The Thunder Thread

[rawbertson.]

It is adjustable, I just think maybe not as much as some people think...
2-3 threads is probably fine - But i think you cant really argue the fact the more you tighten it down, the more stress you are putting the bushing under which means it will fail faster.

[TwisT]

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Nut flush looks cool and SLAP is somewhat obsessed with it but you are allowed to adjust your trucks beyond that.

bro what?!? "looks cool" who thinks that?

[Too Frank To Fred]

It is adjustable, I just think maybe not as much as some people think...
2-3 threads is probably fine - But i think you cant really argue the fact the more you tighten it down, the more stress you are putting the bushing under which means it will fail faster.

Depending on the bushing durometer/ shape and truck geometry, sure.

There are no rules. As the man says, "Fuck with your trucks." Crank them as much as you need to. Freedom.

[Too Frank To Fred]

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Nut flush looks cool and SLAP is somewhat obsessed with it but you are allowed to adjust your trucks beyond that.

[close]

bro what?!? "looks cool" who thinks that?

The Threadphobic among us.

[BartHarleyJarvis]

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I don't understand why people are obsessed about riding the trucks nut flush. There's a possibility to make the trucks tighter why don't people use it? It isn't cool? I understand not wanting to tic tac, but 2 or 3 threads showing is not something to be ashamed of in my opinion.

[close]

Don’t want my kingpin to be the reason why I can’t land a back smith, I’m not super ocd about it though, I don’t a thread or two showing, it’s when it becomes a hinderance to the grind

Sounds like a 2000s butt rock band name. Who wants to join

[SwitchBenihana]

Not that it matters much but think of it this way: the more you compress a bushing the more rebound it has. At the end of the turn it compresses the most and thus snaps back stronger than at the start. If you crank you are starting with the bushing already compressed, which gives you resistance for sure, but limits your turn arc. You're better off with less threads and a firmer bushing.

In mountain biking this is akin to the idea of setting your pre-load on your rear shock. The travel is progressive just like it is for a bushing: the more it compresses the more force it generates back. There is a zone you want to be in for pre-load otherwise it fucks with your shit.

I think sometimes the more fried the setup the better. I love seeing weird combos that just work. Crank your shit to the moon or have 2 different baseplates make it unique.

[Ok]

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Just a matter of opinion here but I think the T-2 looks better with the barrel bushings from @tzhangdox photo from the page before last. Gives it more of that mid to late 90’s Thunder look.

Edited because the above post jumped us into the next page.

[close]

Plus after seeing the newest PALS vid I’d follow that dude to the end of the earth, he fucking rips

haven’t seen the pals video, have seen some clips and yeah, very good

[Texas_Tone]

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I don't understand why people are obsessed about riding the trucks nut flush. There's a possibility to make the trucks tighter why don't people use it? It isn't cool? I understand not wanting to tic tac, but 2 or 3 threads showing is not something to be ashamed of in my opinion.

[close]

Don’t want my kingpin to be the reason why I can’t land a back smith, I’m not super ocd about it though, I don’t a thread or two showing, it’s when it becomes a hinderance to the grind

[close]

Sounds like a 2000s butt rock band name. Who wants to join

When I was typing that I thought of that skidrow song “slave to the grind”. Almost typed something else but went with my gut, and I’d totally be down to do a tour with chevvelle and shinedown

[tzhangdox]

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Just a matter of opinion here but I think the T-2 looks better with the barrel bushings from @tzhangdox photo from the page before last. Gives it more of that mid to late 90’s Thunder look.

Edited because the above post jumped us into the next page.

[close]

Plus after seeing the newest PALS vid I’d follow that dude to the end of the earth, he fucking rips

[close]

haven’t seen the pals video, have seen some clips and yeah, very good

Thx guys appreciate it, its because I try so hard to optimize my setup

My 2 cents on having the nut flush is that it comes mostly down to OCD. Having up to 2-3 threads showing isn't going to be the end of the world, a lot of skaters do it. Sure it will probably wear your bushings down quicker but I'd rather that than skate trucks that are uncomfortably loose. Plus you know what will help preserve your bsuhings? Not skating at all. It does become an issue if you start grinding down the kingpin on smiths and then mess up the thread tho. Definitely still better to find the right bushings so you can run the nut flush ish, but its not the end of the world to have a lil thread showing

[back smith]

DLX marketing is next level. All this Thunder T2 talk made me order some... Venture V8's.

