The Thunder Thread

[LebowskisRug]

It’s the setup Dustin rides so you should be chill.

[Wizard0f0dds]

It’s the setup Dustin rides so you should be chill.

I thought Dustin was on Indys, but after reading your comment I watched his part in Nice to See You and you're right! Now I just have to learn front blunts and f/s flip switch manuals 

[beandemon]

Where them 181’s at?

[goodatmeth]

Where them 181’s at?

I have no use for them whatsoever, but I'd really like to look at them.
Yeah that's weird

[Ok]

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Where them 181’s at?

[close]

I have no use for them whatsoever, but I'd really like to look at them.
Yeah that's weird

Kinda sums up my whole shit and the amount of time I spend on here

[beandemon]

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Where them 181’s at?

[close]

I have no use for them whatsoever, but I'd really like to look at them.
Yeah that's weird

[close]

Kinda sums up my whole shit and the amount of time I spend on here

Huh. SoCal has them. Told the guy at my local shop if they’re available when he orders to get me a set. I do usually have one setup in the quiver with 10” trucks.

[Argyle]

I was hopping around on some truck madness this year but I think I'm going back to where I started with Thunder 149s. Set mine back up as I mentioned I was considering and my flatground immediately just clicked. My best years of skating have always been on Thunders so now that the wanderlust has settled, I don't feel any reason to change.

Still with bones bushings or completely stock?

[danmasontree]

Been skating Thunder 148 Hollow Lights for a few years, needed new trucks and wanted to size up to 8.5 decks, my local only had Lights and not Hollow lights. Am I really going to feel that much of a difference in weight? It’s like less than a pound according to tactics. Kinda getting some madness going

[pizzafliptofakie]

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I was hopping around on some truck madness this year but I think I'm going back to where I started with Thunder 149s. Set mine back up as I mentioned I was considering and my flatground immediately just clicked. My best years of skating have always been on Thunders so now that the wanderlust has settled, I don't feel any reason to change.

[close]

Still with bones bushings or completely stock?

I'm on Bones Mediums. I remember when I bought the Thunders (they're still relatively new) I skated flat for a bit and thought the stocks felt better than my last pair but I still put in the Bones.

[goodatmeth]

Been skating Thunder 148 Hollow Lights for a few years, needed new trucks and wanted to size up to 8.5 decks, my local only had Lights and not Hollow lights. Am I really going to feel that much of a difference in weight? It’s like less than a pound according to tactics. Kinda getting some madness going

Less than a pound? Lol yeah you're good.
The difference is only 20 grams, which is 0.044 pounds

[j....soy.....]

You might notice it a bit as you’re bumping up likely a bigger board and trucks, but overall I think it’s not too bad.  Thunders are light trucks as they are…..if you were jumping to an Ace or and Indy, I’d say watch out….

[danmasontree]

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Been skating Thunder 148 Hollow Lights for a few years, needed new trucks and wanted to size up to 8.5 decks, my local only had Lights and not Hollow lights. Am I really going to feel that much of a difference in weight? It’s like less than a pound according to tactics. Kinda getting some madness going

[close]

Less than a pound? Lol yeah you're good.
The difference is only 20 grams, which is 0.044 pounds

Haha I mean, my initial thoughts as well but like I said, the madness has me

[danmasontree]

You might notice it a bit as you’re bumping up likely a bigger board and trucks, but overall I think it’s not too bad.  Thunders are light trucks as they are…..if you were jumping to an Ace or and Indy, I’d say watch out….

Yeah, I wanna go from 8.38 with Thunder 148’s to 8.5 with Thunder 149’s so def expecting some additional weight, just wondering if the lights will make it that much more heavy feeling

[Murge]

Been skating Thunder 148 Hollow Lights for a few years, needed new trucks and wanted to size up to 8.5 decks, my local only had Lights and not Hollow lights. Am I really going to feel that much of a difference in weight? It’s like less than a pound according to tactics. Kinda getting some madness going

Tactics may have the weights listed and you can see how much the difference is.  I’ve done that and then google what weighs that much and it will be like 2 nickels. Or something and I’m like skating with 2 nickels won’t make much of a difference and it chills me out on the madness.

Also if it makes you feel better or helps I recently got 149 thunder team hollow lights and I was skating 149 standards before the upgrade and I don’t notice a difference really. Like kinda but not really. I feel I leveled Ollie’s out better with standards but with flip tricks the hollows keep legs feeling fresh a little longer I think. But could be in my head. Anyway I’m rambling I hope any of this may have helped

[j....soy.....]

I even think just standard thunders are great trucks…..still way lighter than an Indy….

Being lower they lighten the pop too.

[braksabbath]

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You might notice it a bit as you’re bumping up likely a bigger board and trucks, but overall I think it’s not too bad.  Thunders are light trucks as they are…..if you were jumping to an Ace or and Indy, I’d say watch out….

[close]

Yeah, I wanna go from 8.38 with Thunder 148’s to 8.5 with Thunder 149’s so def expecting some additional weight, just wondering if the lights will make it that much more heavy feeling

I just weighed both of these and the DLX 8.38 weighs 2 ounces more than the DLX 8.5. Chalk that up to wood and glue variables because the shapes look identical, the 8.5 might have slightly more taper. That 2 oz is a lot more than one size jump in trucks

[DarkPools]

Weirdly enough, recent DLX 8.38" shapes are measurably bigger than their 8.5" ones. In 2020, I compared an 8.5" I got new to a used 8.38," and the 8.38" felt like an 8.5" while the 8.5" felt like an 8.38" or smaller.

I measured both and they had each other's expected dimensions practically.

