Re drilling wb

[Ok]

Anyone redrilled wb, on say an ‘old school’ shape? The god chico had it going on a TG, there’s more than a few shaped boards I’d love to skate if they had the 14”. Also feeling nostalgic for zorlac, so something like a scram leaf drilled back seems sick. Does the board just lose all balance or? Drawbacks? Tips? Difficulty? I’m not good at arts n crafts

[weedgod94]

redrilling is easy, just make sure you don't do it crooked. also you can't really redrill much less than half an inch

[WorkClothscape]

I know a dude who rides normal sized modern boards, don't know him personally and have never asked, but I'd guess the decks are around 8.25". He re-drills his back truck about half an inch towards the nose. I bet that makes the pop feel strange if you are used to normal ~6.5" tail.

Works for him, he's one of the best locals I know.

[Ok]

Thanks both of you.
Yeah I just want to ride a cool shape, short, shorter wb, And more nose.
I was thinking more like 1” back, worried that’s too dramatic

[Paperclip20]

Thanks both of you.
Yeah I just want to ride a cool shape, short, shorter wb, And more nose.
I was thinking more like 1” back, worried that’s too dramatic

Worst case scenario you ruin a board or make it a cruiser. I would recommend giving it a shot on a beat up board first

[spanyard]

Wish someone made a template of a half inch offset from a predrilled hole pattern, kinda like a riser pad with two extra holes at 1/2" off the outer two holes.

I'm TERRIBLE at being precise with a ruler, pencil, AND drill.

[backinaction]

Wish someone made a template of a half inch offset from a predrilled hole pattern, kinda like a riser pad with two extra holes at 1/2" off the outer two holes.

I'm TERRIBLE at being precise with a ruler, pencil, AND drill.

That's why I have only gone 3/8" different when I have redrilled.  3/8" is old school vs new school pattern and I have baseplates that have both holes. Easy to bolt the baseplate in two of the holes and drill in the others.

[spanyard]

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Wish someone made a template of a half inch offset from a predrilled hole pattern, kinda like a riser pad with two extra holes at 1/2" off the outer two holes.

I'm TERRIBLE at being precise with a ruler, pencil, AND drill.

[close]

That's why I have only gone 3/8" different when I have redrilled.  3/8" is old school vs new school pattern and I have baseplates that have both holes. Easy to bolt the baseplate in two of the holes and drill in the others.

Nice, haven't thought of that...  I actually had to buy two baseplates like that last year for that hensley king size reissue.  I'm tempted to try it out... but does the fact of having four drill holes with only 3/8" spacing make the wood weak in that area?

[backinaction]

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Wish someone made a template of a half inch offset from a predrilled hole pattern, kinda like a riser pad with two extra holes at 1/2" off the outer two holes.

I'm TERRIBLE at being precise with a ruler, pencil, AND drill.

[close]

That's why I have only gone 3/8" different when I have redrilled.  3/8" is old school vs new school pattern and I have baseplates that have both holes. Easy to bolt the baseplate in two of the holes and drill in the others.

[close]

Nice, haven't thought of that...  I actually had to buy two baseplates like that last year for that hensley king size reissue.  I'm tempted to try it out... but does the fact of having four drill holes with only 3/8" spacing make the wood weak in that area?

Theoretically.  But it would be super small change, and when was the last time you snapped a deck at the nose?  Always been tail breaks for me.

[oldbummer]

Practice on an old deck first

Last time I did it, I bolted two decks together and onto a truck to get them lined up and then drilled through the shorter deck into the one being modified.  Get you a different wb then drilling through 6 hole baseplates will.

[Yesterdays-pop]

Slap worries about wheelbase too much I bet you can ride an old school shape or scram just fine with their current wheelbases. I skate 14”-15” and don’t notice much change.  It feels different but once you manual and ollie a few times it’s fine. I think that wider flatter fish boards feel better the way they are with 14.75” or whatever so I wouldn’t recommend a redrill.

