Following high school graduation, skateboarders Eric Rivers and his best friends, goal-oriented workaholic Dustin Knight and misfit slacker Matt Jensen, have one last summer road trip together to follow their dream of getting noticed by the pro skater legend Jimmy Wilson on his demo tour, hoping he'll sign them up for his renowned team immediately only to be intercepted by Wilson's road manager and barred access.

Following their dreams and Wilson's national tour, the trio start their own skate team, reluctantly sponsored by Dustin and his college fund.

After recruiting laid-back ladies man "Sweet" Lou Singer to join their crew and provide the van for their tour, team Super Duper launches the ride of their lives in an outrageous road trip from Chicago to Santa Monica.

The film entered production with a very loose script which featured a large amount of improvised dialogue and material that was created through "writing stuff in the car" on the way to set.

The cast, however, were not allowed to skate on set due to the risk of production losing them to injuries as a result of them constantly attempting to land Ollies.

Warner Bros. were hesitant to give Grind a wide release due to uncertainty regarding how popular the skateboarding scene was and the absence of major stars in leading roles.