Tracker trucks VS. Indy's
OrangeCountyCarl
I'm getting a new Deathbox "Wentzl Ruml" by UPS tomorrow and have used
Indy's on all my boards....primarily because
they're readily available and are drilled for old school as well as new
school truck spacing.
I never used Trackers in the 70's (not because I didn't think they were
good, but that's just the way it went.).....I used
Chicago, then Bennett Hi-Jacker, then ACS, then Indy until I stopped skating
in 1980.
My friends had Tracker and loved them.
Does anybody have any comparisons between the two? BTW, I'm totally old
school....banks, parks, bowls, cruising is my trip.....no ollies
nor high tech tricks.
Thanks!
Carl
dvi8
here is his email drop him a line
OldSka...@yahoo.com
.
"OrangeCountyCarl" <REMO...@REMOVEkeyway.net> wrote in message
news:arrmvl$g4t$1...@madmax.keyway.net...
Glenn
Trackers were about being low, tough and the truck of choice of people who
liked tight trucks while Indys were higher, turned better and ran loose
better.
My new Indy 166s are lower and turn worse than my 20 year old 169s. I
haven't tried new trackers but from what i've read on ncdsa.com, the
latest trackers are higher, turn better and have better build quality than
current Indys.
Old Skater Guy
"OrangeCountyCarl" <REMO...@REMOVEkeyway.net> wrote in message
news:arrmvl$g4t$1...@madmax.keyway.net...
two.
>
> I'm getting a new Deathbox "Wentzl Ruml" by UPS tomorrow and have used
> Indy's on all my boards....primarily because
> they're readily available and are drilled for old school as well as new
> school truck spacing.
>
> I never used Trackers in the 70's (not because I didn't think they were
> good, but that's just the way it went.).....I used
> Chicago, then Bennett Hi-Jacker, then ACS, then Indy until I stopped
skating
> in 1980.
> My friends had Tracker and loved them.
My two cents:
Trackers are more stable than Indy's, but can be run looser. I would have
to crank down the kingpin nut on my Indy's (modern 166's and late 80's
169's), but I barely have to touch the kingpin nut on my Tracker SixTrack
re-issues. The Indy's may turn a little quicker, but it's harder to crank a
turn with them because I have to run them tighter.
Independent's quality control is pretty poor compared to Tracker. The
hanger (pivot)/base interface is really sloppy, so you have to crank them
down tigher than you should (to get rid of the slop). Also, their
baseplates are drilled "off." People also complain of bent axles and
bent/broken kingpins (and their new, special kingpin is a harder to
replace).
Tracker's stock bushings are better than Indy's (the new Superball bushings
are excellent). Indy's feel "dead" by comparison.
My absolute favorite trucks for bowls/pools are Tracker's Aggro Quicktracks.
They're no longer made, but you can get them pretty easily on the net (try
oldschoolskates.com). Because I need the newschool mounting pattern, I
switch out the baseplates with Tracker B2 bases. They're a perfect
complement to my Deathbox Hackett deck.
Independent has been around for a long time, but to me, they're "coasting"
on their past reputation. But hey, their logo is cool, right? I mean, when
you see a buxom 30-something woman wearing an Indy-logo'd spaghetti-strap
tanktop in the frozen food aisle at Safeway, that's good. But when you
can't get their baseplates' holes to line up with your deck, that sucks.
Old Skater Guy
> My new Indy 166s are lower and turn worse than my 20 year old 169s. I
> haven't tried new trackers but from what i've read on ncdsa.com, the
> latest trackers are higher, turn better and have better build quality than
> current Indys.
I had some circa 1987 169's that turned pretty well. A LOT better than my
2-1/2 year old 166's. I don't know exactly what Indy changed (besides
quality), but it was a turn for the worse, IMO (bad pun not intended).
While I can't quantify/qualify it, Indy hangers seem to wear down much more
quickly than Trackers (new or old). The new SixTrack hangers grind REALLY
nicely.
One other thing, if you have questions about Trackers, you can talk to a
real live person involved with the trucks/company. The folks there are
stellar, and seem to go the extra mile to make sure you're happy with your
trucks, etc.
Smak152
news:arrvkv$ji22r$1...@ID-135181.news.dfncis.de...
> While I can't quantify/qualify it, Indy hangers seem to wear down much
more
> quickly than Trackers (new or old). The new SixTrack hangers grind REALLY
> nicely.
