The Thunder Thread

[Xen]

The stock/90a white bushings always give me trouble, waaaaaay to soft (as noted by dlx ages ago on here), always go for the translucent, even stock; I don't always ride Thunder Trucks, but when I do, it's the 94DU aftermarket ones (with flat top and bottom washers).

[smg1138]

Apologies if this has already been discussed, but is there a projected release date for the new Thunders? An improved baseplate design and 53mm ride height sounds pretty great.

[Xen]

There is no credible eta, or specs, for a revised thunder; anything posted in this thread about either is all speculation.

[Ok]

The last couple times I tried my luck with thunders, a big gripe I had was with the bushings, they would just crack/split/crumble way too easily for me.

However, I've had no issues with the bushings in the last two sets I've bought (not yet anyway) and I think this might be because I broke them in differently. Instead of tightening them to feel good from the start, I just adjusted the kingpin nut down to almost flush with the pin, a little above the pin actually. And let the bushings do their thing.

That first sesh was pretty loosely goosey, but they firmed up considerably within an hour of skating. I have the kingpin nut just slightly tighter now, more or less flush and they feel great. On the  previous sets I had issues with I had to have a thread or two showing for them to feel ok.

Starting to think I was just crushing the bushings and not letting them break in properly.

this is the correct way.


in my experience, cranking them right out the gate, leads to splitting.
if someone wants really tight trucks, imo, they start with the hardest bushings they can get.
and then slowly tighten them. 

[chillclinton87]

Expand Quote

The last couple times I tried my luck with thunders, a big gripe I had was with the bushings, they would just crack/split/crumble way too easily for me.

However, I've had no issues with the bushings in the last two sets I've bought (not yet anyway) and I think this might be because I broke them in differently. Instead of tightening them to feel good from the start, I just adjusted the kingpin nut down to almost flush with the pin, a little above the pin actually. And let the bushings do their thing.

That first sesh was pretty loosely goosey, but they firmed up considerably within an hour of skating. I have the kingpin nut just slightly tighter now, more or less flush and they feel great. On the  previous sets I had issues with I had to have a thread or two showing for them to feel ok.

Starting to think I was just crushing the bushings and not letting them break in properly.

[close]

this is the correct way.


in my experience, cranking them right out the gate, leads to splitting.
if someone wants really tight trucks, imo, they start with the hardest bushings they can get.
and then slowly tighten them.

you guys get it!

i break in my bushings the same way. Eversince i do this i never had issues with my bushings. Just gotta let them get used to being squeezed and so.

also translucent blue ones seem to be the best to me personally. Think foy talks about that in his 9 club interview. could be totally in my head but i feel like they are performing/ lasting the best

red translucent that come in that backup set thunder is doing are super soft compared to the blue ones even though they are both labeled 90a. good thin is that they tend to freeze up less in winter!

[Rick Trapasso]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

The last couple times I tried my luck with thunders, a big gripe I had was with the bushings, they would just crack/split/crumble way too easily for me.

However, I've had no issues with the bushings in the last two sets I've bought (not yet anyway) and I think this might be because I broke them in differently. Instead of tightening them to feel good from the start, I just adjusted the kingpin nut down to almost flush with the pin, a little above the pin actually. And let the bushings do their thing.

That first sesh was pretty loosely goosey, but they firmed up considerably within an hour of skating. I have the kingpin nut just slightly tighter now, more or less flush and they feel great. On the  previous sets I had issues with I had to have a thread or two showing for them to feel ok.

Starting to think I was just crushing the bushings and not letting them break in properly.

[close]

this is the correct way.


in my experience, cranking them right out the gate, leads to splitting.
if someone wants really tight trucks, imo, they start with the hardest bushings they can get.
and then slowly tighten them.

[close]

you guys get it!

i break in my bushings the same way. Eversince i do this i never had issues with my bushings. Just gotta let them get used to being squeezed and so.

also translucent blue ones seem to be the best to me personally. Think foy talks about that in his 9 club interview. could be totally in my head but i feel like they are performing/ lasting the best

red translucent that come in that backup set thunder is doing are super soft compared to the blue ones even though they are both labeled 90a. good thin is that they tend to freeze up less in winter!

Been skating for over 20 years, can't believe it took me this long to figure out lol.

They should include some ins-truck-tions with a these things


.....ha

[rawbertson.]