[LebowskisRug]

Yah I found the following:

DLX 8.5 is 8.375x14.18x31.75

DLX 8.38 is 8.4x14.43x32.125

Both are great shapes. I haven’t had a DLX shape I have really strongly disliked although their 8.28 was a bit short for me and the 8.4 seemed to not jive with me but I could try both again.

[Argyle]

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I was hopping around on some truck madness this year but I think I'm going back to where I started with Thunder 149s. Set mine back up as I mentioned I was considering and my flatground immediately just clicked. My best years of skating have always been on Thunders so now that the wanderlust has settled, I don't feel any reason to change.

[close]

Still with bones bushings or completely stock?

[close]

I'm on Bones Mediums. I remember when I bought the Thunders (they're still relatively new) I skated flat for a bit and thought the stocks felt better than my last pair but I still put in the Bones.

I've ordered some mediums in the Thunder rebuild kit, but currently on some bones for the last few months. They're less stable than the stock I think, but I go back and forth. Depends where my madness is at!

[IpathCats]

Madness has kept me going back to indys for a while. I've been wanting a heavier popfeel and longer WB, i hopped on the venture hype train and couldn't deal with the turn, back to indys i went. Madness started going again, just got a set of thunder 148 team hollows, first thunders in like 15 years. Driveway test drive went well, going to the park after work, really hope i dont HATE the grind. I know it wont be as good as an indy, hopefully its manageable for me, because i do like the wider stance and pop feel of these. The turn was great too.

[LebowskisRug]

I like the Thunder grind and find it indistinguishable from Indy except for pinchy stuff where they shine far above.

[IpathCats]

I like the Thunder grind and find it indistinguishable from Indy except for pinchy stuff where they shine far above.

I hope you're right. Through all my madness I've found that indys for sure grind the best/furthest of any truck. They tend to plow through shit and need less wax than other brands to skate chunky/crusty shit. Way back in the day i switched to indy's mostly because of the grind and my pair before that was thunders. Also, I like to think im much better now than i was 15 years ago, so maybe that'll help.

[OldCandy]

been doing a shit ton of crooks recently and top bushing is turning to dust (Even with flat washer....) i have a spare set of used/broken in set of indy bushings should i swap only to indy top or indy top and bottom

[Xen]

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I like the Thunder grind and find it indistinguishable from Indy except for pinchy stuff where they shine far above.

[close]

I hope you're right. Through all my madness I've found that indys for sure grind the best/furthest of any truck. They tend to plow through shit and need less wax than other brands to skate chunky/crusty shit. Way back in the day i switched to indy's mostly because of the grind and my pair before that was thunders. Also, I like to think im much better now than i was 15 years ago, so maybe that'll help.

Fresh trucks, I'd say Indy grind better (bigger hanger area maybe?), but once broken in I can't tell the difference between them and Thunders either; but as far as pinch grind, thunder above all for me but that's due to the pinch, not the metal. You can just sit on them and go go go.

[j....soy.....]

Just to round out the conversation……strangely Ventures grind much poorly than both…

[IpathCats]

Just to round out the conversation……strangely Ventures grind much poorly than both…

I certainly noticed that when i tried them recently.

[Dan Gerous]

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I like the Thunder grind and find it indistinguishable from Indy except for pinchy stuff where they shine far above.

[close]

I hope you're right. Through all my madness I've found that indys for sure grind the best/furthest of any truck. They tend to plow through shit and need less wax than other brands to skate chunky/crusty shit. Way back in the day i switched to indy's mostly because of the grind and my pair before that was thunders. Also, I like to think im much better now than i was 15 years ago, so maybe that'll help.

[close]

Fresh trucks, I'd say Indy grind better (bigger hanger area maybe?), but once broken in I can't tell the difference between them and Thunders either; but as far as pinch grind, thunder above all for me but that's due to the pinch, not the metal. You can just sit on them and go go go.

That's exactly it, Indy's have a bulkier hanger with a much bigger radius of the curve in the grind area, so it catches less on imperfections of whatever you grind on. If you'd go to the extreme of small radius, an edge or a blade, it would hang on the smallest imperfections. But the Indy and Thunder metal is similar (it used to be the exact same when both were manufactured in the US) so as soon as that curve is broken in and you have a groove, they grind pretty much the same.

Ventures seem to use a different type of alloy, maybe not harder but more dense maybe? They feel and sound different, they're not forged but they seem to feel like what it would feel like if the hangers were forged instead of cast.

[IpathCats]

Yea, I had assumed thunders used a different alloy. There is a very clear difference in the hanger alloy between indy, venture, and ace classics. The AF1s are closer to indy feel. I only caught a couple grinds on my thunders before it started raining yesterday, and i was pleasantly surprised, they felt good. Everything felt comfortable on the thunders right away, and I'm able to have a slightly wider stance now, which is what i was looking for. Def gonna rock these for a while, zero complaints so far, and that says a lot coming from someone with my level of madness. I guess they were squeaking a little, but if i stay on these ill just get some riptide cups to fix that.

[LebowskisRug]

Don't bother with Riptides just wax your hanger nub a bit. I do it on every pair of trucks now and have zero squeaks. You could do it where the bushings touch the hanger too.

[IpathCats]

Don't bother with Riptides just wax your hanger nub a bit. I do it on every pair of trucks now and have zero squeaks. You could do it where the bushings touch the hanger too.

I've done this and found that once the wax is in there for a bit and breaks down/gets dirty, the wax itself causes an even louder squeak. might depend on the type of wax, i just used gulf wax. I might try a cotton swab with the lightest bit of motor oil on it and do a very light coat.