The Thunder Thread

[lazer69]

How do you keep them trucks from getting locked in on one side ?

[venture5.8]

I am sorry to ask already if this has been answered. The bushings in one of my trucks is starting to get cooked and I am noticing it when skating. I am getting a present for somebody off of ccs and saw they had these bushing options if anybody has ran them in thunders and can provide some help
-bones
-riptide
-do dohs
-indy
Thank you in advance!

[Ok]

I cross posted this in the questions thread, but figured it would get some love here as well

I’m new to thunders, my last pair was on my first Christmas complete in 1995, they were t-4’s then, and I’ve been enjoying riding 147s for the past couple months.

What are some favorite 8.5” shapes for people on thunders?

I know, 147 on 8.5 seems really mid matched, but I know Ellington and Greco used to run this, and kick flips are easier because of the tippiness

I’m looking for decks Preferably with a tail longer than 6.5 (6.6 or 6.75 would be great) and a wheelbase 14”-14.3

I recently stepped up from a quasi proto 8.25 (tapered to 8” on the back) and the 8.5 feels really cozy and I wanna grab a couple more

Thanks pals!

Thunders are very good.
I skate a lot of quasi boards. I like a shorter tail than you do, the crail g053 is excellent, highly recommend (short tail tho, but also why I like it, and wheelbase is too long for what you want, so just cross this out).
Longer tail, try an April maybe? I had the Shane shape with 147s, and hated it (and myself for buying an April).
147s are so sick. I have a hard time skating a wheel above 52, and that ends up limiting how often I skate 147s.

[Ok]

I am sorry to ask already if this has been answered. The bushings in one of my trucks is starting to get cooked and I am noticing it when skating. I am getting a present for somebody off of ccs and saw they had these bushing options if anybody has ran them in thunders and can provide some help
-bones
-riptide
-do dohs
-indy
Thank you in advance!

Xen is the thunder bushing source of info

[theloniousmonk]

Expand Quote

I cross posted this in the questions thread, but figured it would get some love here as well

I’m new to thunders, my last pair was on my first Christmas complete in 1995, they were t-4’s then, and I’ve been enjoying riding 147s for the past couple months.

What are some favorite 8.5” shapes for people on thunders?

I know, 147 on 8.5 seems really mid matched, but I know Ellington and Greco used to run this, and kick flips are easier because of the tippiness

I’m looking for decks Preferably with a tail longer than 6.5 (6.6 or 6.75 would be great) and a wheelbase 14”-14.3

I recently stepped up from a quasi proto 8.25 (tapered to 8” on the back) and the 8.5 feels really cozy and I wanna grab a couple more

Thanks pals!

[close]

Quasis tend to be pretty mellow through the middle and have that thin, snappy feeling, but if you’re interested in trying something different, I might suggest a 5Boro. The wood is exceptional and the tail shape feels nice and roomy, concave through the middle is a little more deep. Definitely my personal choice if I had to buy one board for the rest of life.

Big ups I had one when they were Chapman pressed, I appreciate the reply and I’ll check into it!

[theloniousmonk]

Expand Quote

I cross posted this in the questions thread, but figured it would get some love here as well

I’m new to thunders, my last pair was on my first Christmas complete in 1995, they were t-4’s then, and I’ve been enjoying riding 147s for the past couple months.

What are some favorite 8.5” shapes for people on thunders?

I know, 147 on 8.5 seems really mid matched, but I know Ellington and Greco used to run this, and kick flips are easier because of the tippiness

I’m looking for decks Preferably with a tail longer than 6.5 (6.6 or 6.75 would be great) and a wheelbase 14”-14.3

I recently stepped up from a quasi proto 8.25 (tapered to 8” on the back) and the 8.5 feels really cozy and I wanna grab a couple more

Thanks pals!

[close]

Thunders are very good.
I skate a lot of quasi boards. I like a shorter tail than you do, the crail g053 is excellent, highly recommend (short tail tho, but also why I like it, and wheelbase is too long for what you want, so just cross this out).
Longer tail, try an April maybe? I had the Shane shape with 147s, and hated it (and myself for buying an April).
147s are so sick. I have a hard time skating a wheel above 52, and that ends up limiting how often I skate 147s.

