Ace trucks

[Ok]

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Can people who talk about bending or breaking Aces post pics? Also, how much do you weigh?

I had one set of Aces come from the factory with a flaw in the hanger (Ace replaced it immediately), but otherwise the only QC Issue I've ever had was a blown pivot cup (I've had 6 sets total). I fluctuate between 200 and 210, and while I mostly skate lower impact stuff I am pretty big and stomp my tricks.

Not trying to be a dick, I've just never seen any of these issues IRL and figure my fat ass would have made one of these things happen at some point.

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I was thinking the exact same thing, but I’m about 50lbs heavier than you and I’ve never bent or broken a set. I’ll still Ollie of some shit waist high, but mostly skate lower impact shit and do a lot of slappys. Out of the multiple sets I’ve had, I have had no issues. Maybe it’s luck of the draw?

The first generation stuff was maybe a little more fragile, but arguably cooler looking, and some people prefer those for their turn.
I think some of Ace’s manufacturing isn’t as clean looking as say Indy, but it’s never affected my skating, like at all. I’m not sure if people who have these qc complaints come from other activities: golf, bicycling, guns....but tripping real hard off of, what seems to me to be very small details, for an item (skateboard) that will rapidly start to incur uneven wear, seems foolish.

***Ive never had a problem with their stuff that affected the skating.

[Frank and Fred]

Can people who talk about bending or breaking Aces post pics? Also, how much do you weigh?

I had one set of Aces come from the factory with a flaw in the hanger (Ace replaced it immediately), but otherwise the only QC Issue I've ever had was a blown pivot cup (I've had 6 sets total). I fluctuate between 200 and 210, and while I mostly skate lower impact stuff I am pretty big and stomp my tricks.

Not trying to be a dick, I've just never seen any of these issues IRL and figure my fat ass would have made one of these things happen at some point.

I am a little lighter than you.  I have had 3 sets off 44s and 2 sets of 55s. No issues aside from the kingpin getting a little loose. But that happened with Indy and Thunder also and does not bother me at all.

[Mbrimson88]

Can people who talk about bending or breaking Aces post pics? Also, how much do you weigh?

I had one set of Aces come from the factory with a flaw in the hanger (Ace replaced it immediately), but otherwise the only QC Issue I've ever had was a blown pivot cup (I've had 6 sets total). I fluctuate between 200 and 210, and while I mostly skate lower impact stuff I am pretty big and stomp my tricks.

Not trying to be a dick, I've just never seen any of these issues IRL and figure my fat ass would have made one of these things happen at some point.

I definitely get it - I know some dudes who are just human scum, one guy used to drop big rocks on his board when he wanted new Indy trucks - trucks bent, he got new trucks.  Totally sad.  Dude is done now anyway.

The reality is those people who I know legitimately break or bend trucks (any and all they skate) usually are on the lighter and younger side, but definitely do more big drops and very high impact stuff very regularly, so much that I cannot skate with them sometimes as my eyes translate the pain to my knees, ankles, etc.

I cannot ever recall bending or breaking trucks, in the 30+ years I have been skating "pro setups" meaning not pro skating, just skating the quality products, not cheap / budget completes or no name brands, which anyone could break fairly easily.

There have definitely been warranty issues along the way, of which my trucks or parts (Stage 9 baseplates) were replaced and away I went, happy again, but that happened to everyone, so I don't really count that.


To keep it relevant to the Ace thread, I have never had any issues whatsoever with any Ace trucks I have skated, maybe only ever seeing minimal issues with them from a shop perspective, eg one set with slightly bent axles - second hand from someone else that a kid was riding, which I hammered back straight and the kid was happy so never had a second thought about it.

[anon]

i'm pretty sure the last two sets of mine have bent because my wheels started to cone on the inside
but they were also down to the axle at that point (weakened) and i think using multiple axle washers contributed as well since greater distance from center = easier to bend
one was stage 1 and the other stage 3
mostly do slappies

[Maxi205]

Has anyone tried Ace 44's with Primitive and Isle decks?

