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CW: How did you initially get involved inmaking skateboard truks?Mr. Bennett: Christmas of 1974, Santabrought my son, Brian, a skateboard he hadasked for. The next morning he’s out in thestreet with the other kids in the neighborhood.Soon, he’s back inside saying his board,“doesn’t turn”. I figure no problem, I can fixthat. I adjusted the trucks as best I could andsent him back out. Again, he’s back, “it stilldoesn’t turn.” I tried again and realized theproblem was simply a short wheelbase steer-ing system on a long wheelbase vehicle. I won-dered why no one had designed trucks specif-ically for a skateboard. Soon I wondered, “Whydon’t I do it?”

CW: What was your background?Mr. Bennett: My formal education was archi-tectural engineering, and I was alwaysmechanically inclined and curious about howthings worked. So I did a lot of research intosteel alloys, rubber compounds, thermoplas-tics, aluminum alloys and the foundry castingindustry. At the time, the aerospace industrywas in a deep slump, so I found the companieswith the expertise, machines, and productioncapacity to produce the trucks I had designed.

CW: Why truks as opposed to trucks?Mr. Bennett: I thought it was a unique spellingof a word and perhaps it would set me apartfrom the generic roller skate trucks that wereso prevalent. Besides, look at how much inkand typing strokes it has saved over the years.[laughs] I should get a medal for being one ofthe first “Green” operations. [more laughs]

CW: The plastic base plate thing must havebeen a horror, yes?Mr. Bennett: In the beginning, I did everythingI could to build a lightweight / heavy-duty truckthat addressed the skating style of the day. Iprobably made a mistake by declaring thebaseplates “Unbreakable,” but did replaceevery single one sent back. There were sever-al variations and I had to design them sothey’d work with a variety of hole patterns.

CW: As I understand it, you eventuallyreplaced the nylon baseplate with an alu-minum base plate—but not many made itinto circulation?Mr. Bennett: Yes, as the production date forthe new Vector series approached, I switchedto the new Magalum baseplate on the Hijack-er and Pro trucks as well. When the Vectorswent into full production, I discontinued theHijacker and Pro models so I could keep upwith demand for the new truks, and especiallythe Vector Stak+Trak model, which I loved forits adjustable tread width, which was intendedto be the companion to the Alligator wheels. Italso addressed the issue of wheels with differ-ent bearing cage locations. Most were back-set, some were offset like the Alligators, andsome were even center set.

MANUFACTURING PROFILE:

BENNETTTRUKS

BENNETTTRUKS

Mr. Bennett

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CW: The number of pros who rode BennettTruks is astounding. Who were your favorites?Mr. Bennett: Boy, that is a tough one...Whocouldn’t love Tony Alva and that crowd, Stacy,Jay Adams... There was also Steve Cathay,Ellen O’Neil, Tom Sims, the Logans, Skoldberg,Hutson, Hester, Guy Grundy—and I especiallyadmired Russ Howell for his skill and humility.I can’t leave out Chris Chaput who won the ‘76World’s Championships on Bennetts. I canremember when Chris worked at Kanoa Surf,and I showed him the Alligator contact patchon the top of a glass showcase—I’m sure hestill remembers that.

CW: Did you have a team or sponsor anyone?Mr. Bennett: Everybody’s team was my team.I didn’t feel that I should compete with mymajor accounts—Hobie, Gordon & Smith,Logan, Santa Cruz and the others. It soundsfunny today, but nearly ever single Pro was rid-ing Bennetts, so I never formally sponsoredany skaters—although I tried to make sure theTeam captains flowed the stuff to their guys.

CW: Did you see the Z-boys docu-mentary and the Lords of Dog-town movie and if so, what didyou think?Mr. Bennett: I loved the Z-Boysdocumentary and I’m really proudof Stacy for what he has accom-plished. It was odd that there wereno Bennetts in the movie though,since that’s what those boys were allriding at that time.

CW: You were distributed by NHSat one point, right? What hap-pened?Mr. Bennett: Anybody can look at a StageI Independent and figure it out. I feltbetrayed at the time, but I am not bitter.

CW: Did you see your designs manifest inother companies trucks as well?Mr. Bennett: Independent and ACS werethe first to cop. Black base plates, squareaxle housings, red rubbers, and on andon. At one point I counted over 20 com-panies with trucks “borrowing” original Ben-nett designs or features. I haven’t muchrespect for those who can’t create anything ontheir own.

CW: The demand for your Alligator and Super-gator Wheels was overwhelming, yet not manymade it into circulation—what happened?Mr. Bennett: There were quality controlissues that delayed production. I was notgoing to ship anything that was not as perfectas I had advertised. If you’ve seen an Alliga-tor, you will notice that it’s perfect to the lastaesthetic detail—and they worked like I saidthey would. Same thing with the truks rightnow—they are not coming out until I say theyare right.

