Need to swap the hanger over on your Penny skateboard? Here’s how (with lots of pictures)!
- This is what your truck should look like before doing anything to it. The kingpin is the large bolt that runs through the centre and protrudes out the bottom, this is the only thing besides the axle nuts that we need to undo to swap the hanger over.
- Undo the kingpin bolt using a skate tool, socket wrench or spanner. It is a 9/16” size socket/spanner.
- Remove the bolt.
- Remove the washer.
- Remove the top yellow rubber bushing. Sometimes these can be a little firm, if it seems to be sticking, jiggle the hanger a little and it will loosen up.
- Lift the hanger off of the bolt. It may also need a little bit of jiggling to loosen it, but as it hasn’t been ridden yet it should just lift off easily.
- The base plate with the hanger removed.
- What the hanger looks like immediately after removal, wheels still attached. The black rubber cushion at the pointy end came out of the base plate on the hanger when I removed it. Pull this off and press it back into the base plate.
- The hanger with the rubber cushion removed.
- Put the yellow bushing, washer and nut back on the bolt if you aren’t putting a new hanger on immediately. This is to ensure they don’t go missing. I’ve also pushed the black cushion back into the base plate here. If it stayed in the base plate when you removed the hanger than you don’t need to worry about this.
- The front of the hanger with wheels removed. The nut on the axles is a ½” socket or spanner. It is the medium sized socket on most skate tools. There are four washers, one on either side of each wheel, either put them back on the axles and do the nuts up, or keep them somewhere safe.
- The underside of the hanger.
- The top of the hanger.
- To put the hanger back on the base plate, undo the kingpin nut and remove the washer and top bushing. Line the pointy end of the hanger up with the hole in the centre of the black cushion and slide the hole in the truck over the kingpin bolt. It should sit centrally on the bottom yellow bushing.
- Side view of the hanger placed back on the base plate.
- Put the top bushing back on the kingpin bolt.
- Put the washer back on the kingpin and do up the bolt. The bolt should be done up so that a single thread from the kingpin protrudes out the top. Compare it to the other truck for reference. This is actually how you can customise the way the board rides. If it is tighter the board will be more stable while going faster, but it won’t turn quite as easily. If it is looser, it will turn easier but it won’t be as stable while going faster. You should always ensure that the bolt reaches at least the top of the nut so that it is level to ensure it is locked in properly.
- Put your wheels back on and it should look like:
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