Chris Carmichael used to work for Gullwing and can remember shipping 3-5 thousand trucks a week, and he swears that went on for at least 15 years. One thing he cannot remember however, is which model this sand casting mold is for.

It’s hard to believe that the parties involved in making the infamous Stroker trucks went on to build Independent, a brand that by any metric inspired loyalty above and beyond anything else in the skateboard industry. Check out some painful over-engineering after the jump.

BMW chassis engineer Rudi Mueller and product designer Stephan Augustin were the two minds behind the original, short-lived BMW Streetcarver, an interesting but impractical idea that was too heavy and too expensive, and ultimately limited to only being useful in mild downhill situations. Stephan is not letting the dream die. He’s come up with another set of alternative trucks that might make you think of Stoker’s if you squint your eyes and look at them over your shoulder. Curfboard trucks are actually a little hypnotizing to watch in action. They look really smooth. I would love to try some out for fun, but even a quick peek will tell you these trucks are once again limited in use. Any sort of truck grind (even off the edge of a sidewalk!) is potentially going to destroy these things quickly. Two crucial, structural elements hang dangerously below the hanger of the truck. Also, it’s unclear how these would handle with any sort of speed. There is no kingpin and thus no bushings, but does not appear to be any resistance or adjustments of any kind possible. You’re stuck with “as is” performance that lends itself well to generating motion through carving, but…

“Original wooden form for the Prototype Independent baseplate, circa 1977.” I wonder how they got the raised text on the baseplate looking so clean. [Source: independenttrucks on Instagram]

People keep trying to innovate trucks these days, but you rarely see anything that makes the accompanying wackiness worthwhile. These Alpha Skateboard Tucks are pretty standard fare for the most part. The big marketing point is the screws on the side that you can use to set a maximum tilt point in order to prevent wheelbite. That’s all well and good, maybe it works, but honestly, wheelbite isn’t a big deal, is it? They do love to go on and on about geometry and stability. They have an interesting theory about riding a low truck with extra risers being a better option for those that prefer high truck. The one thing they have innovated that stands out is the placement of the mounting holes. It’s such a simple idea I can’t believe nobody has done it. Instead of leaving the new school mounting pattern offset towards kingpins, they center them in the standard footprint of the baseplate. Of course, this makes the wheelbase of any given board shorter than the same board with standard trucks. The upside is a potentially stronger baseplate and lighter too, if you cut off the corners. So… it’s interesting at least. They’ve also got a…

I thought there was already some downhill company making a titanium axle truck, but then again I’m not keeping track. These guys (What guys? Theeve Trucks) claim to have the first titanium axle trucks: Theeve has created the world’s first 6/4 Titanium axle truck. TiAX Titanium axles are 40% lighter and 2 times stronger than standard steel axles. This gives you a weight saving and less chance of bending axles. Titanium / alloy blend with non-slip 6/4 Aerospace grade Titanium axles, Grade 8 king pins and Bones® Hardcore Bushings™ standard. I don’t know how big a part of the overall weight the axle is, so I’m not sure that it would make much of a difference to all but the techy-est of riders. However, extra strength and Bones Bushings are something I can get behind. Theeve says it’s their take on a classic truck, which is kind of funny because I thought these were ACE’s take on a classic truck when I first saw the profile. Speaking of ACE, does anyone know what’s going on with them? I’m trying to set up an account over there and I haven’t heard back in months. Getting back to Theeve, their web site…