Krux

Krux makes trucks, and only trucks. It’s one of the NHS brands — the Santa Cruz, California house that also runs Santa Cruz, Independent, OJ, Ricta and Bullet — and you spot it instantly by two things: the hole through the middle of the hanger and graphics that refuse to take themselves seriously. The company puts it plainly itself: colorful graphics, humor, and its World’s Best Cushions as standard.

History

Here it pays to stick to what can be proven. Thrasher’s issue archive, which lists the ads in every magazine, records the first Krux Trucks ad in the November 1994 issue. From there the ads run steadily through the decade, carrying serious names: Jason Adams, Erik Ellington, Dave Mayhew, Andy Roy, Matt Field, Mike Frazier, Tyrone Olson, Jake Rupp, Tom Krauser, Steve Caballero, John Rattray and Colt Cannon among others. Thirty years on, the brand still runs inside NHS on the same idea: solid, affordable trucks with a personality of their own.

The team

The roster the brand publishes is broad and very much in-house: Aaron Goure, Brett Sube, Caswell Berry, Cobe Harmer, Cooper Winterson, Laird Brunson, Logan Frank, Louie Barletta, Lucy Heller, Mikey Whitehouse, Nestor Judkins, Ron Whaley, Tommy Sandoval, Xavier Holt and Zane Hallman. Video output is steady and gets picked up by Thrasher and Vague: “Hole Rollers” (2024) with Whaley, Goure and Berry through Vegas ditches, “Old Man Louie” (2023), and the “Slow Impact” tour video (2023) captained by Marbie with Poe Pinson, Alex White, Paige Heyn and Christine Cottam.

The trucks

Everything revolves around the K5, which comes two ways. The Standard is the classic. The DLK — “Down-Low Kingpin” — swaps in an inverted kingpin that locks into a shaft nut inside the baseplate: you gain grind clearance and rigidity, and you stop chewing kingpin heads on ledges. The design is patented. Both run the “Pur-fect Turn” geometry for quicker turning, plus a more durable injection-molded pivot cup.

Axle widths run 7.6 to 9.0: the 7.6 for decks from 7.25 to 8.00, the 8.0 for 7.75–8.25, the 8.25 for 8.00–8.25, the 8.5 for 8.25–9.00 and the 9.0 from 8.5 up. European shops carry them polished, in Krome, and in runs like Black Widow, Galaxy and the Stranger Things collab, plus replacement bushings in 88a, 92a and 96a.

Who it’s for

Krux is a very sensible buy if you want a truck that turns fast and doesn’t cost as much as the deck. The DLK is especially worth it if you grind a lot and you’re tired of eating kingpins. If you want the heaviest, most stable truck possible for big bowl, you’ll probably look at Independent instead. Before deciding, read the high vs. low trucks guide.