Yeah I was gonna say I just ride them basically flush, i kinda end up with the front one slightly looser than the back but its not a huge deal. I havent had any issue with my thunder bushings at all and i skated em in some pretty cold weather. I never found that I needed to tighten these trucks at all because I am used to riding 8.75" indys / Ace at the stock setting.

imo if you want tight, just ride skinny trucks like 8". if you have a wide board it will look like shit if you skate it with tight trucks and it will still feel really turny no matter how hard you tighten it.  There is this guy in my town who rides 8" Ace 33 and he CRANKS them down like crazy, like 5-6 threads at least, maybe more. i dont even see the point in riding aces if you are just going to do that. you might as well just ride ventures or thunders.

[Rick Trapasso]

Yeah I was gonna say I just ride them basically flush, i kinda end up with the front one slightly looser than the back but its not a huge deal. I havent had any issue with my thunder bushings at all and i skated em in some pretty cold weather. I never found that I needed to tighten these trucks at all because I am used to riding 8.75" indys / Ace at the stock setting.

imo if you want tight, just ride skinny trucks like 8". if you have a wide board it will look like shit if you skate it with tight trucks and it will still feel really turny no matter how hard you tighten it.  There is this guy in my town who rides 8" Ace 33 and he CRANKS them down like crazy, like 5-6 threads at least, maybe more. i dont even see the point in riding aces if you are just going to do that. you might as well just ride ventures or thunders.

Homie on that Bam Margera setup

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=128939.0

scroll down, second slide

[alcol]

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate... 

[baustin]

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate...

I’ve tried swapping to Venture a couple of times… love the added stability but they always feel heavy/clunky to me on flip tricks after a while and i find the difference on slides to be pretty negligible but I only skate wheels 53mm or smaller so YMMV

[Frank and Fred]

There is no credible eta, or specs, for a revised thunder; anything posted in this thread about either is all speculation.

Just saw the Summer 2024 Drop 1 Thunder catalog and there is no indication of a new remodeled truck... Not that that is definitive...

I've seen catalogs get taken down before, so obviously things could change.

[chillclinton87]

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate...

tried the same thing last week after 15 or so years on thunder 147 highs.

ventures felt like i just skated my thunders tighter and they add some hight to it. both these things helped with wheelbite. ended up putting on thunders again and setting them a lil tighter.

ventures are good trucks though so you could like them. as the other homie said: differnece on slides is kinda nonexistent. i thought i'd slide waaaay more on the baseplate on ventures but nah......

mind that i skate 52mm classics so i can't give any more input on wheelbite or the like!

[Xen]

Expand Quote

There is no credible eta, or specs, for a revised thunder; anything posted in this thread about either is all speculation.

[close]

Just saw the Summer 2024 Drop 1 Thunder catalog and there is no indication of a new remodeled truck... Not that that is definitive...

I've seen catalogs get taken down before, so obviously things could change.

Like shoes, pretty sure we'd see some out in the streets/planted photos of them prior to them being in a drop (more than we have already).

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate... 

With geo alone, ventures are more stable (plus venture barrel vs thunder conical bottom bushing); but as noted above, you can just tighten the thunders - or get/swap out for harder bushings (I wouldn't swap barrel bushings into thunders, they make them feel like shit).

Depending on how you tail/nose slide you might notice the plate difference. Personally, I don't use the plate to brace, it's not by choice, just how it happens (might be from skating thunders for so long to avoid wheels catching) but I stand flat on the tail (think of when you drop in) just past the fingers of flat, this way there is no wheel or plate friction.

The only sure thing is less wheelbite on ventures, depending on how loose/tight /wheel height you skate.

YMMV but depending on wheelbase I find Ventures have much better/controlled pop.

Venture: Slower initial turn, more lean (not twitchy), more stable (arguably best pop)
Thunder: [Can be a] twitchy turn, and for me after that twitch, it's flop right into wheelbite (I'm also 190lbs+ with 94a Thunder bushings, probably need to go up to 97)

[juniormint]

Expand Quote

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate...

[close]

I’ve tried swapping to Venture a couple of times… love the added stability but they always feel heavy/clunky to me on flip tricks after a while and i find the difference on slides to be pretty negligible but I only skate wheels 53mm or smaller so YMMV

Yeah I go between 151 thunders and 6.1s. The main advantage of the venture is the kingpin clearance imo. I always end up back on thunders eventually though. I think it is because as stated above, the ventures just feel a bit clunky and basic in comparison to me, I don’t mean in a bad way just less responsive for sure, which can be a good thing. Pop is proper satisfying on ventures though, probably the best ollie.

[Ok]

i agree with what everyone has chimed in so far, re: thunders to venture.
if you want to skate bigger wheels, ventures may help with that. there are a few pros and the like running 55s on thunders, but that seems wild.
for ventures i prefer the forged baseplate w/the hi’s. was a noticeable difference for me. not sure why.

i could be happy skating a venture or a thunder, almost any day. for me there isn’t a huge adjustment between them, although they are clearly different. both seem to work for the 8 tricks i might try (flatground nonsense).

ventures have always felt a bit ‘cooler’, to me.

