starting from worst to best
plastic trucks from my first toy complete which had a licensed caballero graphic
pros:
-they were orange i thought this was cool when i was 5 years old
-they had good sliding ability and flex
cons:
-complete garbage trucks
gullwing
pros:
-they had gangster metallic colors
cons:
-complete garbage trucks that didn't grind or turn
-made a terrible squiggle noise that 12 year old me had no clue how to fix
hurricane
pros:
-pretty light
cons:
-no turn and grinded like shit
monster
pros:
-cool demon eyes on hangar
-trainwreck and i think heath rode for them at the time
cons:
-probably didn't turn. i used to be a kingpin cranker until i skated again after a 3-year hiatus
desctructo
pros:
-all around decent trucks
-a bit lighter than indy but similar hangar look, idc about this but it felt like it
cons:
-not a lively turn, but can be made better with bushings of choice
next one is a tie between all these, they are all good for what they are, i wouldn't say any truck is better
indy
pros:
-classic hanger look
-has a bit of beef on the hanger
-material seems good
-turns smooth, but quick
-lasts long
cons:
-a bit bulky
-noticeably heavier
-bushings break quickly
venture(hi)
pros:
-don't wheelbite as much
-keep tension for tricks like 360 really well, for lack of a better way to explain it
-turn reasonably good(not as good as thunder or indy tho)
-good leverage, makes you pop tricks proper(or make you ghost pop everything in the beginning when you're not used to it)
-feel good when manauling
-lots of metal on hanger
cons:
-not as fun to cruise with, they lack about 5% cruiseability i'd say, as in a little quicker turning
-hanger/mounting hole relations can't really be fixed without changing geo, so no tool fits right
-they grind down much more quickly than indy or thunder, if they had less meat on the hanger this would be a truck you'd need to buy two pairs of each year. i usually rode my indys for 1-2 years depending on what sort of spots i skated at the time. that makes ventures pretty expensive actually.
thunder
pros:
-very agile and reactive, high amount of control
-easy pop, low center of gravity gives good control over flips and shuvs
-good materials, seem a notch better than ventures, but i don't know this, it just looks more premium, i could be wrong tho
-pretty light
cons:
-they look boring/kinda unidentifiable and skinny, like some no name truck actually
-odd baseplate has been mentioned already
-for me the kingpin used to break a lot and was always crazy hard to get out, so much so i actually just bought a new set once after even the shop couldn't get out the baseplate.
-it's been a while since i rode them but the grind felt kind of dry and chalky. compared to ventures that feel like they get straight stripped off metal or indys that are basically the benchmark imo, right amount between melt and chunk so to speak. so grinding is not as fun
-weird pinch on k-grinds and smith grinds for me, like the wheel locks up more on angled or pinched grinds
-i never had more wheelbite with any truck, there is like no resistance or real rebound to them when worn in and all my pairs developed weird grooves that made them straye to one side or the other. this is not as bad in indys and for me non existent in ventures. i don't know if this is a geo or bushing issue but it's a lot worse in thunders than in the others.