Tight VS Loose Trucks For Skateboard

If you are a skateboarder, then there is a debate that you might have already come across. The debate is the good old, tight or loose trucks debate. Whether you should use tight trucks or loose trucks is a decision that can be quite tricky to make.

And a popular question always pops up, which one is better?

Well, here, I will be going through the whole debate and checking out each type of truck. Going through an in-depth overview of these trucks will give you a clear idea of which one is better.

Let’s not waste any more time and start with the-

Difference Between Loose Trucks And Tight Trucks

Now, let’s get through the differences between the two types of trucks. There are several differences to consider, such as what features they provide you and what benefits you get from each of them.

Loose Trucks

Simply put, when you install the trucks on your board, keeping them loose is what a loose truck is all about. The nut on the trucks can help you adjust the tightness of the truck. You can simply loosen up the nut to make it lose.

The real thing here is to know what benefits you get from loose trucks. Here are the benefits that you usually get from loose trucks.

Benefits Of Loose Trucks

• Having the trucks, a bit lose gives you better flow in the skateboard and maneuverability. Both these things give you a great experience when you are trying out different tricks.
• A loose truck serves the purpose of having a great lock into grinding. It’s something that will help you in pulling off those grinds.
• When you have a loose truck, it’s very easy to roll away from tricks. This works out great for transitioning out of the tricks and switching into other ones.
• You will get a much better balance with a loose truck while doing manuals or grinds. This is a great advantage to have with your skateboard truck.
• Overall, skateboarding becomes much more fun and free-flowing with a loose truck.

Now, let’s get through the features of loose trucks and check out how they will be.

Feature Of Loose Trucks

The features of loose trucks are that they will be a bit wobbly and won’t feel as stable as you would think. This makes them harder to control. This is why you will have a hard time with a loose truck if you are just a beginner in skateboarding.

An unstable and wobbly truck is the key feature of a loose truck. Because of that, it becomes hard to control, which you can consider as a drawback of a loose truck.

Tight Trucks

As you can pretty much tell, when you install the trucks on your skateboard with a tight nut, you will have tight trucks in your hand. Here, the truck will move as much as it would move when it’s loose.

Because of that, you get some benefits coming from the tighter trucks that can help you a lot in your skateboarding. Let’s get through them quickly.

Benefits Of Tight Trucks

• One of the best advantages you get from a tight truck is stability. You get great stability coming from the skateboard when you have a tight truck.
• A tighter truck works out excellent for handling speed. With a tighter truck, you can gain much more speed and go quite fast.
• Since the trucks are tight, the skateboard handles the impact from drops and tricks much better.
• With a tighter truck, you can have a very easy time with flip tricks. That is because a tighter truck won’t wobble or move around that much. So, you can very easily get good stability.
• A tight truck will work out the best for anyone who is beginning their skateboarding journey because it’s easier to control. Also, stability makes it great for the learning process.

Now that you know about the benefits of tight trucks, you can check out their features of it as well.

Features Of Tight Trucks

Well, the features of a tight truck are just the fact that it will be much more stable and won’t move around too much. Because of this, you will have an easier time controlling the skateboard.

Another feature that you get with tight trucks is the increase in speed. A tighter truck helps get much more speed than a truck that is a bit loose.

However, the only issue is that you won’t get the same flow or maneuverability as a loose truck. Also, it’s harder to do advanced skateboarding tricks with a tighter truck. 

As you can see, there are some clear differences that you get to see between tight trucks and loose trucks. Based on that, they also vary in the purpose you will be using the truck. Let’s check out some scenarios where a certain type of truck works out better.

Loose or Tight Trucks For Street Skating

Having a loose truck gives you better results than tighter ones when it comes to street skating. Because with a tighter truck, it’s much easier to move around with your skateboard. This works well when you have to avoid cars or other vehicles on the road.

Whereas having a tighter truck can take away the mobility from you. Sure, it provides excellent speed on the road, but it can get risky as you won’t have that flexibility to move around the vehicles.

Loose or Tight Trucks For Cruising

Like street skating, having a loose truck works out the best for cruising. With a loose truck, you get a great flow on the skateboard that yields excellent results for your cruising. Cruising isn’t fun at all if you don’t have that kind of mobility which usually a loose truck provides and a tight truck can’t.

Loose or Tight Trucks For Bowls And Hills

Usually, it’s recommended to have loose trucks for skating on bowls and hills. Loose trucks give you that flow and maneuverability that you can use for doing various tricks. Also, skating on bowls and hills requires mobility; that’s why it’s important to use loose trucks for this purpose.

Having said that, it’s also important to get better handling on the speed and impact. Because of this, the best is to find a proper balance on the tightness and looseness of the truck that you are using. Sometimes, you will need to get the speed to perform a trick on your skateboard.

Tight or Loose Trucks For Doing Tricks?

As you can already pretty much tell, it’s better to have a loose truck when it comes to true skateboarding or the flashy ones. Still, let’s take a look at some tricks and what kind of truck you need for those tricks. 

Ollie

You will get the best results from a tight truck when it comes to ollies. The main reason for that is the stability you get from a tight truck. A stable skateboard works out perfectly for performing ollies. While you can still do ollies on a loose truck, it can get pretty difficult. Doing it on a tight truck is much easier for you.

Flip Tricks

Flip tricks are also perfect with a tight truck. Because these tricks usually require better stability, you will have an easier time controlling the tight truck compared to a loose truck.

Others

Now, aside from these two tricks, you will have a much easier time with other tricks if you use a loose truck. A loose truck gives you the perfect mobility and flexibility that you need for performing different kinds of manuals, grinds, and other tricks.

How Tight Should Be The Skateboard Trucks For Beginners?

Here’s a factor that can have a huge impact on how you should keep your trucks on your skateboard. Typically, learning to skate will be much easier for you when using a tight truck. Because it’s very easy to control, and this works out quite well when you are trying to learn different flips as a beginner.

However, if you wish to get better and become good at skateboarding then, I suggest starting up with loose trucks. Otherwise, you will have a hard time later on when you have to switch from a tight truck to a loose one.

The best thing to do is, find a balance of tight and loose so you can go on with both ways. Anything too loose can make it very difficult for you to even ride a skateboard as a beginner.

Lastly

Overall, whether you should go for tight or loose trucks will come down to what you feel comfortable with. Sometimes, you may find comfort in a tight truck, and sometimes the loose truck will work out better for you.

Most of the time, the loose truck is the primary choice for most skaters as it’s more fun to ride a skateboard with a loose truck.

But if you are a beginner, then you might want to start with a tighter one. Having said that, the best solution is to find your personal preference for tightness or looseness in your trucks. This will make skating much more fun and relaxing activity for you.