When you’re looking at a setup like the Dugout, you could consider just the complete from the company. After all, they did a great job of creating a solid platform, and it has quickly become my favorite cruiser. However, many decks are versatile. They’re the right length and width to play around with. A good example that comes to mind is the Loaded Coyote. In fact, that’s a very similar setup to the Dugout. It has a similar length, width, and wheelbase, though doesn’t have the pintail tapered vibe of the Dugout. Still, you can order it from Loaded in a few setups, with street trucks or reverse kingpin trucks. Some of my setups have felt like they shouldn’t be changed much. The Dinghy, for example, can only be changed so much before it doesn’t feel right. But I’ve found the Dugout is a good example of width, length, wheelbase, and shape for playing around. So here are a few “non-stock” setups I tried out.
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Paris Savants 165mm, 43º
This was me having a bit of fun. I threw on Easy Hawgs wheels and my Paris Savant trucks from my Pantheon Gaia. It was silly, but it made me think about an interesting setup. While the 165mm wide hangers and 43º baseplates weren’t right for this, I could see this work with RKP trucks 150mm or less and 50º baseplates. It might be worth it to try 150mm Paris V3’s with the 50º baseplate and a 5º wedge up front. You could also get, and this is downright silly, precision trucks under 150mm. You can get some 129-145mm Rojas trucks, for example, and put them on there. That actually wouldn’t be a bad setup. The adjustable axle width would come in handy, the Rojas have a lot of rake so you get a rapid turn in, and the right bushings can work for a street setup. You’d have yourself a small, narrow, lightweight, and incredibly nimble cruiser with fantastic trucks.
Someone running their Rojas on a Dugout is actually what made me think about throwing my Savants on.
Easy Hawgs
This actually feels like a natural setup. I’ll admit, if you’re using the 130mm Bear trucks, you may want to add some space to avoid wheelbite. First you’ll use speedrings to push the wheels more towards the rail. Then you’ll want to either use some thin soft risers along with the included wedged and hard risers to give yourself a little extra space. You could also decide to go with stiff bushings or a double barrel setup. Since these are Bear trucks, you could use a 0.5″ street barrel bushing boardside, and use an extra washer to bring it up to the appropriate 15mm level. That could reduce the travel enough to avoid wheelbite.
I rode this setup without doing any of that. I just used the speed rings to add some space on the hanger, and threw on the Easy Hawgs. I did tighten the trucks considerably for this, and I didn’t like that as much. I also noticed that it really did feel a little taller, but the Easy Hawgs weren’t absorbing more of the impacts as you’d expect. In part because they’re more narrow and centerset. They do slide easily, but not so much easier on this platform than the Chubby Hawgs. It’s all about leverage on a cruiser like this. It’s not a terrible setup, but I went back to “stock” Chubby Hawgs after a few days.
Thunder Trucks and Easy Hawgs
I got a set of 8.25″ Thunder Trucks. You can probably tell by the axle dimensions that these are not typically set up for longboards or cruisers. Street wheels mount on the axles in such a way that the axle and the edge of the wheel come to an end at the same spot, due to how narrow they are. It’s important to consider hanger width when buying street trucks for your cruiser or longboard. The 8.25″ Thunder trucks have a 143.8mm hanger.
I went with these because they sit low, but higher than Landyachtz’s Polar Bear trucks, about 4mm taller (Polar Bear trucks have a height around 48mm). I also got them because I had heard a rumor that Thunder bushings are the same height as Bear’s. It’s true, they are.
I got them for a different setup, so I knew from the beginning that this would be temporary. However, I figured I’d test them out with the Dugout. They’re about 13mm wider than the 130mm trucks that come with a complete Dugout. I swapped out my wider cruiser wheels for some Easy Hawgs, which are a little wider than street trucks and centerset. They’re made for sliding, though I’ll admit the cold weather has made all my wheels extra grippy.
These are very turny. The Thunder Trucks are more situated for street skating out of the box. And, because they use the same boardside bushing size as Landyachtz, it’s tricky to fix that. Still, I have plenty of bushings, and I was able to firm them up a bit.
They sit higher than Bears, but they’re lighter, thanks to a lot of cutouts and a hollow baseplate. It’s a decent enough replacement for Bears, but honestly, I’d take the Bear Trucks for a cruiser setup over the Thunder trucks. It’s not just the bushing shape, or the difficulty of finding bushings in this size. It’s the fact that I can’t imagine those cutouts being as reliable over years of use and abuse, especially at the speeds I hit on my cruisers.