[goodatmeth]

Can anybody here skate thunders and ventures on the same deck? Every time I tried ventures on a setup that feels good on thunders, it felt like shit. I have to go with a shorter wb/longer kicks for ventures to feel good.
Other way around as well. If I use thunders on a venture-setup it feels uncontrollably light.

[rawbertson.]

Expand Quote

Yeah I was gonna say I just ride them basically flush, i kinda end up with the front one slightly looser than the back but its not a huge deal. I havent had any issue with my thunder bushings at all and i skated em in some pretty cold weather. I never found that I needed to tighten these trucks at all because I am used to riding 8.75" indys / Ace at the stock setting.

imo if you want tight, just ride skinny trucks like 8". if you have a wide board it will look like shit if you skate it with tight trucks and it will still feel really turny no matter how hard you tighten it.  There is this guy in my town who rides 8" Ace 33 and he CRANKS them down like crazy, like 5-6 threads at least, maybe more. i dont even see the point in riding aces if you are just going to do that. you might as well just ride ventures or thunders.

[close]

Homie on that Bam Margera setup

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=128939.0

scroll down, second slide

haha! Amazing!

[Xen]

Can anybody here skate thunders and ventures on the same deck? Every time I tried ventures on a setup that feels good on thunders, it felt like shit. I have to go with a shorter wb/longer kicks for ventures to feel good.
Other way around as well. If I use thunders on a venture-setup it feels uncontrollably light.

Nope. Like you short WB/long kicks (Primitive shapes, not surprisingly) work well for me...but can make them work on a 14.25"WB

Thunder/indy I can easily swap between however.

[hiljentaa]

First session on 147s after skating 5.2 hi V-Lights for the past year or so...

Definitely more turny than Ventures (obviously), but not as drastic of a difference as I expected. I had this notion of the turn quickly falling to wheelbite from other's descriptions, but that's not my experience. Just turns more than a Venture, pretty similar to forged Indy IME.

Still working out the timing difference for popped tricks.

The only ledge I have to skate during winter is an all sheet-metal box by ARC. Seems like it would slide great, but it is sticky as fuck for slides super often because there is too much surface area and dirt and dust embeds into the wax on top.

This ledge is super particular to get it to slide well, and I was definitely noticing my reliance on the longer Venture baseplate to initiate the slide. This is nearly all a technique issue, but this particular spot really highlighted that 'issue'. Near the end of the session I was sliding a lot better by standing on top better.

[fs1/2cab]

I want to put some Indy Conical blues at the bottom of my 148s Hollow Lights. They also measure 14mm like Thunder bottom bushings. The top bushing is currently a Ace 94 which I cut down like 3mm.

I think Thunders need Conical bottom bushings, if I put Cylinder bushings at the bottom, I would get a less surfy Indy. The Thunder stock bushings feel a bit weird and soft to me, but maybe I should break them in for a few sessions? I am at 157 lbs now and like my trucks a bit more stable but also surfy if I want them too. Problem are all the crazy temperatures here in East Germany across the 4 seasons.

What do the pals think about that?

[Rick Trapasso]

I want to put some Indy Conical blues at the bottom of my 148s Hollow Lights. They also measure 14mm like Thunder bottom bushings. The top bushing is currently a Ace 94 which I cut down like 3mm.

I think Thunders need Conical bottom bushings, if I put Cylinder bushings at the bottom, I would get a less surfy Indy. The Thunder stock bushings feel a bit weird and soft to me, but maybe I should break them in for a few sessions? I am at 157 lbs now and like my trucks a bit more stable but also surfy if I want them too. Problem are all the crazy temperatures here in East Germany across the 4 seasons.

What do the pals think about that?

I'd say try to break in the stock bushings by skating them as loose as possible for a sesh or two then tighten as desired. they firm up quite a bit after that.

I will say that thunder bushings seem to be more sensitive to temperature to other bushings so you may need to try something else if your temps affect your bushings too much for your liking. I find a quarter turn is all the adjustment i need to make for my thunders to feel ok from freezing temps to around 70f.

I think indy conicals would be your best other option though as you stated.

[Fooj]

Has anyone else tried aftermarket Indy barrel bushings on your thunders? This is my current combination, with super soft white and it feels pretty similar to stock imo.

[Rick Trapasso]

Has anyone else tried aftermarket Indy barrel bushings on your thunders? This is my current combination, with super soft white and it feels pretty similar to stock imo.

