"Slalom Shop" DIY modifications and making slalom stuff.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:19 am

Hi, I've been modifying a LOT of my equipment since I got into skateboarding, and especially in Slalom racing. I figured I'd post "how-to" pictures and postings so people can see cheap lo-tech ways to make their equipment better, especially if they're on a budget. Anyone who does similar Do-it-yourself projects will be welcome to post their projects on wheels, decks, trucks, etc. I want to keep this a "Do it yourself" Slalom-related thread. Since most people are on Facebook and Facebook is very transitory whereas SS.com is a good long term "library" to look things up, I'll hopefully keep this thread here and post links to it on Facebook that brings people here (Thanks to Mig for the suggestion). Thanks -PTH

Jani Soderhall · Post by **Jani Soderhall** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:15 pm

Thanks Paul! Let me know if you need any help.

Recently Doug Kadzban helped save plenty of board photos from Silverfish and as they've now closed their site we put a couple of posts in the board forum (http://www.slalomskateboarder.com/phpBB ... .php?f=171) with those photos.

The below topic shows choppers and home made decks:
http://www.slalomskateboarder.com/phpBB ... 171&t=9401

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Fri Oct 26, 2018 2:50 am

Hey, yeah, I saw that thread and that's kinda what I want to do here. Everyone is welcome to post anything they do to modify or make anything slalom related with boards, wheels, trucks, etc, or if you do a thing to your skatepark board that is also applicable to a slalom deck (such as home-made nose guards or adding fiberglass for instances) that's welcome here too. Thanks for posting the "heads up" on the archives from Silverfish (a moment of silence please).

Adios - Paul Howard

John Davies · Post by **John Davies** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 12:54 pm

Cool. I look forward to the postings.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 2:51 am

Hmm, Interesting, somehow this thread is now in a more noticeable and easier to find place than I remember when I first started, so THANKS!!! to whoever moved it and made that change (unless I'm imagining a change that isn't really there?).

My first thing I'm going to try post as I slowly have time at home to work on it is changing the pivot screw angle on TTC hangers. Anyone whoever rode a TTC then got either an Asphalt Playground Phase 1 Splitfire rear truck or Airflow OS rear truck likely noticed they were nicer than the TTC, part of that reason is the pivot screws were set an an angle that actually matches the Tracker RT-X, Tracker Axis or Independant baseplates whereas the TTC is close but not quite right. Coming soon. Thanks -PTH

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:35 am

Note how things don't sit correctly, this is the TTC being modified.

Hmmm, these pictures aren't quite showing up the way I intended so a bit more messing around is in order. More to come. Stay tuned.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sat Nov 10, 2018 11:48 pm

OK, so here's another attempt at putting pictures on formatted differently so hopefully they're more easily viewed. These are the next steps in my TTC rebuild. The pictures are in reverse order (sorry!) so start at the bottom and work your way up. The "Sharpee" marker is to mark the new facet and keep track of where you are filing away metal and where to leave it alone. This is a very similar technique I use in wood bow-making.

TV entertainment in the work-room whilst working

Splitfire for comparison.

Airflow OS for comparison.

The TTC I'm working on, compare to Splitfire and Airflow.

Same thing, taller Stimulator bushing.

TTC I'm working on to the Left, TTC un-altered on the Right.

Calipers are one of your best friends in wood bow-making, and here too, Calipers are a really, REALLY good friend to have. Not that expensive either.

If you can check it with a caliper, then you should check with a caliper, use the caliper all over the place. Don't "think" everything is OK, "KNOW" that everything is OK.

Out of order picture showing use of Sharpee ink marker with file to guide your work.

Use a sharp hard metal pointy thing (like this scribe) and mark the new facet to guide you.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 11, 2018 10:52 pm

Maurizio Montigiani's interesting hybrid rear truck:

Thanks Maurizio!

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 18, 2018 12:44 am

OK, so here's a tangent on another current project, RE-drilling a deck for different wheelbase or different truck, etc. This is generally common knowledge, but for those who haven't done this but are thinking about it, this is for you.

Truck sitting where the holes currently are, nothing really "wrong" I just want more axle-to-axle distance so my Tight slalom board wheelbases match.

Where the truck is going to go.

Using a yardstick/meterstick/straightedge to align new holes with rear holes (and the centerline of the deck)>

Measuring for the English system folks....

Measuring for the Metric System folks everywhere else.

Marking the spots.

Pen, punch, awl

Use your awl, punch or even a nail to start the spot where you will drill to prevent the drill bit from wandering.

Start your drilling nice and straight, drill just a teeny tiny amount, then......

Tilt the drill to match the steepest wedge risers you might end up using. If you only use trucks with variable geometry hangers, you can stay with straight holes.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 18, 2018 12:51 am

OK, more of the same Re-drilling theme:

Look closely at the axle-to-axle wheelbases, same rear trucks (Asphalt Playground Phase 1 Splitfires) but Subsonic has a Tracker RT-X, and the other Powell Cab has a Sk8kings 2X front, notice how both setups have same axle-to-axle distance but different mounting hole distances.

Top side, I like this device because it allows me to rotate my front foot but still keeps it where I want it.

Same thing.

Using countersunk screw for my front foot placement device.

This is why I angle the drill and holes, it will be better for your mounting hardware and not bend the ends of the screws as you tighten them down.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 18, 2018 1:55 am

Pierre Gravels' front foot stopper.

Finished product, check out the link for how to make this nice piece of work yourself. Thanks Pierre!!
http://pierregraveldesign.com/wp-conten ... Fx1zdfLzUo

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sat Nov 24, 2018 11:00 pm

Finally, I'm done with the 1st TTC-rebuild project. I was going to do this completely at home then a friend of mine with access to his friends metal machine shop told me to swing by so I did a few things there. If you have access to a milling machine, I HIGHLY recommend using one, if not, this project is still possible.

I'll start here at sorta the end with inserting a urethane "bearing" into the hanger/kinpin interface, I do this on all my slalom trucks that didn't come with a spherical bearing. This helps very noticably and it puts a lot less strain on the kingpin. I also ride a place with a LOT of sidewalk cracks where a spherical bearing truck would be prone to snapping the kingpins.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 25, 2018 12:32 am

Here's the rest of this project:

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 25, 2018 12:46 am

More pictures, including the milling machine used after my friend's insistance, glad I listened, but you can do this without a milling machine if you take your time and proceed slow and careful.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 25, 2018 12:55 am

OK, finally I finished this project, hopefully all the pictures leave no questions unanswered, but this is only one way to do things, there might be better ways out there. Thanks for checking this out.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 4:42 am

I finally got out and rode the Modified TTC and it works Great!!! I rode the same board through the course 5+ times with my Phase 1 Rear Splitfire "Dialed-in", then changed to the TTC, got it "dialed-in", then rode as fast and hard through the course as possible and it was very, very similar, good stability, good traction, good power through the big whole-body-pump Big offsets, able to twitch quickly through the 4.5 foot and 5 foot center to center tight sections, overall it was a very noticeable improvement, I'll probably go ahead and do the same thing on my remaining 100mm and 130mm TTC hangers some time in the future hopefully.

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:30 pm

Making an Epoxy/Fiber Add-on Foot placement Wegde, kicktail, or Whatever...

Sorry for the out-of-order and reverse-order of pictures.

Thanks for Looking! -Paul

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:37 pm

More pictures of making epoxy/fiber based add-on kicktails, wedges, foot-placement things..........

Sorry about the skipping around of a few pictures and reverse-placement of images, but I think you get the idea.

Hope this helps give people ideas and Thanks for Looking!

-Paul