Im trying to buy a bargain landboard for kiting the beach mostly and an oval sometimes. (only got around $150). I noticed most boards have the spring assisted style trucks. Does this make them stiffer or just stronger? I want a board that i can make tight (to reduce speed wobbles). Are the cheaper boards (skateboard style trucks) capable of being as tight as the spring style ones once the spring style ones are made tight using the red egg things?? Im 79kg and a kitesurfer inexperience at landboarding. Any advice greatly appreciated. cheers. Greg
Check out : Google Videos -- Jesses landyacht
go to more from user and find Jesses landboard
Can be used as a down hill powerless
Sail powered or kite powered. Cost ; $7.oo
More in Land Yachting - General - Cheap & easy (class 5) by agamackay.
aga
Not exactly what i'm looking for, but your idea is sound. i'll try just find scraps and make one mountain boards as im broke as.
Hi Smedge,
The Skateboard truck is a more basic style truck and has much less support on the turning of the truck by toe or heelside pressure. All of the tension is held by two rubber compression bushes you can see under the bolt and either side of the truck itself. There are three hardness of rubber bushings available white (soft), orange (medium) and red (hard).
By tightening up the bushes, you apply pressure to them and increase the compression on the rubbers. There is only so much you can tighten them and the pressure to turn can be measured in a straight line. ie the more you turn the pressure is uniformly increased.
The Matrix Channel truck is a much more robust design with the axle generally set with ball bearings to produce smooth precise movement, greater strength and with no wear. The Springs either side of the truck aid the axle in returning to "Neutral". The Egg shocks can be replaced with differing hardness of rubber from quite light (yellow), to medium (orange) and hard (red). On top of the egg shocks are adjustment screws which you can wind to apply more or less pressure on the egg shocks.
The egg shocks are elliptical in shape to produce a progressive response. The narrower ends compress more easily and increase more progressively the further the eggs compress. The pressure graph would show a parabolic curve
In the end, the Channel trucks are much more robust will last longer and have much greater control over the amount of turn and stiffness, and smoothness of the steering response.
The standard skateboard truck is fine for general use but the amount of tuning is limited and the bushes will wear and compress over time which will mean they need to be regularly checked and adjusted to maintain a consistent tension.
You won't find anything quality for $150, i'd recommend saving up for a little while longer and getting something decent. You'll regret going cheap when it starts falling apart on you.
The basic Matrix Channel truck system is $99 ea
Th all terrain skate truck is just $49 ea
Big difference in cost for quality systems.
Hope this helps you understand the difference a bit better.
It's better and cheaper to buy a complete board that will fit the duty you want it to do. The basic skate trucks will do what you want and will be easier to clean. An MBS Core 95 will be a great board for what you want. They have come down in price to $479 complete. This is a great board for all you'll throw at it.
One recommendation I would make is if you are planning on riding it through water or along the beach over wet sand etc, is remove any screws that go into the deck, then put a small amount of varnish or lacquer in the holes.
Reason for this is the boards are a laminated deck and then CNC machined and drilled after the pressing and curing. The holes that are drilled are done into the timber and as such the wood is not treated. If you allow water into the holes, the wood may swell a little and detract from the general appearance of the board. Doesn't seem to effect strength or durability, but doesn't look as nice as when new.
Good winds,
