Daily Archives: 2012-04-14

I’m in the process of putting together a second longboard – there will be more posts about that in the next couple days, but I wanted to put up some detailed pictures of the Churchill Mfg. 180mm 50° Reverse Kingpin trucks, since there were none to be had when I went looking. The ineterwebs are all abuzz about how inexpensive and decent they are, but I couldn’t find any side-by-side comparisons with an established brand when shopping. To that end, there are some comparison shots with classic Paris 180mm 50° Reverse Kingpin trucks in the gallery. I’ll also note that they look an awful lot like Stealth Trucks without the raised sections on the triangle portion of the hanger.

Some notes from the pictures:

• They ship with speed rings, which is both a nice touch and possibly important because the end of the hanger at the axle isn’t faced.
• In fact, there is no sign of any post-casting machining whatsoever. The finish is pretty good for a casting, though – they may be sandblasted or tumbled or somesuch.
• The Churchills are about 1/8″ higher than Paris’, but that may just be a difference of bushings. They look the same height in the pictures because the Paris’ are mounted on 1/8″ shock pads. The Churchills have the stock bushings in, and the Paris’ have 81a Venom standard barrels board-side and 85a Khiro barrels street-side (which should probably be the other way around).
• The bushings they ship with are cherry red translucent 92a double-cones of unknown origin. They kind of remind me of the ones Paris’ come with, which likely means they will be replaced soon, but I’ll give them a ride before passing judgement.
• The bushing seats are shallower but tighter than the Paris’, I’m not sure how that will translate when riding.
• The kingpin is an absolutely standard carriage bolt, 3/8″ – 24tpi, 1/2″ hex head, 1″ threaded length, 2.75″ total length. I suspect it could be replaced from stock at a home improvement store.

Conclusion: These trucks are $20+S&H per pair, and appear to be functionally equivalent to the classic ~$50 sets from Paris and Randall. I haven’t taken them out riding yet, but inspection says they are extremely comparable. I’ll have a more informed opinion after some riding, and only time will tell if the axle/kingpin steel is as good.
Edited to add disassembled picture and note from disassembly.