I'm not a fan of cylinders in thunders, and white is way too soft for my linking on them as well. I have those bushings in my polarizer though and love them on that setup.

[RT]

Wish I'd read this thread before skating my new 147s! I busted the top bushing on the back truck on the first session today. I didn't crank them down, basically a hair past flush. You learn the hard way sometimes I guess. I'm probably gonna order the replacement 94du's.

I will say I skated Thunders for years in the early 2000s and never had a single issue with the old 145s. I never heard anyone complain about their bushings either. I wonder if they've changed.

[FatGuy92]

Wish I'd read this thread before skating my new 147s! I busted the top bushing on the back truck on the first session today. I didn't crank them down, basically a hair past flush. You learn the hard way sometimes I guess. I'm probably gonna order the replacement 94du's.

I will say I skated Thunders for years in the early 2000s and never had a single issue with the old 145s. I never heard anyone complain about their bushings either. I wonder if they've changed.

Thunder bushings have always cracked or broke faster than any other bushings from my experience but never after a single session. Maybe reach out to DLX customer support and see if they'll send you new ones?

[marcusbutler]

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate...

Currently I think a month in. Skating the 5.2 hollow erythang/forged. I got used to the turning by now. That is one of the biggest change for me. The other big change is the obvious slower pop. My tre flips are affected. And lots of ghost pop. Almost every session ends with me thinking about going back to thunders. I skate a 14 Wheelbase and it still takes a bit of effort to press my tail.

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate...

[close]

Currently I think a month in. Skating the 5.2 hollow erythang/forged. I got used to the turning by now. That is one of the biggest change for me. The other big change is the obvious slower pop. My tre flips are affected. And lots of ghost pop. Almost every session ends with me thinking about going back to thunders. I skate a 14 Wheelbase and it still takes a bit of effort to press my tail.

I wonder if a more mellow board, or something with more fingers of flat would work better with those trucks?

Might be going a bit too far down a hole here, but I have definitely felt like some trucks paired better with some decks, so as much as something might have a 14" wb, a more mellow board with longer kicks will make those trucks feel a whole lot better, or at least did for me when I was trying different setups, which as you said, cause some issues with pop and certain tricks worked better than others.

[Meathook]

Has anyone converted to an ikp in their thunders by just using the kingpin nut bed in the baseplate?  I just put ikps in without any epoxy or grub nut and it seems ok but the kingpin moves a bit.  The nylock is engaged on the nut but I’m a bit nervous about my truck loosening and falling off on it’s own.

[marcusbutler]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I have a set of 5.2 Ventures on ice and have been tempted to set them up. To anyone who switched from thunders to venture, is the transition worth it? I mean, besides getting less wheelbite and the extended baseplate...

[close]

Currently I think a month in. Skating the 5.2 hollow erythang/forged. I got used to the turning by now. That is one of the biggest change for me. The other big change is the obvious slower pop. My tre flips are affected. And lots of ghost pop. Almost every session ends with me thinking about going back to thunders. I skate a 14 Wheelbase and it still takes a bit of effort to press my tail.

[close]

I wonder if a more mellow board, or something with more fingers of flat would work better with those trucks?

Might be going a bit too far down a hole here, but I have definitely felt like some trucks paired better with some decks, so as much as something might have a 14" wb, a more mellow board with longer kicks will make those trucks feel a whole lot better, or at least did for me when I was trying different setups, which as you said, cause some issues with pop and certain tricks worked better than others.

The set up was thunders and crail wood with a 14WB for the last couple years. Started skating a jacuzzi with ventures. Currently skating a santa cruz. Two boards with steep kicks. Next board in rotation is a crail 8.1. The round of girl boards I've skated have some mellow kicks. Curious to see how this one feels.

[RT]

Expand Quote

Wish I'd read this thread before skating my new 147s! I busted the top bushing on the back truck on the first session today. I didn't crank them down, basically a hair past flush. You learn the hard way sometimes I guess. I'm probably gonna order the replacement 94du's.

I will say I skated Thunders for years in the early 2000s and never had a single issue with the old 145s. I never heard anyone complain about their bushings either. I wonder if they've changed.

[close]

Thunder bushings have always cracked or broke faster than any other bushings from my experience but never after a single session. Maybe reach out to DLX customer support and see if they'll send you new ones?

I thought about that. I'm hesitant because honestly, this set of 147s was a warranty replacement from a set of trucks that I broke years ago. I found them in a box in the basement with the broken kingpin and thought, what the heck I'm gonna shoot em an email. They sent a new set right away, no questions asked. It feels petty to reach out about the bushings now! Maybe it shouldn't though.