Royal

Royal doesn’t make decks: it makes trucks. It’s the truck brand of the Crailtap house — the same Torrance, California family that runs Girl, Chocolate and Fourstar — which is why you’ve always seen them bolted under half the Girl team’s boards. If you came here looking for a deck, you want Girl or Chocolate; this is the aluminium department.

History

Royal Trucks was founded in 1999, and the names behind it are two of the house’s own pros: Rudy Johnson and Guy Mariano. The brand was already buying pages in Thrasher that same year — the index for the September 1999 issue lists a Royal ad among the Spitfire, Real and Antihero pages — so the launch is precisely dated.

The best explanation of why the brand exists came from Rick Howard in Transworld Business in July 2000: “Part of the reason we started Girl was so pro skateboarders would have a future. Take Royal, for instance. When Guy Mariano and Rudy Johnson’s legs don’t work anymore, at least what they’ve done for skateboarding and their ideas can continue with something they can fall back on.” Twenty-five years on, both founders are still there, and so is Rudy’s son, Diego Johnson.

The team

The current roster Crailtap publishes is long and spans generations: Vincent Alvarez, Rowan Davis, Dougie George, Zach Allen, Eddie Vargas, Coles Bailey, James Capps, Leo Takayama, Greg Dehart, Derick Glancy, Stevie Perez, Jesus Fernandez, Andrew Brophy, Jalen Willis, Josh Gomez and Diego Johnson, with Mike Carroll, Rick Howard and Jeron Wilson as the lifers who never leave. Alvarez has fronted most of the brand’s clips — 2021’s “All Grind (No Grima)” is literally one grind per clip — and Leo Takayama dropped a Royal part in January 2026.

The trucks

Three models, all built on the same unfussy idea.

• Raw: the standard model, designed by Mike Carroll himself. The official blurb says it all: “everything you need in a truck, and nothing you don’t.”
• Inverted: an inverted kingpin, aimed at exactly one problem — not hanging up on smiths no matter how far you dip the nose.
• Ultra Light: 7% lighter than the standard Royal, with a hollow kingpin and hollow axle.

Sizes run by the classic numbering: 127, 139, 144, 149 and 159, roughly matching decks from 7.75” to 8.75”. They’re sold in pairs or as single trucks, which anyone who’s ever snapped just one hanger will appreciate.

Who it’s for

Royal suits anyone who wants a simple, standard-turning truck at a sane price, with the Girl and Chocolate connection as a bonus. The Inverted is a genuine option if kingpin snag is ruining your smiths and slappies. It isn’t for anyone chasing the most exotic geometry on the market, or the lightest truck in existence — other brands are far more obsessed with grams.

To work out what actually changes between truck heights before you buy, read the hi vs lo trucks guide.