Monster MTB (Turf DeVille skateboard)

I haven’t checked the good wheels yet, I’ll get to it soon. I don’t know if the tires where always tubeless, but I’ve yet to find anything that matches them. I have tried standing on one (deflated) wheel and it held it’s shape without collapsing under me, so I’m guessing four of them together should manage okay. I’ve already started cleaning with a dremel using a wire brush attachment, followed by a grinding wheel for the tougher bits. one of them is now sitting in vinegar and the second will go in soon. I do have a schraeder tool and getting new valves shouldn’t be a problem. HOWEVER… I have not been able to find anything like these tires and hubs anywhere yet, let alone inner-tubes. I’m not even sure some of this wasn’t custom-made, but I have no way of knowing. This means that even if I do manage to repair all of this, once the tires wear out, that’s it. No spares, no replacements. Thus, I’m a little hesitant to invest too much time and resources in this, and keep in mind I’m already considering adapting spring-trucks for longer axles to accommodate the wider hubs. Taking it to a tire shop etc… well, we’ll see. I’ll give it my best shot, but this could very well become a long term side project at best, or an expensive dud at worst. Obviously, if anyone ever happens to find tires similar to these, I’d be very grateful to hear about them.

You don’t need tubes. They are tubeless wheels/tires.

Well, I was goggling land sailing for you, and got nothing.

Except for these hubs, that look pretty good for the price.

https://www.terrasailindustries.com/shop/MG4-Hubs-Set-of-4.html

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Is it just me or does everyone else think that bolt circle pattern (spokes) look the same as Trampa Superstars?

Oh man, I talked to the guy who made those.

I’ve got a pic.

From 2013.

I doubt he made more than a couple. I stupidly didn’t get the conversation on video, but I seem to recall he just made it for fun.

I wouldn’t be surprised if its the same one I saw.

Its a really cool design, but the pivot angle looks super low. I’m guessing the thing hardly turned?

I think he was the salesman for the company who’s boxes are in the background. If we can make out the logo and figure out what the company is we might be able to track the guy down.

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That’s incredible! Good catch there! Yes, the steering wasn’t anything great, partly just because the deck was so long.

Found it! http://eo2fastener.com/ This actually looks like something us eskaters could use…

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Just sent an email to the company to ask about the guy. Now we wait…

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this is so exciting, haha

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I just read the thread and i bet at the first post, that this thing is custom made (still don´t know where you wanna ride that thing - maybe it´s a hybrit-water-board with those big wheels :smiley:).

Try to get a shorter deck and maybe adjust the springs a bit for steering. Should be fun to ride around on these big airbubbles :grin:

I think what it needs is an actual mountainboard deck with wedged tips, because that built in pivot angle is so low.

The springs on that thing don’t do any steering, those are only for suspension. Steering is handled with bushings.

you´re right, just checked the picture again and saw that they´re on the same baseplate. I thought they handle steering independently like the BMW board

You’re partly correct, the springs are only for shock absorbtion, bushings handle the actual steering. Thus, you don’t need a special mountainboard deck. Bty, the springs are bigger and stiffer than trampa ones. It’s not a standard size baseplate though, it’s too long for standard deck holes. I’ll have to check how to adapt it, but it’ll still be very high off the ground. That’s why I’m looking more at just using the wheels.

Yeah you wouldn’t need a special mountain board deck, but I think it would be a big improvement.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but looking at it seems as though it would have a HUGE turning radius. A mountain board deck would shrink that radius right down and make it nimble as anything else.

Definitely agree with you on that. I have a second set of spring trucks in the mail, so I’ll be able to use my existing set for it. The only issue is lengthening the axles, I have a second thread about that.

Update and decision time! So I heard back from the guy and we passed a few emails back and forth. Here’s his concluding response:

And there you have it- they used a board no longer produced as a sort of test platform for their rail system. Bty, having checked out their site that rail mounting system looks like an interesting idea, but he hasn’t responded as to whether they ever went ahead and made a boot/rail attachment. He also hasn’t told me the name of the company that made the board. I have still not found anything else like it. Meanwhile, here’s the difference between a rusty hub that’s just been submerged in vinegar vs. one that’s been in it for a week:

I do not intend to try restoring the entire board, both because I know I will never use it as it was, and because I doubt how much it’s worth as a “piece of history” considering there’s absolutely no record of it. The more I think about it the more looks like the case with the mini-disc - an interesting concept, but ultimately just a stopgap technology the lasted a couple of years between discs and mp3 players… and now we don’t even really need those. I do still want to use the wheels though, so ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my fellow eskaters… Are these hubs worth saving? Or should I try milling new ones?

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So whats the plan for the trucks if you’re not restoring/reusing them?

I might still restore the trucks, just not the board as a whole. It’s too high and too long for me to enjoy riding that way, so I’ll probably look for a deck with a serious drop in it. Then I’ll have to find a way to mount it with its nonstandard holes, design a special motor mount for it, the list goes on. In a way that’s all relatively easy, since the trucks aren’t nearly as rusty as the wheels, which are much harder to replace. In a way, this is three projects in one:

  1. Restore the hubs and tires to usable condition. Since I can’t find more tires like these anywhere I don’t think it’s worth investing in machining new hubs from scratch, so if I can save these with JB weld I will.
  2. Extend axles in order to use these hubs on mountainboard trucks. See my related thread for more details.
  3. Restore trucks and and adapt to standard deck. This is probably going to be a long-running side project. I have a few ideas for how to go about it and thankfully they can take trampa or MBS hubs without any trouble. I will also consider your suggestion to use a proper mountainboard deck. I do like the idea of making a proper off-road board with these…

In short, it all comes down to time and budget constraints. I’m looking to upgrade my existing board too, so there’s a limit to how much I can do and how quickly. I’m not giving up on this project by any means, it’s just going to take time. Once I have a proper plan for how to go about this, I’ll start a build log and post as often as I can. I already have an idea for a theme and a name…:wink:

I FOUND IT!!! It’s called the Turf DeVille Mountain Board. Lemme back up. I was looking around for ideas for my next build and I happened to find this defunct but interesting looking site- http://www.reviewmountainboards.com/. I get curious and start scrolling through the models and suddenly there it is! http://www.reviewmountainboards.com/mountain-board-reviews/turf-deville-mountain-board-reviews/ A little more digging shows that it wasn’t very well liked, but you can still find some parts for it online. I found exactly one (failed) attempt to motorize it: http://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-TurfBoard/ So to sum up- everyone who was thinking snowboards was right, @Idle was spot on about the tubeless tires, and there seem to be some good reasons why this concept did not last very long. As for what happens now, I’m thinking of adapting the truck into a swing-arm type truck…

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And look, there’s even parts for sale on eBay! Looks like this seller had a complete board that they’re trying to part out for more money.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/132595194085

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That’s what I’m thinking too. I’m probably not going to buy them though. I’ve already ordered JB weld to fix the ones I have, and it looks like he has just one board’s worth of parts. It’s simply putting off the day that they wear out and there’s no more replacements. Better to work on an improved design that can use these tires as well as modern mountainboard tires.

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