I have a set of redish coloured 169's on a old Madrid longboard and when you
grind the coping they totally sound louder and better than 166's for some
reason.
Outt..
Jeff.
OrangeCountyCarl
> Trackers are more stable than Indy's, but can be run looser. I would have
> to crank down the kingpin nut on my Indy's (modern 166's and late 80's
> 169's), but I barely have to touch the kingpin nut on my Tracker SixTrack
> re-issues. The Indy's may turn a little quicker, but it's harder to crank
a
> turn with them because I have to run them tighter.
The light bulb is starting to come on now. I *have* noticed that I have to
crank
Indy's so tight for stability, that the bushings overflow the washers.
It's next to impossible to carve while going fast....either you get no
wobbles at the expense
of not being able to turn or vice-versa.
> Independent's quality control is pretty poor compared to Tracker. The
> hanger (pivot)/base interface is really sloppy, so you have to crank them
> down tigher than you should (to get rid of the slop). Also, their
> baseplates are drilled "off."
Amazing. I bought a NOS old school "mini pig" deck several months ago and
put the most
narrow Indy's (101?) on. I could only get 2 holes to match (diagonal) for
each truck.
And I thought the deck had been mis-drilled. Silly me!
Thanks Old Skater Guy and Glenn, I'm pretty much sold on getting Trackers.
Oldschoolsk8....are you out there? Do you know of any store (as opposed to
ordering online) in the LA/Orange County area that carries
a decent selection of Trackers?
Thanks everybody....(more opinions welcome!)
Carl
Oldschoolsk8
<< Oldschoolsk8....are you out there? Do you know of any store (as opposed to
ordering online) in the LA/Orange County area that carries
a decent selection of Trackers? >>
The only shop I've come across that carries Trackers at all is Peter Glenn Ski
and Sport, and the one where I live just went out of business. I know they had
a store in Newport Beach, but I don't know if that one went under as well...
I've recently skated a few times with Buddy Carr from Tracker, and he's told me
that since Tracker is a "dead" name among street skaters, their focus is going
to be on slalom, longboard, and oldschool vert skaters. So your average skate
shop probably won't be carrying them, and SolidSkate, Longskate or Poolskater
will be your best bet...
OrangeCountyCarl
Carl
"Oldschoolsk8" <oldsch...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20021125113410...@mb-ct.aol.com...
Reasonable Facsimile
>
> "Old Skater Guy" <oldska...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:arrrlj$ldn68$1...@ID-135181.news.dfncis.de...
> > Trackers are more stable than Indy's, but can be run looser. I would have
> > to crank down the kingpin nut on my Indy's (modern 166's and late 80's
> > 169's), but I barely have to touch the kingpin nut on my Tracker SixTrack
> > re-issues. The Indy's may turn a little quicker, but it's harder to crank
> a
> > turn with them because I have to run them tighter.
>
> The light bulb is starting to come on now. I *have* noticed that I have to
> crank
> Indy's so tight for stability, that the bushings overflow the washers.
> It's next to impossible to carve while going fast....either you get no
> wobbles at the expense
> of not being able to turn or vice-versa.
Yup, that seems to be the case. A lot of older guys have gotten back into
skating in my area (Boulder County, CO), and most of the ones running Indy's
have their bushings squashed to hell and back. And as you mention, when they're
that tight, they're stable, but forget about turning/carving. One thing you
may want to try is to replace the bottom (i.e., closest to the deck) bushing
with a Tracker Stimulator bushing (available online from solidskate, longskate,
and boziboards). They're much larger in diameter, but "stepped" so they fit
most trucks. The larger diameter is more stable, but still allows you to run
the truck loose enough to turn/carve. I typically use a "hard" Stimulator with
a medium top bushing, and I only have 1-1.5 exposed kingpin threads on my rear
truck (Tracker). I'm right around 200 pounds, so you may have to experiment
a little bit to find the right combination. One other thing that you might
want to try is to replace your stock Indy bushings with Tracker Superball bushings.
These are available online (see aforementioned shops), and will fit almost
any modern truck out there. I'm running orange/medium up front (both bushings),
and the kingpin nut has no exposed threads. No way in hell I could do that
with Indy's or Indy bushings.
--
Reasonable Facsimile is OldSka...@yahoo.com