In a skateboard most of the parts are bound to wear off or get damaged after going through severe torture and beatings. Following are few parts which can be maintained to increase lifespan of a board to some extent.
1.Keep your skateboard dry
Moisture is bad for the bearings, trucks, bolts, and deck. Avoid skateboarding when it’s raining or when the ground is wet. Always store your skateboard in a dry place and try to keep it covered if you’re carrying it outside when it’s raining.
- If your board’s deck gets too wet, it can get waterlogged and permanently lose its natural “pop.”
- Water can cause your board’s bolts, bearings, and screws to rust.
2.Tighten the hardware after every few uses.
After every few skate sessions, use a screwdriver and a wrench to make sure the screw-top nuts and bolts that hold your board’s trucks in place are all the way tight. Check all the nuts holding your wheels onto the axles as well.
- If the wheels are loose on your axles, for example, one of them could fly off while you’re skating and cause an unexpected wipeout!
- When you’re tightening your trucks, turn your wrench in small increments—maybe a quarter of a turn on each side.
3.Clean the bearings every 3 months.
Dirty bearings prevent the wheels from spinning smoothly. Use a skate tool to unscrew the bolts that hold your board’s wheels in place and take all the wheels off the axles. Then, remove the bearings from the wheels. Submerge the bearings in denatured alcohol in a small lidded container and shake the container for 30 seconds. Take the bearings out and let them air dry for 15 minutes.
- Remember which wheel came from which axle when you take them off.
- Denatured alcohol is more commonly known as methylated spirits in some countries.
4.Scrub your deck if it’s really dirty.
You really only have to do this for cosmetic purposes. To get started, dip a nylon-bristled brush in some warm, soapy water and scrub the grip tape in circular motions. Next, flip your board over and wipe the underside of the deck clean with a soft sponge and clean water. Quickly and thoroughly dry the deck off with a clean towel.
- If you want to be really thorough, remove the trucks before you clean the underside of the deck to clean the areas they attach to. If you do so, wait a couple of hours before you reattach them to make sure the deck is totally dry.
5.Replace your grip tape when it wears out.
New grip tape can bring a perfectly good old deck back to life. Carefully, use a utility knife to scrape under the edges of the grip tape and loosen it. Then, use your hands or a pair of pliers to peel all the grip tape off the deck. Stick a new piece of grip tape on the deck and trim around the edges with your utility knife.
- If it’s hard to peel the grip tape up, heat it up with a hair dryer to loosen the adhesive.
- If the edges of your grip tape start to peel up but you don’t want to replace it all yet, just use a utility knife to trim the peeling parts off.