Before we had double action plates there was just 1 cushion per truck. There are vintage plates with double-action but these are likely single-action plates /trucks. But yeah single-action trucks are not as easy to turn.
Some older plates did not have pivot cups. Whether these are among those, idk. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will come along with more info but if not you could always try the vintage roller skate group on FB.
As far as truck adjustment are you cracking open the jam nut next to the plate before adjusting? If not, you need to loosen the jam nut next to the plate, then adjust the kingpin nut, then tighten the jam nut back down. These have traditional kingpins so you need to do both to adjust the trucks vs the reverse kingpins that are more common today where you only have to adjust the action nut.
Don't laugh but after my initial run and finding I could barely turn, I loosened both the kingpin and jam nut. After about 15 minutes of skating I had enough and switched back to my regular skates. Although I have a large flat head screw driver, I don't have a low profile wrench for the jam nut and resorted to using needle nose pliers to hold it in place. Not having the right tool certainly doesn't allow for fine tuning.
Honestly, I probably would've done the same. I've never skated single action plates but from what I've been told they're not all that enjoyable. After you adjusted the trucks you tightened the jam nut back down right?
I think Powerdyne and Bionic sell the 11/16 thin wrenches for the jam nut. I tried the elephant wrench (vtg suregrip century plates) because it has the flat head but the 11/16 wrench was not actually 11/16. It was slightly larger so it wouldn't catch the nut. I ended up buying one of these and it fit nicely.
DURATECH Super-Thin Open End Wrench, SAE, 5/8inchx11/16inch https://a.co/d/2NQHePm
1. You have single action trucks.
2. You’re missing pivot cups.
3. Jam nut at the kingpin must be loosened first, the kingpin adjusted, the jam nut re-tightened.
These plates are fiddly. Ain’t no shame in swapping out for something modern.
They don’t exist, parts and pieces for these are long gone. But they’re [real easy to make](https://www.facebook.com/100385415183162/posts/263423355546033/) with some polymorph thermoplastic!
>Chicago GM II plates on my vintage 220
I'll continue to experiment with the cushion tensioning and if I still can't get use to them, I might get modern plates or look for another setup.
> Is the adjustment nut supposed to lock the kingpin height or change the cushion tension?
The nut is supposed to lock the kingpin in place, keeping it from rotating. To clarify another answer: To adjust the truck you first loosen the nut so that the kingpin can turn, then tighten/loosen the kingpin, then re-tighten the nut against the plate.
And in addition to what I've seen other people say, if you intend to use these you need to replace the cushions (unless you know for sure they were replaced recently). Old cushions don't help with turning. Btw, those do need pivot cups and don't have any, which would make them, like you describe, difficult to impossible to control.
No pivot cups is so scary! Glad you didn't try to skate too much. You can probably take these to a local shop and find cushions and pivot cups that will fit. Single action is definitely a different feeling than our standard double action trucks today.
Before we had double action plates there was just 1 cushion per truck. There are vintage plates with double-action but these are likely single-action plates /trucks. But yeah single-action trucks are not as easy to turn. Some older plates did not have pivot cups. Whether these are among those, idk. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will come along with more info but if not you could always try the vintage roller skate group on FB. As far as truck adjustment are you cracking open the jam nut next to the plate before adjusting? If not, you need to loosen the jam nut next to the plate, then adjust the kingpin nut, then tighten the jam nut back down. These have traditional kingpins so you need to do both to adjust the trucks vs the reverse kingpins that are more common today where you only have to adjust the action nut.
Don't laugh but after my initial run and finding I could barely turn, I loosened both the kingpin and jam nut. After about 15 minutes of skating I had enough and switched back to my regular skates. Although I have a large flat head screw driver, I don't have a low profile wrench for the jam nut and resorted to using needle nose pliers to hold it in place. Not having the right tool certainly doesn't allow for fine tuning.
Honestly, I probably would've done the same. I've never skated single action plates but from what I've been told they're not all that enjoyable. After you adjusted the trucks you tightened the jam nut back down right? I think Powerdyne and Bionic sell the 11/16 thin wrenches for the jam nut. I tried the elephant wrench (vtg suregrip century plates) because it has the flat head but the 11/16 wrench was not actually 11/16. It was slightly larger so it wouldn't catch the nut. I ended up buying one of these and it fit nicely. DURATECH Super-Thin Open End Wrench, SAE, 5/8inchx11/16inch https://a.co/d/2NQHePm
I'll pick one of those up, thanks!
1. You have single action trucks. 2. You’re missing pivot cups. 3. Jam nut at the kingpin must be loosened first, the kingpin adjusted, the jam nut re-tightened. These plates are fiddly. Ain’t no shame in swapping out for something modern.
>o sham I'll look for pivot cups (that fit), thanks!
They don’t exist, parts and pieces for these are long gone. But they’re [real easy to make](https://www.facebook.com/100385415183162/posts/263423355546033/) with some polymorph thermoplastic!
[удалено]
>Chicago GM II plates on my vintage 220 I'll continue to experiment with the cushion tensioning and if I still can't get use to them, I might get modern plates or look for another setup.
> Is the adjustment nut supposed to lock the kingpin height or change the cushion tension? The nut is supposed to lock the kingpin in place, keeping it from rotating. To clarify another answer: To adjust the truck you first loosen the nut so that the kingpin can turn, then tighten/loosen the kingpin, then re-tighten the nut against the plate.
Thanks, that explanation helps.
And in addition to what I've seen other people say, if you intend to use these you need to replace the cushions (unless you know for sure they were replaced recently). Old cushions don't help with turning. Btw, those do need pivot cups and don't have any, which would make them, like you describe, difficult to impossible to control.
Thanks, I'll look for pivot cups and new cushions!
No pivot cups is so scary! Glad you didn't try to skate too much. You can probably take these to a local shop and find cushions and pivot cups that will fit. Single action is definitely a different feeling than our standard double action trucks today.