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.
If you have been riding with loose belt tension for an extended period of time, be sure to check your current belts. Inspect the belt teeth because they may need to be replaced due to accelerated wear from belt slippage. Proper belt tension helps expand the life of 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.
