Skateboard Truck Tightness Guide Calculator
Find ideal skateboard truck tightness from body weight, riding style, and bushing durometer.
Covers street, park, transition, and cruising settings.
Skateboard truck tightness affects turning radius, stability, and responsiveness. The key factor is the interaction between rider weight, bushing durometer (hardness), and the kingpin nut compression.
Bushing Durometer Guide: Bushings are measured on the durometer A scale (higher = harder):
| Rider Weight | Soft (carvy) | Medium | Hard (stable) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 100 lb (45 kg) | 73A–78A | 79A–84A | 85A–87A |
| 100–140 lb (45–64 kg) | 78A–83A | 84A–88A | 89A–92A |
| 140–180 lb (64–82 kg) | 83A–87A | 88A–92A | 93A–96A |
| 180–220 lb (82–100 kg) | 87A–90A | 91A–94A | 95A–97A |
| Over 220 lb (100 kg) | 90A–93A | 94A–96A | 97A–100A |
Riding Style Factor:
- Street / Technical: Medium-tight. Needs stability for tricks but enough turn for manuals. Recommended: medium durometer, kingpin nut flush with top of nut.
- Cruising / Carving: Loose. Maximum turn response for flowing lines. Recommended: soft durometer, kingpin nut 1–2 turns loose.
- Vert / Bowl: Tight. High-speed stability is priority. Recommended: hard durometer, kingpin nut 1–2 turns past flush.
- Downhill: Very tight. Speed wobble prevention is critical. Recommended: hardest durometer for weight, kingpin nut 2–3 turns past flush.
Tightness Formula: Recommended Durometer = Base Durometer (from weight) + Style Offset + Turn Preference
The base durometer is the middle of the medium band for your weight: 81A under 100 lb, 86A for 100–140, 90A for 140–180, 93A for 180–220, 95A above that.
Style offsets:
- Cruising: −4A
- Street: +0A
- Vert/Bowl: +3A
- Downhill: +5A
Turn preference is a smaller nudge on top: −2A if you want it extra turny, +2A if you want it extra stable, nothing if you are happy in the middle.
Worked Example - 160 lb street skater:
- Weight range base: 90A (middle of the 88A–92A medium band for 140–180 lb)
- Street offset: +0, balanced turn preference: +0
- Recommended: 90A bushings, kingpin nut flush
The nut setting comes from your riding style, not from the bushing hardness. Those are two separate adjustments and they work together: cruising wants soft bushings AND a loose nut, downhill wants hard bushings AND a tight one. A heavier rider gets harder bushings, but that does not mean cranking the nut down harder as well.
Bushing Shapes:
- Cone (boardside or roadside): more turn, less rebound
- Barrel: balanced turn and stability
- Eliminator: maximum stability, minimal turn
Common combo: barrel boardside + cone roadside for a balanced street setup. Double barrel for stability-focused riding.
Kingpin Nut Rule: Never tighten more than 3 full turns past flush. Over-tightening crushes bushings permanently and creates a dead, unresponsive feel. If you need more stiffness, get harder bushings instead of cranking the nut.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
SuperGlobalCalculator is independently built and maintained. See how we build and verify our calculators.