Radikal rear truck axle alignment

[Paul Howard]

Hey, how well aligned are the separate threaded-in axles on the rear truck ? Offsets and TTC/3TC's sent into machinists to be fixed for alignment has become a pain in the ass (I've only got one TTC stock which is PERFECT and I love it, one has been MMW'd and is better than it was in it's stock misalignment, and the 3rd is waiting to be fixed). Do the axles have any tendency to come loose/out or anything a little loctite can't fix? You can respond here or at my wife's email at bird041167@yahoo.com -Thanks, Paul

[Alex Walters]

I have never owned or ridden radikal trucks but from the looks of it they should be aligned just fine and if the threads come loose you can just tighten them again or add loctite to them.

[Tom Thompson]

Paul, I've owned and ridden two sets of Radikals for close to a year now. EVERY Radikal truck is precision manufactured. The threading for the axles is unique in that the male and female threading is not a perfect match. This is by design and serves to prevent the axles from becoming loose. I've never had a problem with my axles getting loose, and I change mine out alot. No need for loctite on any of the truck's fasteners.....and the axle alignment is as close to perfect as it gets.

[Dan Mitchell]

No need for loctite on any of the truck's fasteners......

I just got my first Radikal, a front Dragon's Claw.

Thanks Mark for supporting slalom more than anyone!

However, when I tried to remove the kingpin nut to change top bushings, the whole kingpin came out. This happened numerous times, no matter how hard I drove the kingpin into the baseplate.

I ended up loctiting the kingpin into the baseplate. A minor inconvenience, but it kept me from test riding until tomorrow.

Also, do those spherical(?) bearings require any lubrication?

Keith, I'll be e-mailing you soon, as you are very knowledgable
about Radikals.

[Tom Thompson]

Right, Keith is definitely the man to ask about Radikals. Sorry if my post is somehow off-base. Just trying to help....

[Paul Howard]

Thanks everyone for the good info, and anyone else's input is still welcome and appreciated. Thanks - Paul

[Christopher Bara]

Dan, be careful with that kingpin....I was flatlanding last week with Rads set up on a PP Duane Peters, front with clear/red, rear with clear/black. It's a great set up and cuts hard....Under a hard pump, i snapped my front kingpin without warning and went down real hard.
I sent the pin and baseplate back to Sparky and he's warrantying if for me (as always, top shelf customer service from Radikal)....but he also made this point:
If you like to run tight cones and you really push the trucks to the limit, you will eventually put enough stress on that kingpin to cause it to fail, so change it once a year to be safe.....It's almost 20 bucks a pin, but that's about the same amount as my med co-pay......i'd rather avoid a crash.

As with any high performance part, you have to do that "scheduled maintenance".

[Dan Mitchell]

Thanks for the heads up, Chris.
Maybe they should alert buyers to that at purchase time.

I haven't had a chance to ride mine since that first time, been busy landscaping the yard (4 solid days of dig, scoop mulch, dig more, scoop more mulch...).
I'm so damn sore I'll be lucky to make it to this weeks DC Outlaw race.
.........OK, I'll be there, but I'll have an excuse if WesE beats me

I did order a bushing pack and a 1/2" riser. I got pretty bad wheelbite on a Roe Unlimited from Avalons with a soft 1/2" riser, although the bushings were way too soft

[Ricky Byrd]

Josh and I own 4 sets and we have no trouble with the alignment or loose axles. We do check them before most sessions.

I wouldn't lock-tite the kingpins in. This will make changing the lower bushing impossible or more difficult depending on the type of lock-tite you use. I use a small wrench to hold the pin while I back off the nut. We also check these to make sure they are locked down before a session.

On the breakage, if you are tightening your trucks way down, try changing to a harder bushing instead. Tighting the bushing to a point to where they are squashed seems to put stress in the pin which eventually breaks. Sometimes sooner than later.

[Christopher Bara]

Funny you should mention that Mr. Byrd!....actually, i had a red on bottom and clear on top....clear/clear is mush and i was thinking of switching to a blue bottom....but here's the kicker...
it worked fine until i switched the REAR truck from a Black bottom, Clear top...to a Black bottom Red top...(but i never tighten them past the first couple threads)..the rear became allot stiffer and i had to pump real hard/cut hard to get going...which is what i wanted, since i need to work on my pump...3 days of riding with that combo and it snapped.
SO...i sent it in and put on an ACS in front ..made the mistake of keeping the factory "screwkingpin" in and the first time out, snapped that too.....
i thinkthe problem was a combo of fatigue on the front Radikal pin from a year of hard work AND the added stress put on it from having the rear so tight that i had to really wrench the board..
I dont know....just guessing....
It's a hard way to learn the lesson of always wearing elbow pads though!

[Paul Howard]

Hey McCree, One thing I thought of immediatly the first time I saw the current era Radikal is the the old Gullwing split axle HPIV (?) and wondered about the kingpin issue since it became an issue with the Gullwings they added the reinforcement bracket that mounted under the truck and over/around the end of the kingpin. I'm not much more than casually acquanted with the details of Radikals but have you considered a similar mechanism since both the old Gullwings and Radikals (and for that matter Randalls, Variflex,etc) all have that same overall configuration and seem prone to similar high stress loads and fractures of the kingpins? , or is that not feasable due to the design of Radikals? Of course I and plenty of others have broken Tracker and Indy kingpins as well. Hopefully I'll get a good look at Gareth's setup sometime. Thanks-Paul

[Mark McCree]

Hey guys, This king pin thing is like this:

1) The king pin now issued is an anealed chromolly-reheat treated to spring steel strength.

2) When the plant assembles the trucks, ALL parts are only hand tightened. Check and tighten ALL parts before riding.

3) A 7mm 6 sided socket is the best for the king pin. The king pin must be removed to change the bushings. It is inserted into a hardened stainless insert mounted into the baseplate. Hand turn the pin in first so as not to mis-align the threads before using the wrench.

4) Pushing the turning limits to the max on this truck is ABUSE. There is no reason to be bottoming out the hanger on the assembly. This leads to king pin fatigue and possible failure. 1' turning radiuses do not exist on a slalom course. Tipping the wheels up on their edges while not moving is ABUSE.

5) Oiling the bearing in the hanger AND the base plate is a good idea.

6) The axles should not be lock-tight'd as they are frequently changed with setups and wheels. Tht goes for the King pin also as changing bearings is how they are tuned.

7) DO NOT CRANK DOWN THE KING PIN NUT to tune the truck. This mis-alignes the hanger with rhe kingpin and causes the assembly to bind. If you want a tighter or looser ride, CHANGE THE BUSHINGS.

8) These are precision instuments that require care and attention. One should always check thier equipment BEFORE racing so as to guarantee a safe ride. You can't expect what you don't INSPECT.

I hope this is helpfull. I am coming out with an instructional DVD soon.

[Paul Howard]

Hey Mark, thanks for the info, the more I find out, the more your trucks are like the sniper's rifle of slalom trucks. Hope to see you at Morro, Later-Paul