Thanks for the reply! I skated the April 8.25 last summer, and broke it in at the huge new park in Des Moines.
I’ll definately look into the crail 8.5 shapes. I skated the 8.25 in the early spring, the one with  the slightly longer tail than nose. Solid deck and I have another on ice for when the time comes.
I have really, really enjoyed the 147s. They are the first 8” trucks I’ve had in a decade. I have 54mm conical a on them, and while I’m getting a little wheel bite, it’s not too bad. I’m on cast plates an inverted kingpin (keeper off eBay) and have been enjoying them.

[Xen]

Expand Quote

I am sorry to ask already if this has been answered. The bushings in one of my trucks is starting to get cooked and I am noticing it when skating. I am getting a present for somebody off of ccs and saw they had these bushing options if anybody has ran them in thunders and can provide some help
-bones
-riptide
-do dohs
-indy
Thank you in advance!

[close]

Xen is the thunder bushing source of info

@fat philly skater

Can’t go wrong with stock if that’s what you are used too.

That said, I highly recommend getting Venom bottoms, use whatever top you want (I prefer a low top so they are not so tight and can keep the nut from falling off - grewer tip). They're longboard shit but bushings are bushings as far as their purpose; they're also better urethane. You could try the NFGs (they're also taller than stock thunders) but pretty soft...the 90a NFG is mush compared to the 86a Venom.

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=88869.msg3805659#msg3805659

https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/bushings/3614/venom-shr-super-carve-cone-longboard-skateboard-bushings-pack

I run the 86a (they were $5 blemish so worth a try) they're 1mm taller than stock thunders but either sand or compress them down and you're fine.

[FatGuy92]

I cross posted this in the questions thread, but figured it would get some love here as well

I’m new to thunders, my last pair was on my first Christmas complete in 1995, they were t-4’s then, and I’ve been enjoying riding 147s for the past couple months.

What are some favorite 8.5” shapes for people on thunders?

I know, 147 on 8.5 seems really mid matched, but I know Ellington and Greco used to run this, and kick flips are easier because of the tippiness

I’m looking for decks Preferably with a tail longer than 6.5 (6.6 or 6.75 would be great) and a wheelbase 14”-14.3

I recently stepped up from a quasi proto 8.25 (tapered to 8” on the back) and the 8.5 feels really cozy and I wanna grab a couple more

Thanks pals!

You can go full Ishod and get a Real twin tail. They make them in 8.3 and 8.5. I think the kicks on both are 6.65" or something.

[theloniousmonk]

Expand Quote

I cross posted this in the questions thread, but figured it would get some love here as well

I’m new to thunders, my last pair was on my first Christmas complete in 1995, they were t-4’s then, and I’ve been enjoying riding 147s for the past couple months.

What are some favorite 8.5” shapes for people on thunders?

I know, 147 on 8.5 seems really mid matched, but I know Ellington and Greco used to run this, and kick flips are easier because of the tippiness

I’m looking for decks Preferably with a tail longer than 6.5 (6.6 or 6.75 would be great) and a wheelbase 14”-14.3

I recently stepped up from a quasi proto 8.25 (tapered to 8” on the back) and the 8.5 feels really cozy and I wanna grab a couple more

Thanks pals!

[close]

You can go full Ishod and get a Real twin tail. They make them in 8.3 and 8.5. I think the kicks on both are 6.65" or something.

That’s a good idea, have you ever tried one? I haven’t yet. When Paul Schmidt was on the nine club, he measured the degrees of the nose and tail on Robert’s twin tail, and the nose was still steeper than the tail, showing that at that moment the crailtap wood twin tails were not using a symmetrical mold. I also liked Schmidt’s idea that a board is like a jack knife with two distinctly different kicks for different terrain.
That said, I might still cop because of the length of the kicks is in my neighborhood, and I’m a fan of ishod and bbs wood

[europa1991]

New to the team hollows (and hollow trucks in general been riding team editions for a min) and I’m noticing the turn seems to feel off and I’m getting wheelbite often. Does anyone on here ride them with bones medium bushings? Found a new pair in my house awhile back so I’m curious if they’d make a difference.

