You will occasionally need to tighten the belt tension on your skateboard. If your board is making a loud sound on braking, this is a sign you need to tighten the belts.
1st Generations
To adjust belt tension :
- Use a 9/64″ allen wrench to loosen the two hex screws closest to the wheels on the encoder cap (opposite the motor, overlapping part of the rear wheel).
- Then gently re-tighten the screws. Be careful not to over-tighten these as the threads can be stripped when too much force is applied.
- The internal springs will automatically correctly tension the belts.
2nd & 3rd Generations
To adjust belt tension:
- Use a 3mm allen key to remove the two screws holding the motor cap on.
- Using the same 3mm allen, loosen the 4 motor screws exactly 1/2 turn from snug.
- Wrap your fingers around the motor, and use your thumb to press against the wheel, pulling the motor away from it, putting tension on the belt.
- You should be pushing with a medium force, no need to go crazy.
- While maintaining tension, tighten the two vertically aligned screws farthest from the motor first.
- Once they’re tight, you can let go of the motor and tighten the two remaining screws closest to the wheel.
- Reinstall the motor cap and you’re good to go.
Watch the video below for a step-by-step guide on how to recognize, replace, and properly tension (minute 1:36) your drive belts without the assistance of the Boosted Tensioning Tool.