How to Put Together a Longboard

If you have the parts you've chosen from the previous blog post, you may be wondering, how do I put it together? 

In order to set up your brand new longboard, you will need:

Photo Credit: beartrucks.com

1. Your longboard parts: 

-Deck

-Trucks

-Wheels

-Bearings

-Hardware

-Grip Tape

2. A skate tool: 

-You can find these at a local skate shop or online, and most skate tools have all the parts you need to put your longboard together. It's like a 3-in-1 wrench for your wheels, trucks, and hardware.

Photo Credit: rawk.com

3. A razor blade

4. A screwdriver

5. A flat surface to work on

First of all, if your deck didn't come pre-gripped with grip tape already on it, this is how to put it on:

1.Lay the longboard on a flat surface.

2. Peel off the back of the grip tape, and place the grip tape on one edge of the board, (on its tail or nose, not its side.)

3. Slowly place the sticky side of the grip tape onto the board while pushing on top of the grip tape to remove air bubbles. 

4. Use your skate tool or a screwdriver to scrape the top edge of the longboard, as if you were outlining it. There should be a white outline of the board. This helps with cutting the grip tape.

5. To cut the grip tape, place the razor blade onto the edge of the board, and angle the blade at a low angle, and have it parallel to the board. Cut towards you, and keep the blade flat to the board. Go all the way around.

6. Poke through the holes of the longboard for the hardware.

If you need help, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjmLDFizLos

Next, you will notice that there are holes that go through your deck and your trucks. You want to take the hardware, and place the screws through the top of the deck, and place the trucks under the board and through the screws. Place the nuts on the screws and tighten them down with the skate tool until they cannot be tightened anymore. This is to ensure the trucks do not come off. Do the same with the second truck on the other side of the board. 

Photo Credit: Ebay.com

Next, you want to place the bearings onto the wheels, and put it onto the board. To make it easier, take the nuts off the longboard trucks, and place two bearings onto the rod of the truck. Then, take one wheel, facing the front of the wheel towards the middle of the truck, put it on the axle, and hit it on top so that the bearing goes into the front of the wheel. Flip the wheel over, and hit it on the top so that the bearing goes into the bottom of the wheel. Then, place the nut back onto the truck and tighten it all the way. Do this for all four wheels.

Photo Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGXI1P3n8Hc

Watch the video above if you need help.

If you are stuck on everything, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sB8zbV0abg

At this point, your longboard is complete. Have fun!