[BartHarleyJarvis]

So I think I may be switching back to thunders. I’ve been primarily riding Indy the past couple of years and I love the turn but my tricks have just never felt right, at the very least I struggle with flips and pop.

I just set up a twin tail with a set of Thunders I had tried a couple years ago and it just feels great. I’m old now and the quicker pop point just works so much better for me. Even after years on Indy’s I still ghost pop sometimes, especially if ollieing onto lower ledges, and that’s not an issue with the thunders.

I know some of it may be the pairing of board and trucks, so I need to try the thunders on my usual set up. I got the softest thunder 90du bushings and they feel reasonably good but not as good as Indy. Anyone else have this experience of switching from ace/Indy to thunder and not looking back?

[Mean salto]

So I think I may be switching back to thunders. I’ve been primarily riding Indy the past couple of years and I love the turn but my tricks have just never felt right, at the very least I struggle with flips and pop.

I just set up a twin tail with a set of Thunders I had tried a couple years ago and it just feels great. I’m old now and the quicker pop point just works so much better for me. Even after years on Indy’s I still ghost pop sometimes, especially if ollieing onto lower ledges, and that’s not an issue with the thunders.

I know some of it may be the pairing of board and trucks, so I need to try the thunders on my usual set up. I got the softest thunder 90du bushings and they feel reasonably good but not as good as Indy. Anyone else have this experience of switching from ace/Indy to thunder and not looking back?

Unfortunately not the "and not looking back"part.
I prefer almost everything about thunder to Indy but my manual,nosemanual and even 5-0, nosegrind are much worse on thunders. Never used to be the case then a few years ago got the idea in my head thunders are more for fully pressed or pinched style grinds not so much Manny style even tho like half the team are the most tech skaters going lol. Haven't gone back to Indy for a long while tho so maybe there's so hope

[FatGuy92]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I cross posted this in the questions thread, but figured it would get some love here as well

I’m new to thunders, my last pair was on my first Christmas complete in 1995, they were t-4’s then, and I’ve been enjoying riding 147s for the past couple months.

What are some favorite 8.5” shapes for people on thunders?

I know, 147 on 8.5 seems really mid matched, but I know Ellington and Greco used to run this, and kick flips are easier because of the tippiness

I’m looking for decks Preferably with a tail longer than 6.5 (6.6 or 6.75 would be great) and a wheelbase 14”-14.3

I recently stepped up from a quasi proto 8.25 (tapered to 8” on the back) and the 8.5 feels really cozy and I wanna grab a couple more

Thanks pals!

[close]

You can go full Ishod and get a Real twin tail. They make them in 8.3 and 8.5. I think the kicks on both are 6.65" or something.

[close]

That’s a good idea, have you ever tried one? I haven’t yet. When Paul Schmidt was on the nine club, he measured the degrees of the nose and tail on Robert’s twin tail, and the nose was still steeper than the tail, showing that at that moment the crailtap wood twin tails were not using a symmetrical mold. I also liked Schmidt’s idea that a board is like a jack knife with two distinctly different kicks for different terrain.
That said, I might still cop because of the length of the kicks is in my neighborhood, and I’m a fan of ishod and bbs wood

Yeah I had 2 twin tail slicks in 8.3. It didn’t negatively impact my skating and DLX twin tails are for sure actual twin. Unless you really need a big nose then I think it’s worth trying. Main benefit is that you can skate it either way and it arguably lasts longer since you use both sides pretty evenly.

Edit: one thing worth mentioning, the slicks are definitely heavier than normal decks, so if weight is an issue, definitely toss on lighter trucks. Not as heavy as the Crail pop secret decks though. The weight didn’t bother me since I had a couple sets of Thunder hollow lights at the time.