Despite sitting higher, these have wheelbite with 60mm wheels. They just turn so much more, and that extra width gets them into trouble. You’re going to have to either use more risers, or put a barrel bushing in boardside and tighten it.
Fatty Hawgs?
I have some thin riser pads, just thin enough to give me the additional clearance for wider, taller wheels than the stock setup. So, I swapped out the Chubby Hawgs for some Fatty Hawgs. These sit out a surprising amount. The Fatty Hawgs are 13mm wider than the Chubby Hawgs. However, their core is the same distance in from the inside lip. That extra 13mm goes directly into the width of the wheel. They stick out a lot more. You don’t want this. It’ll make turning feel forced, as you’ll lose leverage over the edge of the wheels, and you could kick your wheels.
I also found that, without adding risers to the ones that the Dugout comes with, you’ll get wheel bite. Personally, I went back to the Chubby Hawgs.
Just the Good Bits (No Polar Bear Trucks)
I don’t hate Polar Bear trucks. They feel good once you’re riding them. Get the right bushings and swap out the pivot cup, and they have an excellent, stable, smooth carving feel. You could say that of a lot of trucks though. What Bears do right is they give you that low.
The fact that they take a strange bushing shape is a real downer. That’s why you might want to consider swapping them out for some other traditional kingpin trucks. Just make sure you get low profile ones to retain the low, surfy feel of the Dugout. Good options would include Tensor’s 8.0″ low profile trucks, Ace’s 03 trucks, or Independent trucks, which are always a good standby. When buying street trucks, the measurement is usually not the hanger width, because skate wheels are typically all the same size, so they just go with axle width. A 130mm truck like the Polar Bear trucks that come with the Dugout are about 8″ tip to tip. The Independent Hollow 139, Ace 03, or Tensor Mag Light low profile trucks are all good options, with the Independents coming in at about one centimeter taller than the Ace or Tensor trucks. I recommend looking for sites that list the hanger width before making your decision, or bringing a tape measure to the skate shop.
Then keep the rest of the formula the same. Chubby Hawgs and a wedged riser. You’ll likely want to swap the bearings out, and you may need to tune the bushings to your weight and preferences, but you’ll be good to go.
I actually was going to buy this setup with the Ace 03 trucks, but found getting a complete from “Santa” easier. That setup would look like:
- Deck: Dugout Grey Skull: $55
- Trucks: Ace 03: $38 (pair)
- Wheels: Chubby Hawgs: $35
- Hardware: Wedged Riser Pad (buy both wedged and not wedged) & Bolts (I already have these, but expect to spend about $15)
- Bearings: Bones Reds (Big balls, Extended Races, or standard Reds) $19-$35
- Total: $150-$170, depending on choices/available equipment. Only slightly more than the Landyachtz complete package.
- Optional: WFB Pivot cups and Bushings from Riptide: $10-$40.
Update
While I’m still working on the review, I got a pair of Indy 127’s for this deck. With a bushing swap (Independent bushings are far too soft), I was up and running. I highly recommend them, the Ace trucks, or just about anything with traditional bushings over the Polar Bear trucks. It’s just too much of a headache when buying bushings to be worth buying as a complete.
Anything Else?
A lot of times, the setups that come from a company like Landyachtz have been tested for years before they’re released. The company gives it to their team skaters, and they write down what they think. The company makes tweaks, little changes, and then a new setup is born. This new setup will be skater tested and designed, so it should be perfect, right?
Well, we have to remember that they’re using their own parts. Landyachtz isn’t going to release a whole new lineup of trucks just because one setup might benefit from being a few millimeters higher. In fact, despite selling downhill boards and the downhill scene moving towards more narrow trucks, Landyachtz didn’t have anything under 165mm until very recently. But now that they have 140mm trucks, what else could their completes offer? Will we soon see top-mount decks with 140mm trucks and wide, offset wheels? Perhaps!
You could wait for Landyachtz to try something, or you could grab a cool deck, find some interesting trucks, get some slidey wheels, and make a street cruiser platform into a freeride platform.
These stock completes are often a lot of fun on their own, but don’t be afraid to experiment! You’ll find what you like and perhaps consider new and interesting setups that are perfect for carving the hills in your area, or getting yourself to work fast enough to sleep in an extra 20 minutes!
I like to obsess about gear and detailed reviews, but I think trying something unique and figuring out how I feel about a setup is a lot of fun. Give it a shot! This deck is a great example of a platform waiting for some fun customization. The Dugout has quickly become my favorite cruiser, my take-everywhere-board. You can find my review of it here. The Landyachtz Dugout found a place in my quiver. With the right setup, it could find its place in yours too.
