Once you have the hang of turning on your longboard, your next thought might be…
“How can I make my longboard turn sharper?”
Before you start tweaking your setup, have you tried bending your knees and getting lower?
Getting lower will make it much easier to shift your weight and turn. If that’s not it and your setup feels too stiff, here are some simple solutions.
How To Make Your Longboard Turn Sharper?
To make your longboard turn sharper, bend your knees and get lower. Or you can loosen your trucks, change bushings, add angle riser pads, and swap to a shorter wheelbase. Be cautious about wheelbite and always test before going out to ride.
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.
I highly recommend you read this article, where I share my experience with angled riser pads. 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.
More in-depth info on wheelbase here.
Swap Trucks
If none of the methods above work for you, then 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. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out this article which covers the basics of longboard trucks.
