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How to Put Longboard Wheels on a Skateboard? A Step-by-Step Guide

longboard wheels on a skateboard
Written by Brian G Smith

In the world of skateboarding and longboarding, there is one mantra – keep upgrading or revamping your rig. What’s good for the cow may not be for the bull. It’s a highly individualistic sport and you can’t break down boards into theories and principles. The rider counts. The same board on a tall guy behaves totally different than on a short guy and conversely. Long legs make kicking easier but also make you lose stability as your center of gravity rises. For a shorter guy, his board has more stability. So when choosing a longboard or going in for a different configuration or whatever, give it a good, long think.

Skateboard Wheels Vs Longboard Wheels

So, can you put longboard wheels on your skateboard? The answer is yes. A normal skateboard has a wheel diameter of 48-60mm and longboard, 63-75mm.

Durometer is a measure of hardness. A wheel with a lower durometer will grip better and with a high durometer, the tendency would be to slide. Skateboards have a harder wheel while longboards have softer wheels, the typical range being 75a-90a. A better grip is offered by longboard wheels that have an even texture. A chodeboard, as it is called, is a classic skateboard with longboard wheels and longboard bearings.

Why Put Longboard Wheels On Regular Skateboards

can you put longboard wheels on a skateboard

The larger the wheel, the faster will the ride be. The bearing plays a role here. If your aim is to be the fastest on the block, go for it. Acceleration is sacrificed. Also larger wheels tend to absorb the shocks of bumps making for a smoother ride.

The wheels on a longboard are softer. They absorb the shocks of bumps better and a long route is best negotiated smoothly. Another practicality is that technically less energy will be expended. Since the wheels are predominant, less kicking is necessary. Also, someone who is doing a lot of cruising may want bigger wheels but certainly not for tricks. But the next question is wheelbite which is that the wheel because of the small clearance, is in touch with the board giving rise to damage to both. To avoid wheelbite, the wheels can’t be bigger than 70mm. ½” risers will need to be put in and 1½” bolts to provide sufficient clearance to prevent wheelbite. The trucks should be tightened taut and bushes that are harder depending on your weight will be required.

How to Put Longboard Wheels On a Skateboard?

Tools You Need

  • Skate Tool
  • 4 longboard wheel of diameter not exceeding 70mm.
  • 8 1½” bolts
  • 2 riser pads ½’’

Things to Consider Before Changing the Wheels

The wheels fitting is never the problem. The deck-wheel is low. The wheels are in close proximity to the deck as you turn or because of your weight alone. So turning or carving is going to land you in hot water. Were one of the wheels to block when turning, your skateboard will stop dead and you don’t have a seatbelt. You will end up being thrown violently. So the solution lies in increasing this clearance. How is the question?

Adding Riser Pads

Installing risers is not an insurmountable issue. The riser blocks go in between where the trucks attach to the board. Depending on the size of the wheels you want to fit as also the deck design, this may be a process of hit and trial. Because of the different mounting, there is the likelihood that your trucks may not bear up to large wheels. In such a setting, you will want to get longboard trucks and have them put in place as well. Once the risers are in place, a smoother ride is guaranteed but now that the board is high off the ground, kicking really digs into your energy.

Do Longboard Wheels Fit on Skateboard Trucks?

You can do that. But in order to slap longboard wheels on your skateboard trucks you need to do a bit of tweaking first. The trucks need to be raised to a certain limit so the wheel can be fitted, or else your board will suffer wheel bite. The bushings, for that matter, need to be hard. You’ll need to use riser pads as well, but make sure, the size of the longboard wheels for skateboards cannot be bigger than 67 millimeters.

Risers and Centers of Gravity

Getting your high off the ground has made it lose substantial stability as the center of gravity is raised. In other words, your board is now susceptible to topple over if you execute a sharp turn at high speed. To lower the center of gravity, you can crouch lower.

What to Avoid?

There are certain things that you need to maintain after installing longboard wheels on your skateboard. Your altered design will not allow it.

Although you have placed risers in an effort to eliminate wheel bite, be careful when turning in the off chance that contact can still be a possibility between wheel and deck stalling your board and throwing you off. To be sure on the safe side 55mm wheels come much recommended.

Everything comes at a cost. Your skateboard wheels have been exchanged with longboard wheels still they are different. The underlying fact is that your mini-van cannot be converted into a Ferrari, tinker as much as you want. To get the best out of a renovation, customization is one other way to tackle it. You may need to file away the cutout a bit to make them more pronounced or speak to experts and get their opinions. Skateboarding is a charming, fun sport. Let’s keep it that way, hybridization does not work well always.

About the author

Brian G Smith

“Hey, are you out of your mind?” - this is what I often hear when people see me performing some really dangerous stunts. While most people use scooters to commute, I use mine to hone my stunting skills. Yes, that’s me, Brian Smith. I’ve a small group of like-minded people in my team that love to do all sorts of stunts with their kick scooters and skateboards. My fans also ask me to teach them a thing or two every now and then. This is why I am here. In my leisure time, I like to write about what I do with my scooters and what I am going to do next. One thing I want to say to all my fans - Don’t hit the streets without proper information and training..

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