By my math they're four times better.

[SwitchBenihana]

Trucks are a rectangle which is a oblong square so it's only T2 squared which is 6 right?

[tzhangdox]

Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

[Daniel]

I'll revise my review. These feel unique enough compared to an ace or an indy, something between the two in terms of grind and turn. I found that short, steep kicks work well for how light these pop. I'm looking forward to the supposed bushing replacements and hollow upgrades later. And I have to say, these look much nicer than Indys and the regular thunders, giving that old-school Natas/Stranger look.

Has anyone tried Riptide or Venom replacements? After significantly firming up, my bushings have softened to a squirrely, unstable point. I can't imagine what they’d feel like once they start to crack. I'm thinking maybe a setup like an ace hard top cone and soft bottom cylinder would work well in these.

On another note, I'm curious how many current Thunder pros will switch to the T-II. That promo clip was sick, too. Also, it’s surprising to see so many pros skate short WB trucks on short decks, assuming they’re throwing the T-IIs on the typical stubby violet and FA decks.

[Xen]

that's so weird.

Something Lewbowski would do as a next step in hiding his identity since his post style is so easily recognized (not saying it's him, but you know what I mean ).

Also,  tightening your trucks down =/= more rebound, that's the exact opposite of how bushings work. The problem with that shock logic is there is no room for the bushing to do anything when cranked down, that's why they split...they need room to reform after they deform.

Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

With you on that, 1/4 is just too big (same goes for riser pads, those 2mm slappy risers are the shit for small increases).

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I don't understand why people are obsessed about riding the trucks nut flush. There's a possibility to make the trucks tighter why don't people use it? It isn't cool? I understand not wanting to tic tac, but 2 or 3 threads showing is not something to be ashamed of in my opinion.

[close]

Don’t want my kingpin to be the reason why I can’t land a back smith, I’m not super ocd about it though, I don’t a thread or two showing, it’s when it becomes a hinderance to the grind

^^ That. one or two threads totally fine..shit speaking of [ocd] reynolds, dude cranks his trucks and grinds down the pin if too much is showing.

Since I'm not on them anymore, I'm bailing. Those who haven't ridden them, enjoy your speculation!

[tzhangdox]

I'll revise my review. These feel unique enough compared to an ace or an indy, something between the two in terms of grind and turn. I found that short, steep kicks work well for how light these pop. I'm looking forward to the supposed bushing replacements and hollow upgrades later. And I have to say, these look much nicer than Indys and the regular thunders, giving that old-school Natas/Stranger look.

Has anyone tried Riptide or Venom replacements? After significantly firming up, my bushings have softened to a squirrely, unstable point. I can't imagine what they’d feel like once they start to crack. I'm thinking maybe a setup like an ace hard top cone and soft bottom cylinder would work well in these.

On another note, I'm curious how many current Thunder pros will switch to the T-II. That promo clip was sick, too. Also, it’s surprising to see so many pros skate short WB trucks on short decks, assuming they’re throwing the T-IIs on the typical stubby violet and FA decks.

I dont think it has to be that complicated. Just rock Indy barrel bushings of your preferred durometer and it should work fine. Worked for me. Optimizing bushings to a degree is helpful but going crazy with different brands and combos feels a bit OD imo. As long as they're good quality and the tightness feels good and they snap back to center fine, itll be fine, any further optimizations wont help your skating

[SwitchBenihana]

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that's so weird.

[close]

Something Lewbowski would do as a next step in hiding his identity since his post style is so easily recognized (not saying it's him, but you know what I mean ).

Also,  tightening your trucks down =/= more rebound, that's the exact opposite of how bushings work. The problem with that shock logic is there is no room for the bushing to do anything when cranked down, that's why they split...they need room to reform after they deform.

