info, thanks!

You nailed the science bit! Polymers I’m general are very temperature sensitive. Molecular mobility is hindered when it’s cold. It’s the same as what you probably saw when you boiled the bushings except they softened in the heat. Glass transition temperature and a behavior called time temperature superposition are basic concepts related to this. It’s neat to see how much science is really in skating. Source: I work in this field and have ~8 years of experience with these sorts of systems. Great and informative video! Thanks for posting

Great video as usual, just a tip don't feel bad about destruction of factory bushings, even when I get brand new Ace trucks I pull out the factory bushings and replace them with ones I prefer, I will actually mix match different ones, 100a close to board and 91a on hanger, actually many guys do this including Andy Anderson who did it in a setup vid, so next set of trucks just pull out bushings keep em as spares and toss in the ones you like right from get go!

Built my new board today - Welcome Nora Vasconcellos 8.6", 54mm spitfires, Krux K5 and Super Reds - and as a consequence just ran out to the garage to loosen the trucks back off!

Hi Sarah, In bushings, I recommend you the brand Doh Doh by Shorty's you have 5 durometers and colors, 88a, 92a, 95a, 98a and 100a. They are made out of urethane and, in my personal experience, are the best bushings in the game. Give them a try, I'm sure you'll like them. To give you an idea I'm 6'2 and weight 82 kg, I love my trucks really tight and I wear the black Doh Dohs, 100a. Of course you can do combinations of durometers but doh doh's are the best.

omfg that board I'm so in love. Guess I don't need to worry about my bushings that much, since its summer and I'm just trying to figure how to push rn without losing my balance and faceplanting HAVENT BROKEN MY ANKLE YET!

I had indy mids or lows my dad bought me when i was like 12yo but i rode tight trucks and cracked the bushing a bit, but when i got older and skated those trucks again i skated them loose and the cracked messed up bushings were so good in those trucks, no squeek, nice loose perfect consistant turning, they are a trnslucant red color and i never seen indy make translucent bushings after that. Maybe theyre cheaping out on new stock bushings

I have been riding bones bushings for about a year, but just a few days ago I have decided to switch back to Indy bushings because I have noticed that my Ollies and pops were higher and more consistent with Indy bushings. Bones are good for carving but after a few months they go very soft and they give me too much instability on my board.

Yes, rubber becomes hard and brittle in the cold. This effect even caused the Challenger Space Shuttle to explode in 1986. When watching your comparison at the end of the video something looked familiar. I once ruined my first custom printed deck by leaving the setup in the car which was parked right in front of the skatepark in bright sunlight. This time heat was the problem - it can deform the deck permanently by drying out the veneer. But I read somewhere that something similar can also happen in cold and/ or damp conditions. This "warped deck" condition seems to be quite common. I checked all my (four) setups and a spare deck and all of them seemed to be a little warped. But just not notable enough. PS.: This weak on go skateboarding day I discovered that I had a broken pivot cup...

Just having new setup yesterday and nearly over tigten the thunder truck with stock bushing.....since i was on a hard bushing setup the new setup was a bit to responsive to me

One day I realised that my board was slightly leaning to one side and when i checked the bushings and saw a little crack and thought it was normal until I saw this video, and thanks for the advise.

I actually prefer bones bushings over stock ones, they make carving bowls easier for me, hope you like em! Also, you don’t need the stock washers on either side, just the black ones that come with them, so if you want your kingpin nut to screw on more, you can just remove em

I've noticed that bushing seem to be softer when new before you skate them at all, and then harden up. I would have expected the opposite. I've noticed this with Indy stock bushings as well as Thunder, and also Mini Logo. You are right, you can screw them up if you tighten them down too much to begin with. I found that I'll tighten them down when brand new and then have to loosen them up after a few minutes of riding on them. If you tighten them down too much, they will mushroom out and will actually get looser. I found that they can only be tightened down so much or they will be ruined. If you need them harder, then, you need to get harder bushings. Also, I've found that they harden over a longer period of time also. For example, I had some Mini Logo trucks with the stock bushings which I found were way too loose. I couldn't get them tightened down enough to prevent wheel bite, because they are really low trucks. I switched to different trucks and gave up on the Mini Logos, but, then, I tried the same trucks a couple years later, and the bushings had hardened up to where they were usable. The main thing that I've learned, is make sure you don't over tighten them right away. Normally, I tighten them to the point where I can ride on two wheels, but, not get wheel bite. But, it's best to not tighten them down to that point before breaking them in at all.

the bushings that come stock with trucks are usually trash anyhow. you got a nice upgrade with the bones!

Yo! Those thunder bushings suck. I love the trucks but the last two sets I had the bushings blew out. Changed to Indy bushings and it’s mint

Hey Sarah, thanks for the vids. I saw that you put some wax on the bushings. I think you better don't do that, don't wax or oil bushings because it will ruin them. You can do wax into the pivot cup. This will help with squeaky Trucks. And i don't think that bones hardcore bushings fit into Thunder Trucks. I had some Polster Trucks, which are identical in construction to Thunder. And i first ruined the bushings with oiling them. Then i put some bones hardcore medium into and ruined them in 1 Day. I then bought a second pair of bones Hardcore mediums and ruined them again directly. I think the Kingpin of Thunder/Polster Trucks is too short, and if you tighten bones hardcore bushings just a little, they got destroyed. They are made to be onto the Truck with no pressure of the Kingpin Nut. And if you need them to be tighter or looser you need to get a softer/harder pair of new bushings. Now i am riding Indy 149 standarts and they are just fine with stock bushings and factory adjustment. But i did the same mistakes to them like you to your thunders... I hope that helps, i really like your vids!

