Upgrading Controller and Motor

Pfretz

I am so glad I found this forum because it is a wealth of information for a new cart owner like myself,,,,,,but best of all it seems like there are a lot of people on here with a great sense of humor.

I'm a first time owner of a 1999 Club Car, that has a 4 inch lift kit and has 20 X 10 tires. I have a disabled son and we intend to us the cart to make things easier and more accessible when we go camping. It has the 3HP original series motor and I am interested in more torque because it has a rear seat and there will usually always be 3 of us riding it. The cart is exceptionally clean so I don't mind upgrading it but the tremendous amount of info and ads are beginning to get overwhelming.

Would some of you with experience give me your opinions for a good upgrade, that is simple and complete, along with suggestions on where I can deal with honest suppliers?

BGW

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white rice

wELCOME! I upgraded my 1999 cc with a torque and speed motor, also upgraded to a reprogramed 500amp controller. The motor i have says lightning redesign on it. Is yours a regen?

dougmcp

I'd start with a battery cable change to 4ga from the stock 6ga for more torque.
If that doesn't give you what you need, it starts to cost money.

Pfretz

No,,, it's a series and as far as I can tell it has a stock non programmable controller.

Pfretz

I realize it's going to cost, I just have concerns about the results from upgrading the controller, solenoid, and cables, on a stock motor. Will I still benefit from the upgrade or am I wasting my time trying to get more torque from it? The motor was recently rebuilt and the cart now runs about 12MPH. I'm not really concerned about increasing the speed as but I am the power.

bdmonist

I have dealt with D&D and Alltrax on the phone and they were both more than helpful. They will answer the questions YOU have instead of trying to upsale you. Many sponsors on here sell their products. I bought my high torque motor from EVdrives mostly due to customer service and price. They have the wire upgrades in length instead of a kit, which is what I needed. I saved about $100 by buying the upgraded wire I needed instead of the kit (I already had 2ga between all batts). I try to buy my stuff from the same supplier when possible instead of bits and pieces from different suppliers.

I spent about $1100 on motor, controller, wires, programmer, and solenoid. However, I went with the highest torque motor I could get - for hunting - you may not need that much more torque.

The upgrade was very simple if you are mechanically inclined.

Brian

white rice

What year are the batteries? Mine is a regen. I think you already have more torque than i did when i first started. I am happy with my mods, just wish i would have gotten an alltrax controller. My friend tried to tell me not to take the"cheap" route. You live and learn

dougmcp

Assuming your batteries are good, the 3 steps to torque are: 1) cables, 2) controller, 3) motor.

What size are your battery cables now 6ga stock?
If they are 6ga, an upgrade to 4ga cables will help a lot as far as torque goes. They allow more current (amperage) to flow and will do little, if anything, for your speed.

If that is not enough torque for you, you can always upgrade to a 400a controller which will allow even more torque to be available.

Unless your tying to crawl through the bog like a hunting buggy, the motor you have should do just about anything you ask from it.

If that still isn't enough torque, an upgrade to a GE Beast motor will turn it into a hill climbing, bog busting torque monster. In order to use this motor you would have to upgrade your cables and controller so nothing is wasted as far as upgrades are concerned.

Pfretz

Thanks for the recommendations and the info. I'd much rather deal with suppliers that comes from a referral rather than blind luck. I've been reading past posts on here for the last 5 hours, and am getting a little cross-eyed.

Rice,,,,,,Thanks for the welcome. The batteries are 2008 and I was told tested out strong. They aren't a matched set though, one had a bad cell and now there are 5 Workahaulic and 1 Trojan. Will that make a difference,, if they are all strong?

Doug,,,,, Is there any great advantage in using 2 gauge wire instead of 4. I probably won't replace the motor unless it would be necessary. Any work that I would do now would be controller and wires if there is an advantage to do so. I mainly want the cart to be able to carry 3 people and keep a moderately good speed going up a fair grade. I'm sure that after using it this summer and being left in the dust a few times I'll get the bug and start upgrading everything. But right now I have to be a little more practical.

Pfretz

If I start with cables is there a recommended kit or is it better to make my own?
From what I have read it seems like the Alltrax controller is a pretty good one. Is it necessary to change the solenoid?