Your skateboard makes a weird noise: the 5-point diagnosis

Level: Beginner

A new set of bearings costs 15 to 20 euros. A complete board, 80 to 120. In between, there’s often just a noise nobody bothered to listen to. Your skateboard is making a weird noise, squeaking, clicking or rumbling? The real question: do you fix it, or do you pay up?

This isn’t new. In 1978, Rick Blackhart, who worked on the very first Independent trucks, summed up the trucks on the market in one line: “one broke, and one didn’t turn.” That year, Independent was born in California to fix that. Almost fifty years later, your board is still talking.

Every sound points to one part. Five checks, one tool, and by the end you know what to keep and what to replace.

Weird noise on your skateboard: five sounds, five culprits

Flip your board, spin each wheel by hand, then roll ten meters and listen.

1. A squeak on every turn: the truck bushings are dry. Fixable.
2. A metal click while rolling: a loose nut or a wheel with play on its axle. Tighten it.
3. A rumble at speed: dirty or rusty bearings. Clean them, or replace them.
4. A dull crack when you press down: the deck is split or its layers are separating. Not fixable.
5. A scrape on turns: the wheel hits the wood and the board stops dead. Add risers.

The squeak and the click: your trucks talking

The squeak on turns is almost always the bushings rubbing against their washers. Loosen the kingpin, pull the bushings, rub them with skate wax or dry soap, put it back. Two minutes, zero euros. Cracked? A new set costs about ten euros. Details in our trucks guide.

The metal click comes from a loose axle nut. Shake the wheel: if it knocks, tighten until it locks, then back off a quarter turn. And check there’s a small washer on each side of the wheel.

The scrape on tight turns is the wheel hitting the wood, and it can throw you to the ground. Risers under the trucks fix it. A cracked truck or a bent axle gets replaced.

The rumble that grows with speed: your bearings

Your wheel stops after three seconds with a sandy sound? Dirty or rusty bearings. One session in the rain is enough, as we covered in what rain destroys on your board.

Clean first, like in the video: pull the eight bearings, pop the shield, rinse, dry, one drop of lube. If they still grind, they’re done. A new set costs 15 to 20 euros, and our bearings guide tells you which to get. Bones bearings, still made by George Powell, co-founder of Powell Peralta, remain a safe bet in any shop.

The dull crack underfoot: your deck

The one noise that doesn’t forgive. Set the board on two bricks, press in the middle. A crack, a soft pop, a split near the truck bolts: the wood has given out.

A deck is seven glued layers of maple. Once they separate, no glue will hold an ollie, and it can snap mid-landing. Replace the deck, keep the rest. Our guide to choosing the right deck size.

Fix or replace: the answer, part by part

Here’s the straight answer. Of the five noises, four get fixed for under 20 euros. Only one forces you to buy an expensive part:

• Squeak on turns: fix it. Wax or new bushings, 0 to 10 euros.
• Metal click: fix it. One turn of the tool, 0 euros.
• Bearing rumble: clean first, replace if needed. 0 to 20 euros.
• Scrape on turns: add risers, a few euros. Cracked or bent truck: replace the truck.
• Cracked deck: replace the deck, 50 to 70 euros. The rest of the setup carries on.

Buying a new complete for a noise means paying 100 euros for a 10-euro problem. Only exception: the supermarket board where everything fails at once. And to rebuild without bringing the noise back, read our piece on building a board part by part.

Your board isn’t finished, it’s telling you where to look. Listen, flip it, grab the tool. And if your noise fits none of these, describe it in the comments and we’ll help you find it.

Good ride.

What’s the weirdest noise your board ever made? And which part was it? Tell us in the comments ↓