To make your longboard turn sharper, loosen your trucks, change your bushings, add angle riser pads, swap to a shorter wheelbase, or swap out to new trucks. Be cautious about wheelbite and always test before going out to ride.
Technique
First, let’s discuss the basic fundamentals of carving since it’s important to have them down before tweaking your setup.
Shift your weight to your toes and heels. If you don’t feel comfortable riding yet, practice on the grass.
The opening and closing of your shoulders are key. Take your front arm and hold it out in front of you. If you’re regular, that’s your left arm, and goofy, it’s your right.
Now, move your arm about a foot to the left, bring it back, and a foot to the right – bring it back.
Why did I make you do that?
It forces you to open your shoulders, which is key to heelside turning, and close your shoulders, which is key to toeside turning.
Loosen Your Trucks
The first and easiest thing I’d recommend is to loosen your trucks. This will allow your longboard to turn sharper without buying anything new.
Don’t loosen them too much because you risk your truck completely falling apart.
How do you know if they’re too loose?
A good rule of thumb is to loosen it enough without allowing the top washer to move. Try to spin your top washer with your thumb and index finger. If it moves, your trucks are too loose. You want your washer always to be tight.
If loosening your trucks doesn’t do it, I’d move on to your bushings.
Bushing Tweaks
Three things when it comes to bushings…
One, your bushings could be old and worn out. In that case, I’d recommend getting some new RipTide bushings. You could try reviving old bushings by boiling water, removing it from the heat source, and putting the bushings in. Let them sit in there until the water cools.
Two, if you have a cup washer, you could turn it upside down, so there’s less resistance when carving. Better yet, go to your local hardware store and purchase a flat washer.
Three, you could swap for two cone-shaped bushings. Double cones will make you turn sharper than if you had a barrel and cone.
Angled Riser Pads
Increasing the angle of your trucks with angled riser pads will make your longboard carve sharper. While it might not be a mind-blowing change, it will help.
Reference our angled riser pads post. It’s an affordable way to make your longboard turn sharper.
Shorter Wheelbase
If you have a shorter deck, you could use that instead. This will shorten the wheelbase, making your turns more snappy. Or you could try drilling a shorter wheelbase in your current setup. This wheelbase modification tool is helpful if you decide to do it.
Swap Trucks
If none of the above methods work for you, it might be time to swap to new trucks. Something with a higher baseplate angle will have more turn.
If you already have 50-degree reverse kingpins, you might want to experiment with traditional kingpins. Reference our trucks article for more info.