You can ride any board with any trucks and any wheels and do all your tricks on it

[Davie Dick]

yeah i'll do the old school truck hole trick on the back truck when the pop is unreasonably steep or the tail is too short. I drilled back the front truck on a hensley reissue to 14.25 and it's super baller, takes getting used to cause the nose isn't where you expect it to be for the first bit.

[stets]

Joining the chorus suggesting using the old school pattern holes of a baseplate. If you line it up and mark everything right, before drilling (preferably lined up straight on a drill press), this can be pretty accurate, and it's about as far as you would want to adjust it.

Think back to Paul Schmitt's explanations of "fingers of flat" after the holes, before a nose or tail actually kicks up.

Moving that changes the geometry of the pendulum, how your snap performs. Can be good or bad to you depending on your tastes. But moving wheelbases up to 1in. like you had mentioned, Ok the O.P., will make a nose go from like 2 fingers standard-ish, to 4 fingers. That'll make your nose a full inch longer (which could be nice on a stubby nose late 80's board reissue, but weird on a normal 7in. length nose) but if the board has a modern concave the full inch will make the nose look and perform... weird. That's why i've stuck to the 0.375in. shortening (difference in old school and new school holes). It's made the slightly-shaped Welcome decks I've always wanted to skate, but all seem to have 14.75in. wheelbases, suddenly a skateable 14.375in.

If you are worried about breaking boards because of weakening the wood with holes so close together... plug the holes! I've done that many times. Either glue in a dowel into the holes and cut them flush, or carefully fill the holes with an epoxy putty or material like JB Weld. That will at least "backfill" to limit any wood deflection into the extra holes from the pressures applied from skateboarding.

[hillbilly shifty]

Thanks both of you.
Yeah I just want to ride a cool shape, short, shorter wb, And more nose.
I was thinking more like 1” back, worried that’s too dramatic

agree with others on using an old deck as a template. i did this with a gonz re-issue to get a reg wheelbase + longer nose.
i took an old deck with 14.25" wheel base, joined this to the gonz by putting 1.5" mounting hardware thru back truck holes of both decks. old deck was on top.
add + tighten the nuts so both boards line up + don't wiggle.
use the holes from the old deck as a guide to drill the new holes
i filled in the orig Gonz holes with wood putty
set it up with indy stage V 149s and spitfire chargers

i posted a screen shot of chico's tommy G board. this is where i got the inspiration.
https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=100902.msg3189871#msg3189871

[Ok]

Expand Quote

Thanks both of you.
Yeah I just want to ride a cool shape, short, shorter wb, And more nose.
I was thinking more like 1” back, worried that’s too dramatic

[close]

agree with others on using an old deck as a template. i did this with a gonz re-issue to get a reg wheelbase + longer nose.
i took an old deck with 14.25" wheel base, joined this to the gonz by putting 1.5" mounting hardware thru back truck holes of both decks. old deck was on top.
add + tighten the nuts so both boards line up + don't wiggle.
use the holes from the old deck as a guide to drill the new holes
i filled in the orig Gonz holes with wood putty
set it up with indy stage V 149s and spitfire chargers

i posted a screen shot of chico's tommy G board. this is where i got the inspiration.
https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=100902.msg3189871#msg3189871

That board looks rad! 8.5 trucks are the ideal. Side note, no idea what was the preferred size back in the day. My first trucks were tracker ultralights, I traded them to a kid in my neighborhood for indys. Mom was bummed. The indys were just the size. Like the same size everyone had. Didn’t even contemplate sizes. Thought about brands....Not sizes.
Anyways thanks for this pic and methodology

[hillbilly shifty]

Expand Quote

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Thanks both of you.
Yeah I just want to ride a cool shape, short, shorter wb, And more nose.
I was thinking more like 1” back, worried that’s too dramatic