I rode several Primitive 8.38 decks with ace 44‘s and really loved the combination, super easy to flip around and I had the best manuals on this combination. The only reason I don’t ride it exclusively is because popping on to stuff was quite hard and since my local spot almost only consists of super high ledges, I moved on skating a different setup.

[Xen]

I've only ever had one set of 33s bend on me and that was on Stage I, the 44 Stage 1 and 3 never had any issues.

[zozu]

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It works with older stage 1 and 2 Ace baseplates. I have some newer Ace baseplates that are like the rest of the batches currently coming out, the pivot hole is slightly crooked, and you will notice pivot cups stick out higher on one side than the other as a result of this. Indy hangers do not sit well inside these wonky pivot cavities.

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Thanks ! I bought my first paire of ace in january and realized that i was pretty disappointed by the quality of the pivot hole.
and yes i also realised the axle also bent a little even if i dont do gaps or big drop, only pavements ollie. i'm gonna put them on my cruiser set up for definitive use and wait for the next generation. yet i said a lot of complaining but i still love how they turn and how they dont wheelbite that much for being lower than indy. ace 55 for info.

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When you see guys like Raven, Sandoval, Oski ripping bowls you can see how they sometimes utilize that extra turn you could never get with Indys. By the time you're that loose you're wobbling and wheelbiting all over the place.

Ironically those guys run their Ace trucks tight as fuck, but they definitely go twice as fast as anyone else.

[bigdave]

I've been running 9" boards almost exclusively for a long time, but might now go down to an 8.8 magenta for my next deck. Continue to run the 55s? 44s seem too small.

[TastyBurrito]

I've been running 9" boards almost exclusively for a long time, but might now go down to an 8.8 magenta for my next deck. Continue to run the 55s? 44s seem too small.

I'd go with 55s.

I run my 55s on an 8.75 deck and it doesn't feel wonky.

[Freelancevagrant]

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I've been running 9" boards almost exclusively for a long time, but might now go down to an 8.8 magenta for my next deck. Continue to run the 55s? 44s seem too small.

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I'd go with 55s.

I run my 55s on an 8.75 deck and it doesn't feel wonky.

I’ve ridden 55s on everything from an 8.75 football to a 9.75 Dane1 with literally no issues.

55s are the truth

[manysnakes]

Steel and titanium axles are equally capable of bending, because merely being steel or titanium doesn't tell you enough about where it lands on Young's modulus to have an effect. I enjoy Ace and I've never bent a truck axle in my life (I've hovered at 145 lbs my whole adult life), but it definitely appears anecdotally as though Ace uses a lower quality axle than their competitors, who I believe all advertise a 4140 axle. 4140 is a high manganese chromoly steel commonly used for rods and spindles and is hence very good for "standard" skateboard trucks, so even speccing a well made one from a reputable manufacturer would probably mean a marked improvement

My hope is that this is addressed with whatever the news Ace Trucks entail, along with moving away from sandcast moulds and to a forged baseplate, while keeping the classic geometry

[Frank and Fred]

According to Ace:

"Constructed from pure 7071 series aluminum
Heat-treated 3056 series steel axles."

I don't know how that compares to 4140 steel.

I have heard they are using a harder aluminum in the new trucks.

[manysnakes]

According to Ace:

"Constructed from pure 7071 series aluminum
Heat-treated 3056 series steel axles."

I don't know how that compares to 4140 steel.

I have heard they are using a harder aluminum in the new trucks.

I have absolutely no idea what 3056 steel is, but I'm not a metallurgist. It doesn't come up as anything when you Google it, which as far as I'm concerned means that it's not a thing

[Frank and Fred]

You could be right....

Its a level of detail I really don't want to explore to be honest...

Just get me a damn 8.75" axle.

[Frank]

3056 is some sort of stainless steel i think. afaik that stuff is heat treated anyway, the number implies it. i think it's mostly used for small parts and kitchenstuff like heavy pans. very hard steel that is hard to dent and very resistant to corrosion/rust.

4140 is common chromoly steel, what many steel bike frames are made out of.

[pops]

 Rode a set of 44 and 55, best trucks so far and no issues so far other than my Indys are useless atm.

