FAQ | Sabre Trucks

My trucks don’t turn enough/aren’t stable enough. Help!

-You can easily swap in a single or complete set of S-TYPE, F-TYPE or X-TYPE bushings. The Sabre kingpin is long enough to take a standard height (16mm) bushings in the top or the bottom, so you can run any combination in each truck. Find the best combination that suits your style.

You can also remove the cupped washer that comes stock with the truck to increase the turn a little.

Why a 190mm hanger?

-We wanted a truck that could be used by any one for any type of longboarding, from casual carving to competitive racing, and the 190mm hanger provides that versatility. Better drifting, better slides, deeper carves, more grip in tracking corners.

Can I flip my Sabre hangers?

-You can, but there is no benefit to be gained from doing so, as you will loose grip and turn capability. Flipping trucks will never change the angle, it only alters the rake and castor.

How are Sabre trucks manufactured?

-We use several important manufacturing elements to make our trucks the best on the market, which is why they cost a little more than most.

More Information on our Design Process
More Information on Cold Forging
More Information on Gravity Casting
More Information on T-6 Heat Treatment
We use hardened 4130 steel/chromium alloy axles and Grade 8 Kingpins.
We perform internal impact tests on production samples of every run to guarantee consistent metal hardness throughout the hanger. This means we take a few trucks from every run, cut them in half and measure the hardness of the metal. Consistency throughout the metal is essential to a strong truck, and it’s why we use gravity casting rather than die-casting for components that take a lot of stress.
We heat treat our axles before casting to prevent any softening of the axle, and subsequent bending, by the molten Aluminium in the mould. Slightly bent axles are a fact of life with cast truck hangers, as the aluminium cools in the mould it often bends the steel axle slightly. However, very few brands out there take steps to limit the problem at the factory instead of making a cheap truck and covering it with an unlimited warranty.
Every time we develop a new truck, we go through months of FEM (Finite Element Method) simulations. Protoyping is either done with Plastic Printing (“Rapid Protoyping”) or CNC Aluminium to check fitment and geometry.

Where are Sabre trucks made?

-Sabre 45 degree baseplates and 190mm hangers are gravity cast in Taiwan, in a factory that makes high-stress engine and turbine parts. Post casting CNC work (hanger facing, pivot cup and kingpin holes, and hardware mounts) is done in a specialist workshop set up to deal only with skate trucks. Bushings and Pivot Cups are poured in the USA by a business with over a decade of experience with skate bushings.
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Why do you use a press-in kingpin?

-Our splined kingpins are pressed into the baseplate with a hydraulic ram. The main reason for this is to prevent any slop forming over the lifetime of the baseplate, a common problem with the “drop-in” kingpin design used by other trucks. The only real advantage that we can see of a “drop-in” kingpin is easy replacement to allow for taller bushings – and we’ve negated the need for that by designing ALL our baseplates to allow 16mm bushings top and bottom from the outset. If you need to replace your kingpin for any reason, you can remove them with a bench vice and a hammer.
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Can I run other bushings in my Sabre trucks?

-Yes. Sabre trucks require a 16mm tall bushing top and bottom for optimum performance.

Can I run Sabre bushings in my other trucks?

-Sabre bushings will fit most “reverse kingpin” longboard truck, they will not fit most TKP trucks unless you fit a longer kingpin.

Can I run Sabre trucks in my drop-through deck?

-It depends on the deck, as different manufacturers have different tolerances and drop-through designs. The Sabre GC45 and F38 baseplates are designed to fit as many deck brands as possible, we deliberately left any buttresses or external support off for maximum compatibility. As long as your deck’s drop-through mount is 28mm wide or wider, it will fit fine. Check before you buy!
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Will I get wheelbite with my Sabre Trucks?

-You may get wheelbite depending on wheel size, deck shape, truck tightness and bushing choice. Wheelbite on Sabre 190′s is caused by two things:

Shortened Baseplate. In order to produce a super-strong and light cast baseplate, we have moved the kingpin and pivot cup slightly inboard of most other reverse-kingpin trucks. The Sabre GC-45 baseplate shortens your wheelbase by approx 1/2″ (12mm). This means that any cutouts or wheel wells in your deck may be in the wrong place for the axle travel.
The Sabre CF-38 baseplate features a very low ride height, even when run with the single 7mm riser. With such a low ride height and a slack angle, avoiding wheelbite will require a balance between riser setup, wheel size, deck choice and bushing setup. As we cannot predict all of these factors for your personal setup, we have provided each baseplate with an adjustable wheelbase for optimum alignment with wheel wells or cutouts, and supply the baseplate with a riser system comprising of 7mm and 3mm risers to allow for the perfect ride height. It will take time to perfect your ride, especially with a topmount – but it’s worth it!
Bushing Mould Release. When the bushings are brand new, they have a coating of very slippery mould release. When fresh out of the box the bushing slips around on the baseplate face and the truck is very divery and bitey. The mould release soon wears off, and the bushing grips the baseplate and limits the turn enough to prevent wheelbite on most setups.
We have specced a shallow cupped washer on this and future runs of Sabre 190mm to help prevent this problem when the trucks are brand new, before the bushings are “broken in.”If you don’t want to skate your bushings in, you can rub the mould release off with alcohol or even grip tape/sandpaper. Skating them in will take about 15 mins of riding time, depending on how tight your trucks are, how heavy you are and your riding style.
Once your trucks are bedded in, you might want to remove the cupped washer to more turn.

Are Sabre Trucks guaranteed?

We do not offer an unconditional guarantee on our trucks and bushings – with a return rate of less than 0.01% since the first casting in 2009, we don’t feel we need to. However if you have a problem with any of our products, or simply have some fedback that you think we need to hear, please Contact us with details and quality photos of your issue.

What’s so special about your bushings?

-Quite simply, they are made from the most advanced urethane formula in the world, by the best factory in the business. We have done extensive research, into shapes, durometers, compounds and containment. Months of testing, and re-testing have let us come up with a bushing range that feels unlike anything else.