# Skateboard wobble **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294 "2016-12-21T14:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294/1 "2016-12-21T14:46:42Z")
As a longtime viewer of Ridiculousness, I’ve seen plenty of skateboarders going really fast. And sometimes when they go too fast, the board starts wobbling - really bad. My question for you skateboarders: once the wobbling starts, are you pretty much screwed? Does the wobble always lead to a crash? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294/2 "2016-12-21T17:38:58Z")
heres information on speed wobble: > **[Speed wobble](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_wobble)** > > Wobble, shimmy, tank-slapper, speed wobble, and even death wobble are all words and phrases used to describe a quick (4–10 Hz) oscillation of primarily just the steerable wheel(s) of a vehicle. Initially, the rest of the vehicle remains mostly unaffected, until translated into a vehicle yaw oscillation of increasing amplitude producing loss of control. Vehicles that can experience this oscillation include motorcycles and bicycles, skateboards, and, in theory, any vehicle with a single steering Su... not being a skateboarder, I don’t have personal experience with this ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294/3 "2016-12-21T19:50:50Z")
I do have experience with this. It’s hella scary, but you can ride it out. This was in the late 70s. I know wheels and boards have changed since then. All I had was a cheap “banana” board. I would imagine that newer skateboards would be able to handle it better. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294/4 "2016-12-21T20:43:36Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > I do have experience with this. It’s hella scary, but you can ride it out. > > This was in the late 70s. I know wheels and boards have changed since then. All I had was a cheap “banana” board. I would imagine that newer skateboards would be able to handle it better. I had a banana board back then too, although it had good quality [trucks](https://www.windwardboardshop.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/understanding-skateboard-trucks-feature.jpg) under it. If you wanted to do low-speed tight maneuvering, you loosened up the nut on each kingpin; the result was that shifting your weight a little would cause the wheels to pivot a lot, resulting in very tight turning radiuses with little effort. That’s the sort of setup that results in speed wobble if you start going very fast, so if you were going to bomb a long hill at high speed, you snugged up the kingpin nuts first, conferring some stability; you couldn’t do the same short-radius turns with this setup, but long-radius turns together with high speed gave you the range of lateral accelerations you needed in order to maintain your balance while bombing a hill. ---
**Author:** ![Deser2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@Deser2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deser2)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294/5 "2016-12-21T21:18:50Z")
Definitely depends on the skill of the rider but no, it doesn’t always lead to a crash and most pro-boarders (and anyone that skates vert regularly, aka halfpipes and the like) are able to continue riding even at those speeds. Search Youtube for Bob Burquist loop-de-loop. Pretty much doesn’t get much faster than that and as you’ll see, he can stay on the board and land the trick even at those speeds. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294/6 "2016-12-21T22:37:12Z")
Ahh the wobbles. Going down a hill steeper and longer than you estimated. You ride that sucker out although it is scary. I was always able to ride it out, although I crouched down about as low as a human can get on a board was ready to go over on my side. Live to ride, ride to die ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skateboard-wobble/775294/7 "2016-12-21T23:28:37Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I had a banana board back then too, although it had good quality [trucks](https://www.windwardboardshop.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/understanding-skateboard-trucks-feature.jpg) under it. If you wanted to do low-speed tight maneuvering, you loosened up the nut on each kingpin; the result was that shifting your weight a little would cause the wheels to pivot a lot, resulting in very tight turning radiuses with little effort. That’s the sort of setup that results in speed wobble if you start going very fast, so if you were going to bomb a long hill at high speed, you snugged up the kingpin nuts first, conferring some stability; you couldn’t do the same short-radius turns with this setup, but long-radius turns together with high speed gave you the range of lateral accelerations you needed in order to maintain your balance while bombing a hill. Yup, that’s the drill. We actually had a friend’s Dad drive us across town to skate down a very steep road. No helmets, of course. Clamped down our trucks and let 'er rip! Friend’s Dad clocked us at around 25-30 mph as I recall. WAY too fast for those boards. I was about 12 years old. Ah, to be young and immortal!