Skateboard Riser Pads: What They Do and Whether You Actually Need Them
Riser pads are one of the cheapest, most overlooked upgrades in skateboarding. For a few dollars, they solve real, specific problems — but they’re also frequently added to setups that don’t need them at all, sometimes making the board feel worse in the process. This guide covers exactly what riser pads do, when they’re worth installing, and how to fit them properly.
What Are Skateboard Riser Pads?
Riser pads are thin spacers, usually hard plastic or dense rubber, that sit between your deck and your truck baseplates. They’re held in place by the same mounting hardware that attaches your trucks, and they physically raise the deck a small amount — typically 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch — further away from the wheels.
That small gap changes two things: how much room your wheels have to spin freely without touching the deck, and how much vibration and impact transfers from the wheels up into the board.
What Riser Pads Actually Do
Prevent Wheel Bite
This is the main reason most riders add risers. When a wheel contacts the underside of the deck during a hard turn or landing, it can stop dead and throw you off. Riser pads create clearance so the wheel has room to turn without touching the deck. If you’re dealing with this already, our guide on how to fix skateboard wheel bite covers the full fix, with risers as one part of it.
Reduce Vibration
Softer riser or shock pads absorb some of the small vibrations that travel up from rough pavement, cracks, and cruising over textured surfaces. This isn’t a dramatic change, but riders who cruise long distances on rough ground often notice less foot fatigue with them installed.
Protect Your Deck From Wear
Even without full wheel bite, wheels can slowly grind small marks into the underside of a deck that sits too close to them. Risers keep that contact from happening at all, which extends the life of the deck’s finish near the trucks.
Do You Actually Need Them?
Not every setup does. Here’s a quick way to think about it:
- You probably don’t need risers if: you’re running a standard street setup with wheels in the 50-54mm range, tight-to-medium trucks, and you’ve never experienced wheel bite.
- You probably do need risers if: you’re running wheels above 56mm, especially soft ones; you ride a cruiser or longboard with wide, soft wheels; your trucks sit low to the deck; or you’ve already felt or heard wheel bite during a turn.
If you’re not sure what wheel size or hardness you’re working with, our skateboard wheel size guide and wheel hardness guide are good places to check before deciding.
Types of Riser Pads
Flat Riser Pads
The most common type — a flat, rigid plastic spacer that simply adds height. Simple, cheap, and effective for solving wheel bite.
Shock Pads
Softer rubber pads designed primarily to dampen vibration rather than add significant height. A good pick for cruisers and longboards where comfort matters more than pop.
Angled Risers
Used mainly on longboards, these change the angle of the trucks (usually reducing it) to calm down speed wobbles at higher speeds, in addition to adding clearance. Worth knowing about if you’re chasing downhill stability rather than solving street-skating wheel bite.
How to Install Riser Pads
- Flip your board over and use a skate tool to remove the mounting bolts from one truck at a time — don’t remove both trucks at once so the wheels stay aligned as a reference.
- Place the riser pad between the deck and the truck baseplate, lining up the bolt holes.
- Reinsert the mounting bolts. Because risers add thickness, you’ll likely need slightly longer bolts than your stock hardware — most riser packs come with the correct length included, but check before you start.
- Tighten evenly in a criss-cross pattern rather than one bolt at a time, to keep the baseplate seated flat.
- Repeat for the second truck, then test ride with a few hard carves to confirm the clearance issue is solved.
The Trade-Off Worth Knowing
Risers aren’t free. Raising the deck slightly increases the distance between your feet and the ground, which can make the board feel a touch less connected during flip tricks and technical maneuvers, since there’s marginally more leverage and less immediate feedback. For most cruising, transportation, and casual riding, this trade-off is barely noticeable. For technical street skating, it’s worth trying the smallest riser that solves your specific problem — often 1/8 inch — rather than defaulting to thicker pads.
FAQ: Skateboard Riser Pads
Do all skateboards need riser pads?
No. Most standard street setups with 50-54mm wheels and stock trucks never need them. Risers become useful once you run larger or softer wheels, a low-riding deck, or you’re experiencing wheel bite.
What thickness of riser pad should I use?
1/8 inch (about 3mm) is the standard choice and solves most wheel bite issues without noticeably changing how the board feels. 1/4 inch (about 6mm) is better for larger wheels, cruisers, or longboards where more clearance is needed.
Do riser pads make a skateboard slower?
No, riser pads don’t affect rolling speed. What they do change is stability and pop: a higher deck has a slightly higher center of gravity, which can make the board feel marginally less locked-in during technical tricks, though most riders adjust within a session or two.
Can I install riser pads myself?
Yes. It’s a simple swap you can do at home with a skate tool in about 10 minutes — no special equipment needed beyond slightly longer mounting hardware. If you also need to check truck tightness while you’re in there, see our guide on tightening skateboard trucks.
Are shock pads the same as riser pads?
They’re related but not identical. Riser pads are typically rigid plastic and are primarily about adding clearance. Shock pads (or shock pucks) are softer rubber and are designed mainly to absorb vibration, though many shock pads also add a small amount of riser-style clearance as a side effect.