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Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

[close]

With you on that, 1/4 is just too big (same goes for riser pads, those 2mm slappy risers are the shit for small increases).

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I don't understand why people are obsessed about riding the trucks nut flush. There's a possibility to make the trucks tighter why don't people use it? It isn't cool? I understand not wanting to tic tac, but 2 or 3 threads showing is not something to be ashamed of in my opinion.

[close]

Don’t want my kingpin to be the reason why I can’t land a back smith, I’m not super ocd about it though, I don’t a thread or two showing, it’s when it becomes a hinderance to the grind

[close]

^^ That. one or two threads totally fine..shit speaking of [ocd] reynolds, dude cranks his trucks and grinds down the pin if too much is showing.

Since I'm not on them anymore, I'm bailing. Those who haven't ridden them, enjoy your speculation!

True it's not precisely the same, but pre-loading a coil spring does have the same overall effect as the energy is stored and not dissipated. It's getting pretty fucking in the weeds.

I'm hoping Thunder just puts out some firmer aftermarket options and communicates that in these trucks 98A might feel like a normal 90A.

I'm out on the thread as well unless there are any replies about the testing process/insights or pro observations. My guess is very few pros care about kingpin threads. Could always file it down like Reynolds. I do wonder why they didn't make these IKP or if they'll do that option.

[Too Frank To Fred]

IKP seem prone to kingpin wiggle. In turnier trucks perhaps even more so. I think Thunder would have to really work on something like Ace's new system to make an IKP sturdy T2s.... just my lay person's guess...

[fatratz]

After one weekend on t2’s I simply can’t ride them, unless I were to switch to a longer wb I find them uncomfortable to ride in general, every day I’d have to tighten or loosen them and they never felt great sadly, some tricks felt great but I find them too squirrelly for me to ride, even just going over blind bumps felt sketch. I know this is probably more user error than trucks but I switched to lurpivs (similar wb to venture) and all my issues went away, the thunder advertising got me too hyped tho so I guess good job to thunder for getting me to spend my money

[rawbertson.]

Lurpiv WB is same as:

Thunder Team
Slappy
Indy Forged Hollow

+3.125"

[JM]

Lulz.

[TooManyPros]

[Ok]

Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

yes, 1/8th would be nice, 1/4 is a lot.

[tzhangdox]

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Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

[close]

yes, 1/8th would be nice, 1/4 is a lot.

Its technically more than 1/4 too. Its labelled 1/4 but I've had two sets now and both actually measured 5/16. Verified by my friend on his set too

[SwitchBenihana]

Gotta suck to get yours after all the other YouTuber flow

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

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Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

[close]

yes, 1/8th would be nice, 1/4 is a lot.

[close]

Its technically more than 1/4 too. Its labelled 1/4 but I've had two sets now and both actually measured 5/16. Verified by my friend on his set too

Move one truck and turn brain off….

[tzhangdox]

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Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

[close]

yes, 1/8th would be nice, 1/4 is a lot.

[close]

Its technically more than 1/4 too. Its labelled 1/4 but I've had two sets now and both actually measured 5/16. Verified by my friend on his set too

[close]

Move one truck and turn brain off….

Brain is sadly way too on. Trying to optimize the pop feel of both my nose and tail and moving one truck in by 5/16 does not do that, overall wheelbase matters far less

[rikki]

Kasci Woolf is SO good.

[BartHarleyJarvis]

I have skated the trucks and have come to settle all the arguments once and for all.

In conclusion: Everyone is correct but the trucks are fine.

Mine were kindly pre-broken in by @MxsDx (thanks again) and arrived to me essentially nut flush. I'm a loose truck enjoyer so I was mostly curious if people were exaggerating, but the trucks are definitely not stable at center. I'm currently riding lurpivs which you can run pretty loose but still feel really confident in a straight line. The thunder make you find the balance point, similar to a really loose Ace or Indy.

I eventually gave the kingpin a full turn and that actually ended up being too tight for me, I would describe it as medium. I backed off a half turn and that was pretty close to the sweet spot for me: more stability at center but still nice and loose. However, I have to focus on that balance point in a way I don't on other trucks.



