Suspension Trucks on Halo Board Carbon Edition

So I picked up a used Halo Board -Carbon Edition and riding around on this thing has been a mixed bag.

Pics of the inside for future generations to see:

It has good range, ok acceleration, survivable breaking, but overall it handles bumps in the road like total crap. Best case it shakes my legs so much I can’t feel my feet, worse case my vision shakes so much on bricks I can’t see straight.

Turns out, a completely carbon fiber deck, in hub motors with thin urethane, and an 1/8th inch rubber pad is not enough to absorb the bumps and rocks common to everyday riding.

So that brings me to my proposed solution: image

Suspension trucks.

Replacing the front truck/hanger was pretty straightforward: Buy part, put on.

However replacing the rear truck, where the majority of the problem lies, is a bit more of a challenge:

As you can see from the photos, the hub motors are designed to mount onto a pretty uncommon hanger. The hanger is narrow, with square features to prevent the hub from spinning. The axles are super long to compensate for the hub motor dimensions.

My current proposed solution involves taking the hanger that came with the suspension trucks and machining down each end to bring it to the correct width, then drilling/pressing/threading new axles in the machined hanger. However, I can’t seem to find a good solution for the axle itself. Anyone have any suggestions as to what to use for axles and where to get them? Maybe another solution exists?

Get some vescs cheap used from someone on here. It’ll make a huge difference with that 10s3p pack. Or you could just get a dual belt or dual hub kit from diyeboard that would match up well with that ESC and battery, but it looks the inside of every other production Chinese board (which ia a good thing with regards to replacing parts)

Yep the board is definitely a pretty common design.

The only thing weird about it are the hubmotors and hangers, which are what are giving me grief. Changing out the entire drivetrain to mount suspension trucks is a bit extreme (and a bit expensive). I will do it if I have to, but I was hoping that I could find a source for axles to modify the suspension hanger I have.

Any ideas?

Honestly I would use it for parts. If you want to get by cheap and still use it get x2 6354 199kv motors, a set if TB 218 trucks or caliber 2 190s, x2 motors mounts and x2 VESC’s.tgats at least $500. You can find inexpensive mounts in the market section, the VESC’s and motors at any of the standard shops (@JLabs, @torqueboards)

1 Like

While it would be fun to upgrade, spending 500 bucks to upgrade a board I paid 500 dollars for is a bit much. Plus my main problem is vibration, not a lack of power.

I’m in a position where modifying the hanger wouldn’t be to expensive since I have access to a machine shop. I could machine the hanger myself for free so long as I had access to a set of axles. I’ve looked into using 5/16th engine studs, but can only find them in lengths where the non-threaded portion isn’t long enough (for example here: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-675-201/overview/)

Any ideas on suitable axles for these rather goofy hub motors?

Just cut the axle part of the hangars off leaving the bushing seat…and weld it to the avenue hangar.

You’ll be famous, but only if you post pics.

But seriously…

Lathe the hanger down. Make square pieces with holes in them to fit over the axles. Make the holes ~.002"? smaller than the axle. May want to practice on something else to check tolerances. Heat the square piece, freeze the axle. Install with press and use sleeve retainer (loctite)

2 Likes

I was thinking of machining the square pieces onto the hanger rather than rely on a press fit for rotational stability.

Anyone have any luck cutting hardened bolt steel with a die or should I stay away from that?

Try this:

Not the cheapest, and not best looking, but pretty effective!

Can you not just use a grinder to cut down the gander so the hubs fit on. Then file down the end into a small square

1 Like

You might try some 1/2 rubber risers.

The pushin’ cushion is a neat idea, also the 1/2 inch riser is not a bad idea as well. I’ll give those a try.

In the meantime I was able to find the studs in the correct length. ARP bolts had them (http://arp-bolts.com/) but their website doesn’t actually have a way to search for them. You have to call them and get the part number. Should work though. Hard to find.

Nope, the axle is way to short on the new hangers, hence my hunt for long studs to replace them after I cut it down.

Just wanted to give an update, so I managed to machine the hanger:

The studs are threaded in an entire inch, so hopefully they don’t pull out, time will tell if they break or not. But hey, check it out:

Took it out for a first ride and it is much better than it used to be. Honestly, not a huge difference in feel between the suspension hanger in the rear and the 1/2 riser as far as vibration goes, but for turning radius, the suspension trucks have more compliance and turn better while maintaining high-speed stability.

All in all, project done.

What was the part number for the studs that you found on the ARP website? I am following your lead and replacing my stock halo board trucks with the same suspension trucks you used.