Grit and dirt can build up in the bearings of your skateboard over time, reducing your potential to perform some amazing tricks. However, do you know how to lubricate skateboard bearings for increasing your skateboarding experience?
This article provides the ultimate DIY idea for this task. Let’s check it out!
How To Lube Skateboard Bearings?
#1. Preparing What You Need
First and foremost, we’ll need to find a location where you can remove your wheels and, eventually, your bearings. It would be fantastic if you had an excellent flat workstation in your garden or garage. You may even lubricate bearings on a skate rat.
To help this process go faster and you can get back on your skateboard more quickly, you’ll need the appropriate gear on hand; they are:
- A Level Surface
- A wrench or a skate tool
- Paper Towels
- A razor blade
- A cup
- Alcohol with an isopropyl base, like nail varnish remover
- Bones Speed Cream or Lubricant for skateboard bearings
- A dry towel
- A bearings holder
#2. Removing Wheels And Bearings
You’ve arrived at the most challenging part of the bearing cleaning process: removing your skate bearings. To clean your dirty gear, you must first remove them from the wheels.
Then, clean their side for no reason other than aesthetics. Grab your skate equipment or wrench and remove the bolts from the wheel, then place your wheel at 45 ° on the mouth to create a crowbar effect.
Hold your wheel and lever the bearing out of it using your muscle mass and 2-3 drops of bearing or marine grease. Continue until you have already extracted all 8 hubs and place them in a safe location or container.
#3. Cleaning And Lubricating
Cleaning
The main objective of cleaning skate bearings is to extend their lives and lower replacing them. You can get some isopropyl-based alcohol from convenience shops for $1 – $3.
Fill a cup with approximately an inch of water, which is enough to immerse your 8-pack. Then, place them in the cup after removing bearing shields and let the alcohol perform.
Advice from SkateAdvisors that is: You should keep them for at least 30 minutes, swish the hubs occasionally. You should notice the alcohol becoming dark and brown as the muck dissolves.
Lubricating
Using Bones Speed Cream or any lubricant as an alternative since speed cream is an added cost. And although it helps extend the service life of the wheel’s hubs, it does not clean them. You can get some tips and advice here for better lubrication.
Removing the rubber shields or metal shields after applying lubricant or speed cream might attract other muck and grime. Also, lubricating does not imply the use of water, which can corrode and damage your wheel’s hubs. It is a long-time skate-trick.
#4. Greasing And Resembling
After soaking your skate hubs in isopropyl alcohol within 30 minutes, remove each bearing independently and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Rotate your lubricated bearings to test, and ideally, if following our advice correctly, they will have a new lease on life. If you have an air compressor, use it right now to clean the problematic places inside them thoroughly.
Several skateboarders have already known to dry them using a hairdryer to get this look. Before reassembling the skateboard entirely, use the lubricants and speed cream before pressing them into position as the finishing touch.
Make sure to clean yourself up after and adequately dispose of alcohol or sharp items. Finally, get some buddies to skate with and enjoy your renewed wheel’s hubs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Should I Lube Skateboard Bearings?
Lubricating your skateboard hubs not only saves money but also allows you to ride faster, longer, and smoother. Also, it’s almost free.
You can lubricate your steel or ceramic bearings to improve your skateboarding experience for cheaper than a coffee cup. They are one of the most important pieces of a skateboard, keep us going forward.
When Should I Lubricate Or Clean My Bearings?
It’s tough to determine when to lubricate your bearings because they’re out of your sight and out of memory. However, a basic test is to rotate your wheels while attentively looking and listening.
They will stop fast, and the worse they are, the more sound they will produce. You can hear the dirt or sand within battling the ball bearings or ABEC-9 Bankroll Dime on occasion.
Or, if you are skating, the wheel hubs will make a screechy, large squeaking. When you notice the issue and lubricate them as soon as possible, you will always minimize the harm and increase their life.
It means you will save money and effort in exchange for a quicker, smoother ride.
Conclusion
We cannot deny that lubricating your skateboard’s hubs will decrease natural wear and strain, increase maximum speed, and prevent the wheels from freezing.
The process, fortunately, is easy enough to do at home, especially after reading our straightforward guidance. We hope you will better understand how to lubricate skateboard bearings correctly and have a good skating experience.
There are many more great skate articles for you to explore at the SkateAdvisors website.
Contact SkateAdvisors for inquiries:
– Phone: (1) 646-707-4551
– Address: 902 Avenue C, Brooklyn, NY 11218, United States