[close]

agree with others on using an old deck as a template. i did this with a gonz re-issue to get a reg wheelbase + longer nose.
i took an old deck with 14.25" wheel base, joined this to the gonz by putting 1.5" mounting hardware thru back truck holes of both decks. old deck was on top.
add + tighten the nuts so both boards line up + don't wiggle.
use the holes from the old deck as a guide to drill the new holes
i filled in the orig Gonz holes with wood putty
set it up with indy stage V 149s and spitfire chargers

i posted a screen shot of chico's tommy G board. this is where i got the inspiration.
https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=100902.msg3189871#msg3189871

[close]

That board looks rad! 8.5 trucks are the ideal. Side note, no idea what was the preferred size back in the day. My first trucks were tracker ultralights, I traded them to a kid in my neighborhood for indys. Mom was bummed. The indys were just the size. Like the same size everyone had. Didn’t even contemplate sizes. Thought about brands....Not sizes.
Anyways thanks for this pic and methodology

no problem!
same here on trackers. my first 'real set up' was a kevin staab mini with tracker ultralights + OJs. Still have the deck and wheels down in the basement woodshop/skate museum.
my next board was a gonz, with these very same indys from the photo. Cleaned + rebuilt the trucks with new hardware, bushings/pivots/downlow kingpin. those green rails are orig from the 80s too. (turns out, being a pack rat comes in handy)

it is crazy that we paid no attention to specs + sizes. "those wheels are between 52 - 62mm?" cool, that will work.
my youth must have made up for not ideal wheelbase, angle of leverage, wheel duro, truck madness, etc
Just used whatever was available and loved it.
Today at 46 yrs old, i need all of the help i can get. Although my pop can still clear just over 24" on flat

[somedudefromnj]

im sure its been covered already, but how exactly do you measure wheelbase? is it from the end of the holes or from the center of the holes?

[munchbox]

im sure its been covered already, but how exactly do you measure wheelbase? is it from the end of the holes or from the center of the holes?

center of the holes

[Ok]

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Thanks both of you.
Yeah I just want to ride a cool shape, short, shorter wb, And more nose.
I was thinking more like 1” back, worried that’s too dramatic

[close]

agree with others on using an old deck as a template. i did this with a gonz re-issue to get a reg wheelbase + longer nose.
i took an old deck with 14.25" wheel base, joined this to the gonz by putting 1.5" mounting hardware thru back truck holes of both decks. old deck was on top.
add + tighten the nuts so both boards line up + don't wiggle.
use the holes from the old deck as a guide to drill the new holes
i filled in the orig Gonz holes with wood putty
set it up with indy stage V 149s and spitfire chargers

i posted a screen shot of chico's tommy G board. this is where i got the inspiration.
https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=100902.msg3189871#msg3189871

[close]

That board looks rad! 8.5 trucks are the ideal. Side note, no idea what was the preferred size back in the day. My first trucks were tracker ultralights, I traded them to a kid in my neighborhood for indys. Mom was bummed. The indys were just the size. Like the same size everyone had. Didn’t even contemplate sizes. Thought about brands....Not sizes.
Anyways thanks for this pic and methodology

[close]

no problem!
same here on trackers. my first 'real set up' was a kevin staab mini with tracker ultralights + OJs. Still have the deck and wheels down in the basement woodshop/skate museum.
my next board was a gonz, with these very same indys from the photo. Cleaned + rebuilt the trucks with new hardware, bushings/pivots/downlow kingpin. those green rails are orig from the 80s too. (turns out, being a pack rat comes in handy)

it is crazy that we paid no attention to specs + sizes. "those wheels are between 52 - 62mm?" cool, that will work.
my youth must have made up for not ideal wheelbase, angle of leverage, wheel duro, truck madness, etc
Just used whatever was available and loved it.
Today at 46 yrs old, i need all of the help i can get. Although my pop can still clear just over 24" on flat

Do you ride these type of set ups as your main? Occasionally I step on someone’s and I’m surprised how it makes sense, even though that was so long ago.

That’s some pop. ‘Funny’ how quickly that leaves.

