Three Tips to DIY Electric Skateboard-And Hands-on Experience

If you want to DIY electric skateboards, then you need to follow at least three principles, or you need to ask yourself some questions before you do. These preparations are by no means excessive because they can help you avoid lots of trouble later. At the same time, after the basic principles, I will write more detailed information on DIY and the kits assembly-related details. Why do you choose to buy several pieces of electric skateboard conversion kits rather than directly purchasing a finished electric skateboard? Are you making trouble to yourself? Probably not. For some e-skateboarders, the feeling of making a board is fresh, exciting, and unique; this is different from buying a finished product. DIY allows you to turn your old-school board into an attractive and unique one, turn your ordinary longboard into a high-performance one, simply by installing a few kits, or it may be not simple for DIY new starters. Then you can enjoy the uniqueness and popularity brought by your precious device among skateboard community members. With no further to say, let’s dive into this simple guide.

• How do you DIY electric skateboards or longboards?
• How do you install conversion kits onto DIY e-skateboards?
• Suggestions towards skateboard kits: Things to consider when buying.

1.How do you DIY electric skateboard or longboard?

Start with one regular skateboard or longboard first. Before that, make sure that you know how to ride a skateboard and have some riding experience, or it would be hard work for you. Once you have chosen the base equipment, you should measure both skateboard size and kit size to fit each other approximately. However, as to what kind of kits suit you best, it depends on your needs. Finally, attach the kits to your skateboard.

2.How do you install conversion kits?

Well, the answer to this question is mainly up to your skateboard structure. You can easily find the specifications in the product instructions, such as the length, width, weight, the size of the wheel, and even the board’s thickness. With all these figures at your hand, you could easily filter those unsuitable skateboard kits when searching for kits online. In the end, after you received the gadgets, you need to attach the gears with your skateboard closely to ensure your safety. Or if not, it would cause you serious injury during your ridding journey.

3.Suggestions towards buying skateboard kits

• Performance: You probably don’t want to spend a considerable amount of money then make your e-skateboard no advancement. Take care when you scan the kit’s information; you’d better figure out how much performance improvement it can achieve. List specific numbers in a chart to compare clearly, even if you are faced with many choices.
• Gadget’s quality: Anti-resistance and long-durability are the most basic requirement. At the same time, other conditions and quality depend on different parts. Wheels must be sturdy, and decks must be flat and steady, etc.
• Assembly difficulty: It will be funny if you can’t install the kits on your own after getting them. And if the assembly process was too complex, it might cause your skateboard more damage. For easy installation, you can build yourself by reading the instruction manual. And for more complicated operations, don’t forget to search on YouTube.

Hands-on experience:

how to make an electric skateboard. From an electric skateboard enthusiast.

• Board

As to choose board type, we recommend the longboard. Longboards are bigger and heavier, but they are much more stable than other boards, like fish board and so on. So, there are many types of longboards, how to choose? Common longboards include: Freeride, speed board, slalom, cruising, carving, long-distance board, board walking&dancing, technical sliding, etc.  I won’t dig into much about these boards; you can go to Wikipedia for detailed information. Or click here to link to Wikipedia(longboard). If you want to skate high speed, cruising board, speed board, and freeride board are highly recommended. If your everyday riding does not exceed 35km/h, then basically, you do not have to worry about the deck choice problem; just choose what you like. Another option is to use Loaded boards made of bamboo plus fiber material. This board provides excellent elasticity and good cushioning vibration ability, giving you a very comfortable skating feeling. But the shortcoming is that when the speed exceeds 40km / h, it is prone to shaking or even lead to more serious dangers. P.S. Boosted electric skateboard adopts this kind of board.

• Wheels

DIY electric skateboard is not strict to wheels. Theoretically, the wider the wheel, the better the stability. High-speed skating requires good enough stability. Generally, 80mm diameter and 56mm width wheels are large enough and can pass slightly higher barriers, also possessing portability. Wheels with hardness 80A are moderate. High hardness led to feet numb, too low hardness influence riding range, and the natural glide distance will be very short.

• Truck 

Again, a truck is essential if you want to try a high-speed riding experience. And this kit is the most vital kit to determine the stability of the longboard. If you do not pursue high-performance or high speed, then an ordinary truck is enough, and it won’t cost you much. Paris truck is currently a commonly used bridge. But if you are a geek player or have a high budget, I recommend the caliber II truck.

• Bearing 

Ceramic bearing is a high-end choice, but it is high for the budget. Ceramic bearings are said to have less friction and smaller weight. But most of the bearings on the market can meet the requirements of the DIY electric skateboard. The bearing influences the wheel rotation. A slightly low-quality bearing will generate more friction, affecting the overall riding range.

• Mechanical and electrical parts

Brushless motor + ESC + motor bracket + pulley + belt + battery

• • Motor

Many of the current DIY electric skateboard kits adopt brushless motors plus ESC as a power group. Now the most used brushless motor model is N5065. K.V. index is the speed that the motor can provide per unit voltage. It is recommended to choose the 320KV or 270KV version; motors that comply with these two indices are more suitable for making the dual drive and single drive.

• • ESC

Electronic speed controller. It adjusts the speed of the motor according to the control signal. This little device determines almost the whole riding experience. The type of motor includes brush ESC and brushless ESC. No need to know much about the details; usually, the brushless ESC is more popular.

• • Motor bracket

It is better to choose the one with a cover. One is dustproof, and the other is good-looking. Of course, if you are professional enough, you can also choose to use CAD to design your own and then find someone to help you build it. It is just time-consuming and laborious.

• • Battery

You can use the 18650 cell battery or polymer battery. The latter one is said to be safer than 18650, and this shape of polymerized electric cells can make better use of space and reduce the size of the battery. When you buy the battery, pay attention to some terms, like S represents how many cells in series, C stands for the discharge multiplier, Ah is the capacity. P.S.Article cover image is from wowgo official website. We have entered into a partnership with the wowgo brand.

Funniest thing you need to know:

More than half of skateboarders put their baby toy aside after a few days. You’d better get your money worth. Please do not place your skateboard on the corner, riding it, skating, come on!

Conclusion: 

We’ve encountered many questions when we began to play DIY electric skateboard. Luckily, there are more and more articles concerning this product and sport. We hope this short article can help you solve some elementary problems.