How To Clean Your Skateboard Wheels And Bearings

After skateboarding for some time, your skateboard wheels and bearings could be blocked by dirt, thereby affecting the movement of your skateboard. You would want to pull some stunts and tricks, but owing to seized up wheels, you may not be able to pull them smoothly. Fortunately, cleaning the wheels and bearings is very simple, and just needs some dismantling and a bit of safe cleaning. It doesn't require any unique skills and it what you can do all by yourself. Once your wheels and bearings are free of built-up dirt, you will be cruising around on your best wheels for skateboard effortlessly.

Preparatory

Start by wiping down the entire board with a shop rag. Warm water is perfect for most skateboards to get rid of the surface dirt, but if there is no warm water, water with normal temperature too will do the work just fine. Before you begin taking things off, ensure to dry the skateboard completely. Likewise, it is good to have a level surface free of dirt to place the skateboard upon. For best outcomes utilize the board tools made especially for your kind of board and when replacing parts, make sure to do so on manufacturer's recommendations.

Remove the wheels from the board

Now to the primary process. What's next now is to turn the board over so it's laying on the deck, and the wheels facing up. Use a 13mm or ½ inch socket wrench for the removal of the axle bolts and nuts on the outer sides of the wheels. Make sure to put all the wheel materials together in a place so you could find them easily when fixing back after cleaning. You should know this is necessary if you don't want your skateboard to end up missing one or two components.

Remove the bearings from the wheels

After removing the wheels from the board, you can pry out the bearings from the wheels using the truck axle. Insert the metal rod slightly through the wheels, then to the first bearing by placing the wheels on the end of the truck axle. Then allow the truck axle to hook on the bearings and pull the wheel top from the skateboard.

What you have just done now can be likened to opening the bottle top with a bottle opener, simple as that. Once you removed a bearing in that manner, utilize the same technique to remove the rest of the bearings on the other wheels. When doing this, make sure the wheels and bearings are separated from each other.

If you managed to remove the bearing in the manner above, you could likewise use a screwdriver to remove the bearings by prying them out. Just clutch the sides of the wheel out before you, embed the screwdriver tip in the front of that wheel, then draw the screwdriver to one side and release the bearing.
Once you detach the bearings from the wheels of your skateboard, then a bearing spacer will drop out from the middle of the wheel. Keep this in a sheltered place so you could reassemble the bearings and wheels later. Also when reassembling, do not forget to return the bearing spacer back to its appropriate place.

Cleaning the pieces

There are numerous hypotheses regarding the best approach to clean the bearings and wheels. Some use a wet wipe or paper other use solvent and rag. On a longboard skateboard, there will be bearings. But, on a regular skateboard, there may be no bearing. About cleaning the metal components, you should take note of few things:

Handle the bearings gently. They are costly, and you would prefer not to damage them.
Apply thin layers if you are using a polish like Brasso.
Ensure that no fuzzies are left with the bearings from your rag after cleaning the metal pieces.
Clean your trusses always. Keep in mind to add grease to the wheel mount with for you to have proper footing.

The Wheels

The most straightforward part of this process is perhaps cleaning the wheels. This is the focus of this article and you should pay utmost attention here. When doing this, you can make use of rag and water. In the event that there are decals on the wheels, you can't just use any cleaner. Always ensure the wheels are completely dry to prevent damage. You can also spin them around to ensure no part of the wheel is left undried.

Reassemble the bearings in the wheels

After cleaning wheel bearings and wheels, you can then put back the bearings into the wheels. Place a bearing on the side of the wheel and snap it in using your fingers. At that point, turn over the wheel and put the bearing divider, and adjust the other bearing properly. Repeat this process for the remaining bearings.

Reattach the wheels to your skateboard

After attaching the bearings to the wheels, then slide each wheel back onto the truck axle one by one. Insert the axle nut back to the outer side of the wheel and tighten it well with the socket wrench. When putting everything back together, avoid jamming the wheel onto the board as this could damage the board especially if it is made of wood. Do this for the rest of the wheels.

In the event that when dismantling your wheel you noticed damaged wheels or bearings, at that point, you have to replace the bearings or wheels. Do not say you want to manage it for a little while, aside from hindering your skating moves; it could cause serious injuries to you. Cleaning may only ensure that the issue is corrected for a brief span.

However, it is never a good idea to delay replacement. Owing an item like skateboard is good but also requires a lot of maintenance, if you want to be getting the best out of your skateboard. If you want to be rolling smoothly on your skateboard without any hindrance, proper cleaning from time to time is a must.

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