[radcunt]

Cracked the metal housing for the pivot cup in my Indy 169 baseplates so might try some aces finally

[augustmoon]

are all of these Ace trucks really getting bent, or is it just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shape of the hanger?  if they're bent, wouldn't it crack the hanger?  i don't think the axles would be able to bend without the hanger giving way

[Masshole]

i'm about 3 months into my first pair of aces and I've gotta say I'm loving them. In my opinion, slightly better than indys, far better than krux, both of which I cracked my last pair after roughly 2 months, but my new aces are still going strong.

[Xen]

are all of these Ace trucks really getting bent, or is it just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shape of the hanger?  if they're bent, wouldn't it crack the hanger?  i don't think the axles would be able to bend without the hanger giving way

They've lessened the extra beef in the center of the hanger which help visually to create a 'bend', but they DID bend, you could easily tell due to the the inner portion of the wheels touching the ground and the out edges not doing so. That's what happened to my pair, and to this dude's:

[Frank]

are all of these Ace trucks really getting bent, or is it just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shape of the hanger?  if they're bent, wouldn't it crack the hanger?  i don't think the axles would be able to bend without the hanger giving way

i think they usually start to bend past the hanger edge. the hanger metal seems to stabilize the axle part within.

i am not sure if this is the case, but them using different steel in the new ones coming out could mean they managed to fix the issue. even though i couldn't find specifics on that type of steel (3056)on the internet, like the others. i guess it might be some sort of heat treated stainless, which in that case could be harder to bend than run of the mill chromo, but probably more so makes for a smooth surface for the bearings to rest on that will be very corrosion resistant. i read some stuff about different kinds of stainless, it seems like in general, chromoly is supposed to be stronger out of the gate than most stainless types, but heat treated stainless can be stronger than chromoly. the search results i got with 3056 steel might just be product numbers/ids of things that happen to be out of stainless steel. the type of ss was never specified in the description though.

[Cool Ceith]

Just want to chime in here and say that I love my Aces (44s) and I will never ever ever switch.

That is all.

[Frank and Fred]

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are all of these Ace trucks really getting bent, or is it just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shape of the hanger?  if they're bent, wouldn't it crack the hanger?  i don't think the axles would be able to bend without the hanger giving way

[close]

They've lessened the extra beef in the center of the hanger which help visually to create a 'bend', but they DID bend, you could easily tell due to the the inner portion of the wheels touching the ground and the out edges not doing so. That's what happened to my pair, and to this dude's:

I don't think they lessened the beef in the middle. I believe they actually carried it out more to the ends. If you compare OG aces with the current ones you can see the hangars are wider closer to the wheels. I think the latest ones have eliminated the rocker completely if I remember correctly.

[Diocletian]

I've broken V2 and V3 baseplates at the pivot point. Bent V2 and V3 axles. Some get lucky, others don't. Just like every truck company out there. I'm just mentally ill and don't want my trucks bent, most others would probably not even care and keep skating them. It's all about how much you wanna obsess over it or not.

[Frank and Fred]

I might have the opposite problem than you Diocletian. I love certain products so much (Ace and F4s) that I might be good at ignoring any issues they come with....

[manysnakes]

4140 is common chromoly steel, what many steel bike frames are made out of.

4130 is what is what is found in bicycles, due to the fact that it can be best drawn into long, thin, flexible and strong tubes (Reynolds, Columbus, True Temper, Ishiwata, etc all manufacture some kind of 4130). The other steel that's used for inexpensive bicycle frames in 1010 hi-tensile steel, the sort of stuff you might find on a department store bike, a classic "bike boom" frame, or an old Schwinn. As for 4140, it is more commonly used in "bar" application, such an spindles, axles, pinions and other applications where weight matters less than overall strength. I assume that's why it's so commonly found in skateboard axles

[manysnakes]

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are all of these Ace trucks really getting bent, or is it just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shape of the hanger?  if they're bent, wouldn't it crack the hanger?  i don't think the axles would be able to bend without the hanger giving way

[close]

