Taking Trampa Dampas out for more turning

[a-k-m]

Hello,

I am riding the Trampa vertigo axis with the yellow trampa dampas (the softest) but I still think that they are too stiff for my liking (before I was riding the greens).

Today I took the ones on the front out and left the ones on the back.
This provided a nice carving feel and much tighter turns.

Unfortunately with this setup, if I carve too hard, the spring jumps out of the adjustment screw.

Have you guys tried out riding this way? Do you know a possible solution for having this setup but to keep the springs without the dampas in place?

I've got this idea from this guy's video who also gave me the advice with riding only the back truck with dampas.
(And do you know where to get these small radius slick tires?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2FY7oJ4bnk

Thanks for all advices!

[mario64]

Hey, you could try moving the springs closer together like you can do on old scrub trucks and on some mbs matrix trucks.

On these trucks you can move the whole spring and damper assembly close to the center giving you less resistance and more movement.
All you'd need to do is use a 7mm (or a 6.7 if you can find it) drill and a M8 tap to make some threaded holes closer on the hangers and a 8mm drill to make the holes closer on the axles. So in the end it would look like a bigger version of their street carver truck.


Or you could try gluing the spring retainer to the screw that tightens it so it can't come off, it might work.

Or you could try drilling a hole through the middle of the dampa to make it even softer, it might be hard to drill through the rubber though. Maybe you could heat up a piece of metal and burn through it.

I think moving the springs close together is your best move, plus then you could keep the dampas. They're handy because they reduce the rebound of the springs which causes speed wobble. Thats why the new mbs trucks have removed the springs entirely after people started taking the springs out and using just the dampers.

[a-k-m]

thanks for the ideas... maybe I will try to drill a whole through the green dampas I have left since i am not using them anyway. bringing the springs closer together sounds great too, but i dont wanna have so many wholes in my new deck right from the start...

[Mikael]

You could also try MBS eggs, they're shorter and allow for more turning. They feel different though so you'll need to adjust.
4 more holes for springs is not a big deal though, I'd try that first.

[mario64]

You could also try using skate style trucks instead of channel trucks.
Or you could try using heel straps if you aren't already, they'll give you more leverage on the board so more steering.

[a-k-m]

Yes, I just made myself some heelstraps out of my old snowboard bindings. They work great, but that doesn't increase much the turning radius. I've had skate trucks before but I prefer the channel trucks a hundred times over them. MBS eggs would also be a good idea, have to try that out!
Thanks for the advices.

[BgSurfer]

MBS Comp 16 (then Comp 95) have holes for 2 inside and 2 outside spring positions. I have MBS standard Matrix trucks that have 2 inside and 2 outside spring positions. Like Marios picture above. Don't know if the modern standard Matrix are the same.
My preferred ride was very tight radius street carving -- surf style. Trucks were very loose and very responsive. Too responsive for most offroad riders.
I always kept my springs at the inside positions. I used yellow eggs (softest) up front and orange eggs (medium) in the rear trucks.
I have some MBS trucks that only had the outside position. I had your problem when I set them up without eggs. On tight carve, springs would pop out. The other problem is the springs tend to compress permanently if you ride outside position without eggs (dampas) more than a few times. When that happens the springs pop out regularly.
I had some pictures around here somewhere. Still around I think but my photo albums are gone with the new forum format.
Also wider axles are better for tight street carving. Better tracking and leverage. I bought several pairs of limited edition 18" Matrix trucks specifically for responsive street riding.
Channel trucks are much more responsive for turning than All Terrain Skate trucks.

EDIT: Found the thread where the pictures were. Looks like they have vanished.