The company was co-founded by Richard Novak, Jay Shiurman, Fausto Vitello, and Eric Swenson and the Stage 1 model was the inaugural product, released on May 23, 1978, in Newark, California. The Independent truck was designed as a response to the lack of quality skateboard trucks on the market at the time. In reference to the two other major truck companies on the market, Blackhart stated that one broke, and one didn’t turn. Independent trucks are manufactured with: - high quality aircraft grade T6 aluminum alloy - high tensile SAE 4130 Chromoly alloy steel axles - high rebound formula stock bushings. STAGE 1 - 1978 Original Release Date: July 1978 Available Sizes: 77, 88, 109, 121, 131, 151, 109 Other Available Trucks: Available Colors: Silver Features: T-Hanger Design, Solid Metal Baseplate, Integrated Kingpin with Top Nut, Fast Action Independent Geo 1St. release, a mix between Bennett and Tracker trucks. Introduced 77mm and 88mm trucks in July 1978 Introduced the 109mm and 131mm November 1978 Discontinued the 77mm truck and introduced the 121mm January 1979 Introduced the Grindmaster device April 1979 Introduced the 151mm truck in May 1979 Introduced the 169mm truck in July 1979 STAGE 2 - 1979 Original Release Date: May 1979 Available Sizes: 151, 169 Other Availabible Trucks: Stage I 88, 109, 121, 131, 151, 169, Roller Skate Plates Available Colors: Silver Features: Implemented Lower Removable Kingpin, Added “Pinch” on Baseplate for Strength, Smoothed Additional Su Added a support wing to the hanger for strength Strengthened the base plate with additional material between the kingpin and the pivot areas Implemented lowered, removable kingpins with less drag Introduced the 169mm Stage 2 truck in October 1979 Introduced the 151mm truck in April 1980 Introduced Roller Skate plates with hangers April 1980 STAGE 3 - 1982 Beefed up, strengthened and smoothed pivot area of hanger Widened and strengthened yoke area of hanger Introduced the 159mm truck in February 1984 Introduced the 215mm truck in March 1984 STAGE 4 - 1984 Beefed up and smoothed yoke and pivot area of hanger Stage 4 hanger design is still used to date on 215mm truck STAGE 5 - 1986 Introduced the hollow body in October 1986; redesigned with added hanger 'wing' and hollowed out underside of hanger based on original ideas and concepts from Steve Caballero and Lance Mountain. Introduced the 149mm truck in June 1987 Introduced anodized color options in blue, maroon, gold, purple and black April 1988 RED PIVOT CUP, dual-wing design called the hollow body, which was much more durable and lighter STAGE 6 - 1991 Added material to pivot housing, reduced amount of metal on top of the hanger. This makes them shorter than stage V, BLACK PIVOT CUP, STAGE 7 - 1993 6 HOLES: Implemented new hole pattern on base plate to reduce wear on bolts from nose and tail slides. Holes were set back on the baseplate, closer to the center of the board. Thicker, sturdier pivot housing and reduced material on top of hanger to achieve a lighter weight Introduced the 136mm truck February 1993 STAGE 8 - 1997 6 HOLES mounting base plate with cross logo added. Introduced the 126mm truck Reduced material on hanger wing to lighten up truck. Introduced new baseplate / kingpin design rendering inverted kingpin use impossible. STAGE 9 - 2003 Introduced an all-new lighter weight hanger and base plate; designed to be rigid for performance and durability. Added all-new, ultra durable 4140 chrome molly steel axles Reduced thread length on axle for tight bearing-to-axle fit and a faster, smoother ride Precision drilled mounting, kingpin, and pivot holes to ride straight for improved performance Same FAST-ACTION Independent Truck Co. geometry - the first stage that was computer drafted.The truck ended up quite a bit lower.from 55mm to 53.5mm, totally altering the turn. It didn't help that the baseplates sucked too.Those things broke. STAGE 10 - 2009 Returned to a beefed-up baseplate BUT the lower geometry remained and the trucks just didn't turn like old Indys, making many riders to look to past models to get the perfect turn. STAGE 11 - 2012 “I wanted to get it back as close as possible to the Stage V to VII geometry,” return to the classic 55mm height and pivot and kingpin angles inspired by Stage V.
Logo
The logo for the trucks was based on the Iron Cross according to the author, Jim Phillips. It has remained the Independent logo since the company's inception and was derived from the French variation of the Cross pattée. Jim Phillips says in his 2007 book "The Art of Jim Phillips":