They've lessened the extra beef in the center of the hanger which help visually to create a 'bend', but they DID bend, you could easily tell due to the the inner portion of the wheels touching the ground and the out edges not doing so. That's what happened to my pair, and to this dude's:

What's interesting about that photo is that fact that the steel axle could bend so much but not break the hanger, which implies that Ace uses a pretty soft aluminum. They list it as 7071, which matweb doesn't even recognize as a thing (7075 is the absolute highest quality aluminum, though I'm not sure it would be ideal for a skateboard truck). In any event, it's hard to imagine something flexing high quality, stiff, cast aluminum more than one or two MM without causing some visible fracturing. That's certainly the case with Indys, where you can see that their A356 hangers and baseplates will crack immediately when stressed

[palelight]

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are all of these Ace trucks really getting bent, or is it just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shape of the hanger?  if they're bent, wouldn't it crack the hanger?  i don't think the axles would be able to bend without the hanger giving way

[close]

They've lessened the extra beef in the center of the hanger which help visually to create a 'bend', but they DID bend, you could easily tell due to the the inner portion of the wheels touching the ground and the out edges not doing so. That's what happened to my pair, and to this dude's:

[close]

What's interesting about that photo is that fact that the steel axle could bend so much but not break the hanger, which implies that Ace uses a pretty soft aluminum. They list it as 7071, which matweb doesn't even recognize as a thing (7075 is the absolute highest quality aluminum, though I'm not sure it would be ideal for a skateboard truck). In any event, it's hard to imagine something flexing high quality, stiff, cast aluminum more than one or two MM without causing some visible fracturing. That's certainly the case with Indys, where you can see that their A356 hangers and baseplates will crack immediately when stressed

I'm no machinist by any stretch but I worked in a machine shop doing shit work for a couple years. 7071 is definitely not a thing in aluminum. 6061 is, and the way Aces grind is sort of like how 6061 machines, soft and a little gummy. Also weird they cite a type of axle steel there's no info on either.

[manysnakes]

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are all of these Ace trucks really getting bent, or is it just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shape of the hanger?  if they're bent, wouldn't it crack the hanger?  i don't think the axles would be able to bend without the hanger giving way

[close]

They've lessened the extra beef in the center of the hanger which help visually to create a 'bend', but they DID bend, you could easily tell due to the the inner portion of the wheels touching the ground and the out edges not doing so. That's what happened to my pair, and to this dude's:

[close]

What's interesting about that photo is that fact that the steel axle could bend so much but not break the hanger, which implies that Ace uses a pretty soft aluminum. They list it as 7071, which matweb doesn't even recognize as a thing (7075 is the absolute highest quality aluminum, though I'm not sure it would be ideal for a skateboard truck). In any event, it's hard to imagine something flexing high quality, stiff, cast aluminum more than one or two MM without causing some visible fracturing. That's certainly the case with Indys, where you can see that their A356 hangers and baseplates will crack immediately when stressed

[close]

I'm no machinist by any stretch but I worked in a machine shop doing shit work for a couple years. 7071 is definitely not a thing in aluminum. 6061 is, and the way Aces grind is sort of like how 6061 machines, soft and a little gummy. Also weird they cite a type of axle steel there's no info on either.

Yeah, it's sort of baffling. Other truck makers are straight forward about the materials that they use. I don't think Ace is lying or trying to obfuscate, I just assume that either they actually don't know or the person who runs their website is confused

[Frank]

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4140 is common chromoly steel, what many steel bike frames are made out of.

[close]

4130 is what is what is found in bicycles, due to the fact that it can be best drawn into long, thin, flexible and strong tubes (Reynolds, Columbus, True Temper, Ishiwata, etc all manufacture some kind of 4130). The other steel that's used for inexpensive bicycle frames in 1010 hi-tensile steel, the sort of stuff you might find on a department store bike, a classic "bike boom" frame, or an old Schwinn. As for 4140, it is more commonly used in "bar" application, such an spindles, axles, pinions and other applications where weight matters less than overall strength. I assume that's why it's so commonly found in skateboard axles

thank you. i stand corrected.