Skateboard Tools

Poorly maintained boards are a common cause for skateboarding injuries. Maintaining your skateboard is simple to do, but there are a lot of supplies to choose from. Replacing parts such as grip tape, wheels, nuts and bolts, decks and bearing lubricant can cost a lot over time. There is a handy tool called a skateboard utili-tool, which is a combination of wrenches you will need to maintain your skateboard. Instead of buying skateboard maintenance tools at your local skate shop, find many of your tools in your dad's woodshed or in your home medicine cabinet.

  1. Grip Tape Tools

    • Use a toothbrush to clean grip tape with water. Do not use too much water when cleaning grip tape because it is difficult or impossible to remove. Use a hair dryer and a razor blade to remove old grip tape. Heat the grip tape with the dryer. Use the razor at the nose or the tail of the deck to separate enough of the grip tape from the deck so you can grab the end of it and pull it up. While taking up the grip tape, use the razor when you need to help lift it from the deck.

    Bearings and Wheels Tools

    • You will need rubbing alcohol, silicone-based bearings lubricant, paper cups, a cloth, a paperclip and a 9/16 wrench to clean your bearings. Use the wrench to take off the wheels, and use the paper clip or a small flat-head screwdriver to pry off the bearing covers. Dip the bearings in a paper cup of alcohol, then submerge the bearings for several minutes in a paper cup of bearing lubricant. Use the cloth to eliminate excess lubricant. To remove the trucks hardware, you will need a 3/8 wrench, and for the king's truck pin nut you will need a 9/16 wrench. It is a good idea to tighten screws and bolts once a week. You can tighten the trucks as much as you want. If you have to replace a king's truck pin, you will use these same tools but you will also need a hammer to pound out a snapped king's truck pin. Keep an extra set of skateboard wheels. Replace a wheel any time it is no longer completely smooth.

    Deck Tools

    • Repair less-severe cracks and chips in the skateboard deck using a C clamp, two 1/4-inch wood blocks, nonplaster polyfiller, a spackling tool, wood glue and sandpaper. Nonplaster polyfiller is used for drywall repair, and it can be used to fix a cracked deck or tail wear. The deck should be replaced if there are any cracks that run several layers deep in the deck. Fill the fissure and use a spackling tool to smooth out the polyfiller really well before it dries. This will make sanding much easier. For cracks between layers, use wood glue on both sides of the chip. Apply the C clamp and let dry for 12 to 24 hours. Use the 1/4-inch wood blocks to rest the C clamp on the skateboard, so you don't get pressure indents on your skateboard deck.

    Axle Nuts Tools

    • You should check your axle nuts once a week to make sure you cannot tighten or loosen them by hand. Over time this will wear the thread on the axles and nuts. Make sure to replace axle nuts when they become stripped. Use a 1/2-inch wrench to tighten the nuts, and leave them loose enough that the wheels spin freely. Use an axle rethread tool to repair thread wear on the axle. A worn axle can cause the wheels to come off while skateboarding.