Hi, you don't need the stock washers for bones bushings. They are already included. The little rings on them are enough. Just add the small black ones on top. Thanks for your vids. Greetings from Berlin.

You will especially blow out some new bushings if they are on the harder spectrum...over tightening hard bushings right away will kill them ,I've gone to the medium Bones like you're riding here and slowly tighten them over time as I run my trucks a bit tight and it has helped a lot

I just did the same thing. Got new trucks for my board, rode for 2 weeks, and they kept getting stuck on a wonk. I found the bushings were falling apart and emailed the shop I bought them from, asking about a replacement, as it seemed to me like the problem was a poor quality product. The guy was super unhelpful and just told me I crushed them. Didn't offer any advice or suggestions. So I find myself here, figuring it out with your help.

I noticed my main board stopped turning left. I land on the right side practicing ollies and I think I smashed the bushings on just that side. I swapped the trucks around and have been trying to even things out.

I never knew that. The more you know! :)

Ive had the bones medium bushings for about 8 months and they still squeak is this normal? Great videos by the way!

Hi, I have a question, I just order a new par of Thunders and I plan to put same Bones bushings on them. How it feels in comparison between stock and Bones bushings?

The bones are most likely an upgrade. They are great quality. Lose all the old washers though. Top and bottom. Use just the black Bones ones on top. You will know you have too much washer if you're not seeing enough threads before adding the nut. After adding and giving a few turns, the top of the bolt should be around the top of the nut start with zero threads showing and add a 1/4 - 1/2 turn occasionally as you ride/ feel them loosen up. In the end you normally want stiff enough bushings that don't need to be cranked past 2 threads max, after breaking in. But starting at the bolt even with the top of the nut and tightening a little here and there. Don't be afraid to loosen and tighten a little to suit what you're doing/ feeling. Thanks for the tips. I'm old and getting back into skating again to do some tricks to impress my kids. Lolz

I'm guessing those were Thunder bushings? I like their bushings. Been thinking about picking up a set of 100's Th Bones are great as well. I've discovered that even HARD bushings are never really that hard. So if you like tight trucks...Definitely be ware of adding to many things to bushings as they may change the geometry of your trucks.

I have trashed bushings in this way as well. I like tighter trucks ( I know, sue me) but trying to make trucks tight with those soft jelly lookin bushings will kill them no matter. There is a middle ground you can reach with harder bushings not so tight. I love the Bones hard🖤 I will never get the "super loose" thing, where some only use one bushing or they have the kinpin nut barely engaged on the threads. Apparently it's cool 🤷‍♂️

Since the bones bushings have that plastic caps, are you supposed to ride them without washers?

Hey Sarah where are you getting your boards from? I was wondering to get some freestyle boards and some old school decks but I have no clue where to buy them. I used skateboard warehouse few times.

Dang, thanks for the confirmation. I discovered I did this very thing... which I should've known when my board randomly yeeted right one day, while the rest of me (see: my face) kept going forward :p

Does that apply to new cars?? Good one to know Thankyou

Do you have any solutions if I can’t buy new ones

Your bushings will blow out eventually theres not much you can do about it. Bones bushings are good although they give an annoying click sometimes and usually break within a month. Alot of the time you can ride broken or cracked bushings it doesn't effect your skating too much mainly just inconsitent truck tightness

whoa cool sailor moon board

Bones bushings never last long for me in thunder trucks. I think cause the bones have thinner tops. Sucks cause I love bones bushings and thunder trucks

she sounds like a therapist teaching you how to skate, its so weird yet so helpful i dont wanna be shouted at sayin "LEVEL OUT YOUR OLLIES"

Oh... and btwn you can kill that squeak by adding some soap shavings to the pivot cup. (There's videos out there. )

Don't use those washers. Bones bushing are designed to be used without the washers; They come with a specific set of top washers. By using the truck's original washers you are applying too much pressure and it can damage the bushings. Check the instruction on the inside of the box for more details. keeps skating.

Why do you have the big bushing on top?

Can you help me with my caspers please just a regular Casper flop

🤙🏼⚡⚡🤙🏼

your not alone, i found out that you need to break-in the bushing after 17 years. lucky we got youtube now or i will never know how long it would make me realize i need to break-in the bushing first🤣😂🤣😂

I hope these won't break!

Turned out my back kingpin was bend. Bushings were fine though. :)

I'm early today :)

your kitty is so pretty

anyone know the trick she did at 2:08

Your partner is actually amazing lol

That sucks! It's a bit of an achievement though.

Thanks a lot

Hi sarah how r u

Who els is just knowing what bushings are

Don't worry, i destroyed a lot of bushings in the past 20 years.