[BartHarleyJarvis]

Expand Quote

So I think I may be switching back to thunders. I’ve been primarily riding Indy the past couple of years and I love the turn but my tricks have just never felt right, at the very least I struggle with flips and pop.

I just set up a twin tail with a set of Thunders I had tried a couple years ago and it just feels great. I’m old now and the quicker pop point just works so much better for me. Even after years on Indy’s I still ghost pop sometimes, especially if ollieing onto lower ledges, and that’s not an issue with the thunders.

I know some of it may be the pairing of board and trucks, so I need to try the thunders on my usual set up. I got the softest thunder 90du bushings and they feel reasonably good but not as good as Indy. Anyone else have this experience of switching from ace/Indy to thunder and not looking back?

[close]

Unfortunately not the "and not looking back"part.
I prefer almost everything about thunder to Indy but my manual,nosemanual and even 5-0, nosegrind are much worse on thunders. Never used to be the case then a few years ago got the idea in my head thunders are more for fully pressed or pinched style grinds not so much Manny style even tho like half the team are the most tech skaters going lol. Haven't gone back to Indy for a long while tho so maybe there's so hope

Yeah and my manuals aren’t very good on my Indy’s so there’s not much room for them to get worse. Maybe with the thunders I can dedicate some time and practice my super pinched manuals

[Ok]

Expand Quote

So I think I may be switching back to thunders. I’ve been primarily riding Indy the past couple of years and I love the turn but my tricks have just never felt right, at the very least I struggle with flips and pop.

I just set up a twin tail with a set of Thunders I had tried a couple years ago and it just feels great. I’m old now and the quicker pop point just works so much better for me. Even after years on Indy’s I still ghost pop sometimes, especially if ollieing onto lower ledges, and that’s not an issue with the thunders.

I know some of it may be the pairing of board and trucks, so I need to try the thunders on my usual set up. I got the softest thunder 90du bushings and they feel reasonably good but not as good as Indy. Anyone else have this experience of switching from ace/Indy to thunder and not looking back?

[close]

Unfortunately not the "and not looking back"part.
I prefer almost everything about thunder to Indy but my manual,nosemanual and even 5-0, nosegrind are much worse on thunders. Never used to be the case then a few years ago got the idea in my head thunders are more for fully pressed or pinched style grinds not so much Manny style even tho like half the team are the most tech skaters going lol. Haven't gone back to Indy for a long while tho so maybe there's so hope

I use thunders the most often. Cast 149s for the majority of my skating. I do not skate transitions. Wheel size and wheelbite, on my mind. I have all of the trucks (not really but the amount of trucks I have is dumb), and yes, if I get on ace im shocked at how much more they turn, but…for the skating I do, that turn doesn’t help me. I do like skating ace/indy occasionally, good times, different, and oddly, ace 55 classics work well for me with some flipping, but overall, im far more consistent on thunders: better ollie, waaaaaaaay better kickflip. Less wiggling tho

[fulfillthedream]

I was riding these 148s with the orange bushings but i couldn't get the into the right tightness. Got the 95 blue ones and they're working like a charm 

[Ol Nick]

I’m not even riding Thunders right now nor am I feeling the itch to do so. I just couldn’t keep looking at those green hangers.

I’ma have to update the pics in my classifieds post. Maybe someone will want em now

[IpathCats]

I’m not even riding Thunders right now nor am I feeling the itch to do so. I just couldn’t keep looking at those green hangers.

I’ma have to update the pics in my classifieds post. Maybe someone will want em now

They look way better, nice job.

[funeral_tuxedo]

I’m not even riding Thunders right now nor am I feeling the itch to do so. I just couldn’t keep looking at those green hangers.

I’ma have to update the pics in my classifieds post. Maybe someone will want em now

wow they look so much better

[Mbrimson88]

They sure do look way cleaner and should make someone happy now.

[Ol Nick]

They sure do look way cleaner and should make someone happy now.

