It's important to use a silicone-based lubricant. WD40 or others like it will dry out your bearings and attract dust and dirt. It doesn't take much, and the excess will just spin out when you replace your shields, pop your bearings back in your wheels and start shredding. Skate safe and enjoy your new-found speed.”
Remove the bearing shields and throw your bearings in isopropyl alcohol for a few hours. After they soak and get all the dirt out, take your bearings out of the solvent and let them air dry for about 30 minutes. Lastly lubricate your bearings with a tiny drop of skate lube and put the shields back on.
Grip tape works well to give your feet traction on the board, even when wet. But grip tape can lose adhesion over time with repeated wetting and drying. If that happens, the tape will start to peel off the deck.
The best way to clean grip tape is by using a belt sander cleaner. Rub it firmly in a straight line and apply pressure on the dirty spots on your skateboard deck. Remove the residue on the sander stick and repeat the process until you are happy with the result.
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First, the sound may come from your wheel seals if you skate with them for a long time without replacing, and bearing move in their seating. Also, the damaged and unmaintained bearings can cause a lot of noise too. Other reasons include; Worn bushings.
One of the most frequent issues that produce a slow skateboard is over-tightened axle nuts. How tight should skateboard wheels be? Over-tightening axle nuts causes pressure against bearings, not allowing wheels to spin. We all make this mistake at some point, and a noticeable squeaky rubbing noise results.
The main reason why the skateboard wheels turn yellow is that the urethane of the wheel degrades over time. But as the bleach wears off and the urethane degrades, the 'real' color of the wheels begins to appear.
Use the wrench to loosen the nut, but do so only slightly. Just nudge it counter clockwise and spin the wheel again. Continue doing this until each wheel rolls freely. If you go too far and a wheel slides on its axle, tighten it again.
What matters is that the bearings are spinning smoothly when under your weight. In fact, a bearing that hisses along as it freespins for a full minute is worse than a quiet bearing that freespins for three seconds. As long as they don't stop 2 seconds after you spin them by hand you'll be fine.
Wheels are attached to the axels with a single nut (1/2") per wheel. The nuts should be tightened as far as they can be without impeding the spin of the wheel. Generally you should feel only a very minor amount of play if you try to move the wheel side to side.
Bad bearings, worn or “coned-out” wheel(s) or worn down size wheels may be the problem. You could have tightened your wheel nut too much, or lost a washer or otherwise inhibited the free spinning of one or more of your bearings. The list goes on and learning to diagnose all this is part of being a better skater.
Testing a bearing by letting a wheel spin freely only makes sense if you use spacers and have tightened the bolt. It won't spin for very long because bearings rarely do. However, they should be somewhat quiet.
Try not to grease up your bearings using thick oils. Stay away from lubricants such as vegetable oil, olive oil or car oil.
And like Bobatt, I use it on a BB, and on my wheel bearings with no discernible problems for years back then.
pour out bearings and windex (WILL BE EXTREMELY HOT) dry them out, and pop them in your wheels. REMEMBER: you must pour enough windex into the bottle to cover the bearings.
Once all shields are off, they should be placed in a bowl of warm water and dish soap. Do not place the shields in acetone/solvent. With your fingers, simply rub the dirt and grease off with the soapy water.
Compressed air will speed the process. Pour enough white vinegar into a jar so that the bearing can be completely submerged. Make sure you use WHITE vinegar, not cider or balsamic.
white lithium grease is great for bearings, and excellent for pivot cup squeak as well.
