After skating all 3 multiple times, I've stuck with thunders. I put a 1/8th inch riser on them for height preference but even without the riser I prefer them. Here's my personal rank/review, keep in mind I skate ledges, mannys, and bowls occasionally.
and since we are insane here on slap and Im influenced by others, I'll put some people after whos skating persuaded me to try each truck in the first place.
1.) Thunders - Their stupid tagline "know control" does ring true, I've stuck with thunders because they feel the most solid all around. I feel like I can always direct my board where I want it to go and it is very predictable, where-as with other trucks I feel phantom movements or it doesnt maneuver as quickly as preferred. The baseplate not hitting on tailslides/noseslides got in my head for awhile, but some of the best tech skaters in the world skate thunders so I dont think it is actually an issue just a mental thing. Ishod, BDK, Dylan, The past 3 SOTYS.
2.) Ventures - My second choice, ventures have a much slower turn, but feel incredible stable when skating ledges or doing manuals. I notice the turn isnt as deep as some other trucks (when rounding a corner I might have to life my truck to turn comfortably) but with bones bushings or a conical bushing on the bottom it turns a lot better. I initially skated some ventures after watching a bunch of old LOVE footage and flipping through old mags seeing AVE and Oyola skating them, but eventually the slow turn, and where the trucks sit over the baseplate made me try something else. Stevie williams, Bobby worrest, Prod, westgate.
3.)Independent - Right off the bat I'll admit I like them equally the same as ventures, but because of the socal jock marketing behind indy Im gonna rank them below. Everyone's go to truck, but I personally have never loved them. The first two weeks (in which everyone usually hates them) felt the best for me because they felt responsive and fine tuned, but as soon as they broke in they were too unpredictable to me. I would be rolling up to a ledge and bend down and not feel stable on my board, sometimes having it swerve or turn. They are a decent truck of course but I just couldnt feel comfortable trying tech stuff, which is what I like to do. Tiago, hjalte, Ave, Louie Lopez.
This review probably does nothing for anyone but since we are already 168 pages deep and people are still talking about baseplates on ledges, I figured I would chime in with my two cents.