How to Make Longboard Wheels Spin Faster

Longboards, which are elongated skateboards, are great for cruising around and enjoying a day of skateboarding. As with any wheeled device, however, your ride will only be as fast and smooth as your bearings are clean. Dirty bearings will slow you down and possibly introduce a few bumps to your ride, which is no fun. The best way to solve the problem is to give your bearings a good cleaning so that they spin smooth and fast.

Things You'll Need

  • Skate tool
  • Bearing lube
  • Wide-mouth bottle
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Container
  • Cloth or rag
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Instructions

    • 1

      Use the skate tool to remove the nut from the axle. Remove the wheel most of the way, until the inner bearing is just on the verge of coming off. Using the same motion that you would to pop a beer bottle lid off, pop the bearing out of the wheel with the axle. Insert the axle in to the other side of the wheel and repeat the process to remove the other bearing. Repeat the process for all wheels.

    • 2

      Put all eight bearings in to the wide-mouth bottle and pour enough alcohol into the bottle to cover them. Screw the lid on. Before doing this, you can attempt to remove the metal shields to expose the bearings, but you'll likely damage the shields and it isn't necessary to expose them.

    • 3

      Shake the bottle for about five minutes to allow the alcohol to remove any dirt and grease from your bearings. You should see the alcohol turn brown or black as the dirt and grease are removed.

    • 4

      Pour out the alcohol and dry the bearings off with your cloth. Put them in a container with a flat bottom.

    • 5

      Place two drops of bearing lube on top of the bearing shield. The lube will soak down into the bearing casing through the cracks on the edges of the bearing shield. Wait several minutes for the lube to do this.

    • 6

      Flip the bearings over and place two more drops on the bearing shield on the other side. Wait several minutes for the lube to soak down into the bearing casing.

    • 7

      Use the rag to remove any excess lube from the outside of the bearing.

    • 8

      Reinsert the bearings into the wheel housing by pushing them in with your hand. Put the wheels back on the axle and replace the axle nut with the skate tool.