[authentic_creed_bratton]

my lucero had 16” and 15.5”, but i added 15”. i say move it .5, see if you like it, then move it .5 back again.  worst case scenario run the original holes and regrip it

[hillbilly shifty]

Expand Quote

no problem!
same here on trackers. my first 'real set up' was a kevin staab mini with tracker ultralights + OJs. Still have the deck and wheels down in the basement woodshop/skate museum.
my next board was a gonz, with these very same indys from the photo. Cleaned + rebuilt the trucks with new hardware, bushings/pivots/downlow kingpin. those green rails are orig from the 80s too. (turns out, being a pack rat comes in handy)

it is crazy that we paid no attention to specs + sizes. "those wheels are between 52 - 62mm?" cool, that will work.
my youth must have made up for not ideal wheelbase, angle of leverage, wheel duro, truck madness, etc
Just used whatever was available and loved it.
Today at 46 yrs old, i need all of the help i can get. Although my pop can still clear just over 24" on flat

[close]

Do you ride these type of set ups as your main? Occasionally I step on someone’s and I’m surprised how it makes sense, even though that was so long ago.

That’s some pop. ‘Funny’ how quickly that leaves.

I use it as a cruiser or just to change it up for fun around the neighborhood. my daughter also loves to ride it.
With this wide/heavy gonz, no way i could ollie that high, only with a lighter/modern set up.
My main park set up is an 8 - 8.125 (usually bbs) with indy hollow 144s and spitfire F4 classics 52mm/99a
My main street set up is an 8 - 8.25 (usually bbs) with indy 144s and ricta clouds 54mm/92s
Today is crappy out, was hoping to roll around. they've fenced off our local park, so everything is streets, which is actually great because i'm hitting spots that i've always just been eyeballing.

[Tre]

How to re drill baseplates? Diy venture v8s basically.
Would a wheelbase mod tool work?

[flocke]

watch this and you will know everything about what you need to redrill your wb:

https://youtu.be/IHXuAtsnVSA?si=dO2RkUwuDsMQzmvf

also nyle lovett is one of my fav skaters, could watch his parts all day long

[BL0B]

How to re drill baseplates? Diy venture v8s basically.
Would a wheelbase mod tool work?

this is in the venture thread if you look. imo you'd want the wheelbase tool to redrill baseplates but in that thread @Mbrimson88 does it w/o.

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

How to re drill baseplates? Diy venture v8s basically.
Would a wheelbase mod tool work?

[close]

this is in the venture thread if you look. imo you'd want the wheelbase tool to redrill baseplates but in that thread @Mbrimson88 does it w/o.

People who are not so sure about getting it right will definitely benefit from a wheelbase mod tool, the 1/4" option rather than the 3/8" option.

I had a few others send me their video of them doing this, which worked well for them - redrilling a set of trucks is very similar to redrilling a deck, only with a metal drill bit, HSS option I seem to recall.


The trucks I have drilled out by hand and eye have worked but having a guide or jig would have meant I may have done it a fair bit cleaner right from the first one, but those wheelbase mod tools are almost impossible to get here without importing them which is very expensive.

If you have access to a reasonably priced one, go for it.

It will definitely help.

[And_so_it_goes22]

Wish someone made a template of a half inch offset from a predrilled hole pattern, kinda like a riser pad with two extra holes at 1/2" off the outer two holes.

I'm TERRIBLE at being precise with a ruler, pencil, AND drill.

Chems makes a tool that does exactly this but they are currently sold out.  It’s been discussed on this board, maybe run a search for “chems” for more info.  I have the 3/8 version (the 1/4 increment version was sold out at the time).  It works great and super easy to use. 

https://skate618.com

https://www.instagram.com/share/__lCYLGwW

[No comply]

The Chems tool is the easiest way.  If you want to try it without it, use a square tool and draw vertical lines through the middle of the existing holes. Keep doing it until it looks perfect using a pencil so you can erase the lines. Drill two holes and then put bolts threw them and then drill the other two.  I think it would be best to only adjust the front truck so you don’t mess up your ollies.