I mean, they’re kinda starting to make me happy. I was tryna trade em for some AF1s but there’s an outside chance I’ll get a pair for my birthday soon in which case I probably just have to keep the Thunders on hand for when the madness comes back.

[skatebruh]

I’m not even riding Thunders right now nor am I feeling the itch to do so. I just couldn’t keep looking at those green hangers.

I’ma have to update the pics in my classifieds post. Maybe someone will want em now

You are doing God's work.

[IpathCats]

New to this thread bc I just switched back to thunder after 1 year on venture trucks. I switched to venture bc I just wanted to try them out after my thunder trucks bushings blew out. I recently swapped 95d blue bushing rebuild kit in the thunders and they feel just like my ventures. I barely crank the nut down or else they are too tight. I noticed that this makes the geometry almost identical to the venture trucks bc the wheelbite marks are like 3mm off from each other on the same board. (The pop feel is almost identical as well)
So does the tightness of the truck change the effective wheelbase? I would think that if i had the nuts cranked all the way down, then the wheelbase would go inward. Sorry im way too superstitious about my setup:(

Did you get thunder replacement bushings with a conical bottom?

[Ol Nick]

New to this thread bc I just switched back to thunder after 1 year on venture trucks. I switched to venture bc I just wanted to try them out after my thunder trucks bushings blew out. I recently swapped 95d blue bushing rebuild kit in the thunders and they feel just like my ventures. I barely crank the nut down or else they are too tight. I noticed that this makes the geometry almost identical to the venture trucks bc the wheelbite marks are like 3mm off from each other on the same board. (The pop feel is almost identical as well)
So does the tightness of the truck change the effective wheelbase? I would think that if i had the nuts cranked all the way down, then the wheelbase would go inward. Sorry im way too superstitious about my setup:(

For me, once the bushings are broken in, their height stabilizes until they start blowing out. So once yours are broken in, tightening them will limit the turn but I don’t think it’ll bring your wheelbase in any further than just stepping on the board does. If you start changing the height of the bottom bushing, you can bring the axles down/in or up/out as much as the pivot and hanger will allow. There’s not many anecdotes of people having good experiences with that though. You could use a wedge riser for the same effect without fucking up the truck geometry but, you know, how superstitious are you?

[BartHarleyJarvis]

Just bought a new set of Thunder Lights. Switching over from Indy. That extra wheelbase/quicker pop on Thunder has just been feeling so much better....

Excited to swap them out and be completely wrong. madness strikes again

[joaqp]

Did you get thunder replacement bushings with a conical bottom?

Conical bottom. Here is a link to the exact same ones.
https://www.longboarderlabs.com/product/thunder-trucks-bushing-rebuild-kit-upgrade-95-duro-med-blue/

[MC3]

I'm actually kind of digging the pink hangers and the 80s graphics on these. Thinking about the 151s for a cruiser setup.

Tho i am a Thunder fan, I'm wondering if I should go for a more 'cruiser' truck, like an ace or something.

[IpathCats]

Expand Quote

Did you get thunder replacement bushings with a conical bottom?

[close]

Conical bottom. Here is a link to the exact same ones.
https://www.longboarderlabs.com/product/thunder-trucks-bushing-rebuild-kit-upgrade-95-duro-med-blue/

Stock are 90du usually so maybe the harder bushings are just really affecting you. The lighter you are, the more you would notice the difference.

[Fooj]

Thinking about picking up some of the $10 team 145s on Zumiez to replace the forged plates i have on my 148s.  Does anyone know if the hangers would fit or is the geo different between that big of a gap?

[Ok]

Thinking about picking up some of the $10 team 145s on Zumiez to replace the forged plates i have on my 148s.  Does anyone know if the hangers would fit or is the geo different between that big of a gap?

This is a great question. I tried the cast plates on my 149s, on my hollow forged 148s, and it looked wrong. Fairly certain the geo on 145 is the same as 147, and then 148 is different, and I even think 149 might be slightly different, but please don’t take my word for it cuz I’m fried.