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How to Adjust Slide V3 and Flow Surfskate Trucks
Slide and Flow surfskate trucks are different versions of the same basic design. In this article, I’ll walk you through how to adjust each of them to suit your preference.
Watch Me Adjust Slide and Flow Surfskate Trucks on YouTube
I consider the Slide V3 (version 3) to be among the top surfskate trucks, and I call Slide surfskates the budget surfskate for beginners.
Flow surfskates use version 1 of the new Slide truck. Although the Flow V1 and the Slide V3 have the same general design, there are significant differences, and I strongly recommend that you don’t buy Flow surfskates because the Flow truck performs so poorly and the new Slide V3 is so superior.
With that said, they both can be adjusted in the same way, which I’ll explain in this article.
For help with learning how to ride your Slide or Flow surfskate, see my video course, “Surfskating for Non-Surfers.”
The first thing I want to point out is that the Slide surfskate truck is a single-axis system. What this means is that it only has one dimension of movement, and that is the surfskate truck moving from side to side.
Other surfskate trucks, such as the Carver C7, are dual-axis systems, meaning they have two dimensions of movement. The first is the lateral arm that swings from side to side, and the second is the truck hanger itself, which adjusts the lean of the truck using the kingpin nut.
There is no kingpin bolt on the Slide surfskate trucks, which means you don’t get the same amount of lean or adjustability out of it as you do the Carver C7 or other surfskate trucks.
This can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on what you’re looking for.
Next to the Curfboard surfskate truck the Slide truck is the lowest to the ground of all the surfskate trucks on the market. This makes Slide surfskates more stable and easier to do traditional skateboard tricks.
What it means for our uses here is that there is only one place to adjust Slide and Flow surfskate trucks.
Adjusting Slide V3 Surfskate Trucks
Adjusting the Slide surfskate trucks is very simple. On the back of the truck you will see this bolt:
To make your Slide truck looser, simply turn that bolt counterclockwise.
To make it tighter, turn it clockwise.
DANGER: Do Not Overtighten Slide and Flow Surfskate Trucks!
There is a danger to overtightening these trucks, which is that you can break either the spring or the metal hooks that hold and adjust the spring. You can even damage the metal housing of the truck if you turn it super tight.
Slide and Flow are not the highest-quality surfskate trucks, so you have to take more care with them than others. I’ve personally broken a Slide surfskate truck spring trying to adjust it, and I had to order a new one.
So be very careful that you don’t overtighten these trucks. Only tighten them to the point where the bolt starts to get hard to turn, then stop and don’t force it further.
But personally, I keep the Slide truck as loose as possible, so I don’t ever tighten it at all.
Is it Even Necessary to Adjust Slide Surfskate Trucks?
The other reason I recommend you don’t overtighten these trucks is because they get very stiff when you do, and you lose a lot of range of motion. This means they are harder to pump, you don’t get as much propulsion out of your pumping, and you have a very limited range of motion and limited rail-to-rail lean.
When you tighten the Slide V3 surfskate truck all the way, it becomes almost like a carvey longboard truck. In contrast, the Carver C7 tightened all the way still feels like a very functional surfskate truck with a good range of motion.
Personally, I like a very loose surfskate truck. And since the Slide V3 is already one of the tightest, most stable surfskate trucks with the least range of motion, I like to loosen it up as much as possible and just keep it there.
This means turning the adjustment nut counterclockwise until the nut is flush with the end of the bolt, like so:
Then, the only time I ever adjust my Slide surfskate trucks is to make sure that nut hasn’t rattled loose and is coming off the end of the bolt, and if so, to just cinch it down to be flush with the bolt again, like so:
Adjusting Flow Surfskate Trucks
Let me remind you that I recommend you avoid buying Flow surfskates.
With that said, adjusting the Flow surfskate truck is the exact same process as adjusting the Slide V3. You turn the adjustment bolt on the back of the truck clockwise to tighten, counterclockwise to loosen.
However, one thing to notice about the Flow surfskate truck is that if you loosen it too much, it disengages the spring and makes the truck flow from side to side with no rebound.
So when it comes to adjusting Flow surfskates, you need to make sure the nut is tightened enough to keep the spring engaged.
For help with learning how to ride your Slide or Flow surfskate, get my video course, “Surfskating for Non-Surfers.”