They are nice and surfy. You can dig in pretty deep before getting bad wheelbite (these are slightly worn 53mm radials so bigger wheels will bite earlier). They are heavier than I expected at ~368g per 149 truck which is comparable to a Venture Standard or an Ace Af1 Hollow.



Baseplate does keep the wheels away from nose/tail slides (again with 53mm wheels) but it doesn't have as solid contact as an Indy Baseplate.

Having kept up with the past 7-8 pages of the thread, more or less everyone is right and these are really going to come down to your personal preference. If you're looking for a loose, surfy, tall Indy alternative, these will do but don't really set themselves apart from any of the other trucks out there. If you're more of a tech, medium/tight truck skater you'll want to swap bushings or just stay away entirely. When I kill my lurpivs I'll definitely consider the 151s but these are not a "must ride" truck for me

[big_kev_215]

I have skated the trucks and have come to settle all the arguments once and for all.

In conclusion: Everyone is correct but the trucks are fine.

Mine were kindly pre-broken in by @MxsDx (thanks again) and arrived to me essentially nut flush. I'm a loose truck enjoyer so I was mostly curious if people were exaggerating, but the trucks are definitely not stable at center. I'm currently riding lurpivs which you can run pretty loose but still feel really confident in a straight line. The thunder make you find the balance point, similar to a really loose Ace or Indy.

I eventually gave the kingpin a full turn and that actually ended up being too tight for me, I would describe it as medium. I backed off a half turn and that was pretty close to the sweet spot for me: more stability at center but still nice and loose. However, I have to focus on that balance point in a way I don't on other trucks.



They are nice and surfy. You can dig in pretty deep before getting bad wheelbite (these are slightly worn 53mm radials so bigger wheels will bite earlier). They are heavier than I expected at ~368g per 149 truck which is comparable to a Venture Standard or an Ace Af1 Hollow.



Baseplate does keep the wheels away from nose/tail slides (again with 53mm wheels) but it doesn't have as solid contact as an Indy Baseplate.

Having kept up with the past 7-8 pages of the thread, more or less everyone is right and these are really going to come down to your personal preference. If you're looking for a loose, surfy, tall Indy alternative, these will do but don't really set themselves apart from any of the other trucks out there. If you're more of a tech, medium/tight truck skater you'll want to swap bushings or just stay away entirely. When I kill my lurpivs I'll definitely consider the 151s but these are not a "must ride" truck for me

What are those things on the outside of your bearings?

[Mbrimson88]

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Ugh kinda on that boat, every time I try a new truck it just makes me wish that Venture V8s shrunk the wheelbase only by 1/8 per truck not over 1/4. Would never complain again.

[close]

yes, 1/8th would be nice, 1/4 is a lot.

[close]

Its technically more than 1/4 too. Its labelled 1/4 but I've had two sets now and both actually measured 5/16. Verified by my friend on his set too

Yes they are more on the "extreme" side of things when trying different wheelbase positions.

I haven't modified wheelbases on Thunder baseplates, the way I have on other trucks like Venture and Indy, where the offset is easier to drill another set of holes, but as I did have a number of baseplates (and can get more) I thought I would experiment with drilling them closer to the existing holes, then right beside the other holes so there is no gap in between, which worked great, then drilling the actual holes into an oval shape, to be able to move the baseplate up only a little tiny bit.

So far my experiment is working well and the baseplate has not moved from where I have them, but as a just in case, I also put Jessup grip under there too, stuck to the baseplate to hold it onto the board.

I wouldn't recommend this to just anyone, but for people that know what they are doing, this might be a good way to bring in a baseplate just a little bit, eg a few mm.

Looking at Thunder baseplates it might be tricky, but I think I could do it.






This is what I have done so far to modify Thunder wheelbase - drilling out the deck almost right beside the other holes, then putting dowel into the existing bolt holes to ensure there is no movement.  I used an old deck, which has grip I don't like, so will regrip it if it works, just so I don't see the dowel, but so far it has been really good.