Posts Tagged Cart
How to Build a Golf Cart for Off-Roading
An off-road golf cart is a lot of fun driving through the woods or on rough terrain, but building your own cart is an even more satisfying experience because you did it yourself and saved a lot of money. It’s easy to modify a golf cart for this kind purpose. It’s best to start with a reliable well-maintained used golf cart. The parts and supplies needed can be found in specialty stores and even cheaper on the Internet.
There are many accessories that you can add to your cart. Here is a list of modifications to get you started:
Lift Kits: Lift kits are suspension parts that lift the body of your golf cart to go over off-road terrain. These kits are necessary not only for raising the height of the golf cart but they add a stronger suspension to the vehicle. Driving off-road exposes you to a variety of ditches and terrain that a lower profile cart would get hung up on. Without these kits you could injure yourself or damage the cart. There are many different kinds of lift kits. They come in 3 inch, 6 inch and higher. The lift kit prices range from $300 to $600 depending on lift height and suspension complexity.
Steering Wheels: Steering wheels though not a necessity add to a better driving experience. An attractive steering wheel not only adds to the appearance of your vehicle, but they provide a better grip and less fatigue on your hands and wrists. Your steering wheel should be 13 inches in diameter. You have many choices in style of steering wheel like wood grain, formula car, European, and neoprene. Expect to pay $45 for the neoprene to $190 for the Formula Gt steering wheel.
Golf Cart Windshields: Most stock golf carts do not come with a windshield. But you’re going to need one for going off-road. You will encounter mud and dirt as you drive, not to mention the occasional branch. If you’re not sure about the need for a windshield get one that folds down so you have an option to use it or not. Windshield prices run from $100 to $200 depending if they fold down, style of frame, and thickness of the acrylic. Read the rest of this entry »
Troubleshooting Your Go Cart Engine
Once in a while we experience troubles in our go cart engines. While it’s easier to just have a mechanic take a look at it, you may be charged an arm and a leg to have it fixed. What you don’t know is that there are some engine troubles you can fix without a mechanics expertise. You don’t need to run to a mechanic each time you experience a weak spark or no spark on your engine. For instance, if you’re engine uses points then you can try changing the plug and replacing the points. Performance problems are a longer discussion but it involves gapping the coil in order to improve the engine’s power.
Before we discuss anything deeper, we need to familiarize ourselves with engines. If you remove the recoil starter, you will see a magnet on the flywheel and a coil. There is no need to remove the coil if you’re changing the points though you need to check the gap. Under the flywheel, you can locate the condenser and the points. The gaps in the points are at.020 inches. Although you can reuse the points when you file them, you can also replace them at a very affordable price because the parts are not really expensive.
Now, when troubleshooting go cart engines, it is advisable to start by taking out the recoil starter housing such that the starter recoil clutch and the flywheel are exposed. Use channel lock pliers to grip the clutch and then turn it counter clockwise to remove it. A stout screw driver will help keep the flywheel from moving while you are on the process of removing the clutch. Keep in mind that the flywheel should be handled with care because it is made of cast iron which is brittle.
Sometimes, the go carts starter fails to catch or it is too sticky that it makes it difficult for the spring to recoil it. To solve this problem, open up the clutch using a cold chisel. Do not lubricate the bearings in the interior. You can remove the stickiness by using a carb cleaner eliminate dirt and grease. Do not put grease on the bearings because lubrication will only make dirt stick to it and thus make the clutch even stickier. Read the rest of this entry »