CW: Have you noticed what NOS BennettTruks and Alligator Wheels can fetch oneBay?Mr. Bennett: I’m told that a set of Alligatorssold for over $900 US on ebay, and later pri-vately resold to a collector for $2000 US, andthat a set of Vector Stak+Traks sold for over$600 US. Wild.

CW: Why did you quit making truks andwheels? Mr. Bennett: In the early eighties the Hobiefranchisee, which was a large account, filed for

bankruptcy, and NHS dropped us as they hada new truck of their own. That all had animpact financially, but what it really boileddown to was that life got in the way and I hada family to raise.

CW: What are you up to these days?Mr. Bennett: Through the years I havewatched the industry from afar and just resis-ted the temptation to get back in the busi-ness. A while back my son, Brian, asked meif I could do it again... I said “no, but wecan”... So here we are. I’m back for the same

reason I was here the first time. Skaters need-ed innovation then, and I see a need for someinnovative products now. Seems like anopportunity for some fun only comes aroundevery thirty years or so. I just hope there areenough discriminating skaters out there thatwill appreciate well made, good looking stuffthat works better than what they are ridingtoday.

CW: How stoked were you that your fathermade the first, and at the time, arguably thebest skateboard truks, for you?Brian Bennett: I was only 10-years old. I justthought that was what dads do. Later, it kind offreaked me out when everybody was ridingthem. I was totally stoked.

CW: Do you still skate?Brian Bennett: Almost every day. Mostly in theparking lots around our building. I’m not intothe pop sticks. I like pumping and hard carv-ing—the stuff our Vectors do best.

CW: You have a company, Big Distribution.Tell us about it.

Brian Bennett: We handlethe entire back end forBennett Truks and Alliga-tor Wheels. Everythingbusiness related. It reallyfrees Dad up to concentrateon engineering and design.He’s a genius, and thisallows him to be the mad sci-entist he is.

CW: Are the limited editionreissues the same as the ‘70sBennetts or are you updatingthem?Brian Bennett: The Vectors arenearly identical to the ‘70s issues.Whether you rode them back inthe day or are going to try them forthe first time, you will be stoked.They dive into turns and carve just

like the originals.

CW: What about Alligator Wheels and Lite-beam decks?Brian Bennett: We are working with the lab toget the hot pot urethane just right for the Alliga-tors. I know my Dad wants to make that deckagain. I thought the grip tape design was so cool.But we kind of have our hands full right now, butwe will see.

CW: Where does Bennett go from here?Brain Bennett: I think the all new RK seriestruks are going to freak people out. They havefeatures Dad has been talking about for morethan 20 years. Alligators, Supergators, pooltruk, street truk... Who knows? We are justhaving fun with it right now. However, I will tellyou that the mad scientist is working on somewicked stuff. CW

“Bennett Trucks turn on a dime.” —Steve Olson

“If none of you were there back inthe day, you can say just about any-thing you want, ‘cause you don’tknow, and therefore what is saiddon’t matter, much. But, when therewasn’t shit to ride, and other trucksweren’t shit, and didn’t turn. ButBennetts, they revolutionized it all,made quick turning, or just turningat all, a reality. I never could get ahold of the other baseplates, thecast ones, otherwise, who knowshow my perception of Indys wouldhave been. As it was, I saw Indys asBennetts that had better base-plates. Now Bennett are returning,and in narrow widths, I look for-ward to picking up where I left off.”

— Mofo

“Before there was Tracker, beforethere was Independent—there wasBennett trucks. Bennett trucks were(and still are) some of the mostresponsive skateboard trucks EVERproduced. If you look at all of theearly, early pool and ramp shotsback in the day of all the Dog TownGuys, myself, Olson, and Wally—We all rode Bennett’s because theywere the best turning truck in theWorld. The only thing that suckedabout them was the plastic baseplates that used to break! We usedto replace them with the metal ACSbase plates before Mr. Bennettfixed this situation. I think Ben-nett’s return to the industry is longoverdue—I’d ride them again in aheartbeat! You reading this Mr.Bennett? Good—now send me sometrucks!!”

— David Hackett

“Back in the day, I liked Bennettbecause they were light and had aquick response—they turned amaz-ing and had the best geometry.They were way ahead of their timefor their dayÖ I think it’s greatthey’re coming back. Let themcome, let them rise again from theashes like the phoenix!”

— Ray FloresTony Alva at Wallos in Hawaii, 1976.

Photo: Warren Bolster