Best longboard trucks (beginners guide)

It is easy to look at longboard trucks and think they all work the same, but they all work differently and have differences in quality. This week’s article is on the best longboard trucks.

I go over the important differences between them and what a rider should look for.

Check out the best longboard truck brands.

Best longboard trucks

Paris Trucks V3

This is the go-to truck if you want a lively, surfy and responsive ride. They’re the gold standard for longboard trucks and you can’t go wrong with them.
It has a wide and open bushing seat which allows the trucks to feel flowy and surfy. They turn quite deeply and feel lively.

There are two options available, the 50degree truck which has a quick turn. It is the best for cruising, carving, dancing and freeriding. Check their price on Amazon.com here.

The other option is the 43-degree trucks. These are more stable and are oriented for going faster. They lean more than they turn and have a stronger center due to the bushings used. They will be great for downhill skating and freeride. You can check out their price on Amazon.

For a more in-depth review click here to read my opinion on the Paris trucks.

These trucks are high-quality. They are strong so will last you a long time and they come with a lifetime warranty so if you bend them or break them (naturally) Paris will replace them for free.

Because they are lively, they can feel twitchy for downhill. A more stable option are the Caliber trucks, check them out below.

Freeriding on Paris 43* Trucks

Caliber Trucks V2

These trucks are well known for how stable and how beautifully they lean in turn.  They have a minimalistic finish which is attractive to some.

They have a restrictive bushing seat, which makes the trucks feel stable. However, some people have said the trucks feel dead and too unresponsive because of this. But if you want a stable truck, the trade-off is worth it.

Same with the Paris, there are two options available. The 50-degree trucks which are good for cruising, carving, dancing, and even light freeride. They have the best turning radius but still feel stable. I recommend them highly for cruising. You can check these out on Amazon.com.

On the other hand, the 44 degree trucks are great for downhill and freeride. They are often highly recommended to beginners because of their stability. At 44 degrees they will be stable enough for downhill. Check out the prices of these out on Amazon.com.

Like the Paris, these also have a lifetime warranty (but it isn’t advertised, ) if they bend or break due to a manufacturing default you can get them replaced.  As I mentioned, they’ll do feel dead for some, if so, check out the Paris or

Bear Grizzly 845s and 852s

Coming all the way from Canada. Bear trucks is a daughter company of Landyachtz longboards, and just like Landyachtz, they make a lot of quality equipment. These feel like hybrid of the Paris and Caliber trucks. 
These will have a lot of stability because of the bushing seat, but they also turn a lot surprisingly.
Bear also shaved off materials in spots and thusly reduced the weight of the truck. Making it slightly lighter and better for popping ollies and doing tricks.

They come in different colors and have some creative options. There is a galaxy colorway available and looks amazing. There is also an incandescent option available.These options allow you to further customize your deck and even match colors, check the 52* out on Amazon.com to see the full-color range.

The 52-degree is highly recommended it for cruising, carving, and dancing. Alternatively, the 45-degree ones are recommended for downhill and freeride. Click here to check them out on Amazon.com.

Randal trucks

These are the orignal reverse kingpin (RKP) trucks. This is the 3rd iteration – the Randal V3s.  
The Randal trucks are an affordable, high-quality option. They don’t have bells and whistles like the other trucks do, but they won’t let you down. Click here to check their price out on Amazon.com).

Available in 50-degrees and 42-degrees.  They aren’t too dissimilar from the Paris in how they feel and how they turn (they don’t look as good imo though).

For downhill, freeride, and even cruising, the 42-degree Randals are a good option. For everything that needs you to be turny and quick, the 50-degree work great. Check out their price on Amazon.com.

How to pick longboard trucks

What are different types of longboard trucks available?

In general, there are two types of trucks available. Reverse kingpin trucks (RKP) and traditional kingpin trucks (TKP).

RKPs are what you see on most longboards. They are more stable to ride and have smoother turning. TKP’s are what you see on skateboards. They turn progressively and have a thick hanger which is great to do tricks and grind on.

How different trucks are made

We have the type of manufacturing process that the trucks are made from. This makes a difference as it dictates how strong and sturdy a truck will be:

Cast trucks

This is a process where molten steel or aluminum is poured into a truck mold. It is the cheapest method of manufacture. All the trucks above are made from a cast process.

They sometimes can have slop or parts that aren’t extremely accurate. This shouldn’t worry you if you wanna cruise, but for downhill riders going fast, this could be an issue. (Calibers have the least slop out of all cast trucks).

Forged trucks

Forged trucks are made when they get a red-hot block of metal and beat the sh*t out of it into a trucks shape.  These trucks are the strongest available. Truck companies go further to machine the important parts so they are accurate and fit perfectly with the different parts.

They are relatively affordable, costing half of what precision trucks cost and are double the price of cast trucks. These will literally last you forever though.

Precision trucks

These are made when a solid block of Aluminium is cut by a CNC machine into the shape of a truck. They can get the accuracy down to a millimeter and these trucks fit perfectly with each other.

However, they are the most expensive and not even as strong as forged trucks.

Beginners should steer away from forged and precision trucks for now.

The most important thing for buying trucks?

To simply put it, experience is the most important thing you can have as you buy trucks. You can read all the guides in the world and watch all the videos, but nothing other than riding the trucks will tell you if you like them or not. Sometimes you’ll just have to bite the bullet and spend that money.

It’s all worth it. Money comes and goes, but because of that experience as a result of trying the right (or wrong) truck, I know what I like and can trust going 50mph on.

Check out the accompanying video for this article below. I expand more on baseplate angles and hangers widths.

Which trucks will make the best gift?

Definitely the Paris or Caliber trucks. If it’s just for cruising, the 50* options are fine, but if the trucks will be for someone skating downhills, the 43degree or 44degree options will be good too. They are both high-quality trucks and are built to be fun to ride.

Which longboard truck sounds best for you?

Definitely a lot of options out there for beginners. My advice though, keep it simple and buy any of the trucks mentioned above. They will all perform great and you can’t go wrong with either of them. The Paris V3 are an excellent, safe choice.