New to me cart and question about tires

jmauld

I just traded a bunch of kids toys for what appears to be a 2004 EZ GO 36v shuttle 2+2 (series DC) and have a bunch of questions.

Is this cart compatible with TXT parts?

This cart has a big lift kit and 23x10.5x12 tires. Are these too big for this setup?

The cart was dead when I got it. I checked the battery water level and then charged it overnight. The next day 5 of the batteries were at 6.3x volt while one was at 6.2x volt. Is that close enough to be okay, or do I need to find a charger that will equalize the batteries?

After the batteries charged, I took it out on relatively flat land. I got 17miles and just about 1:15 of runtime before calling it quits. I measured this with a running app on my phone. This was at night so I was also running the headlights. The stock battery indicator suggested that I had about half the battery power left. I assume that's a bit optimistic? I forgot to check the battery voltage before recharging.

The torque seemed okay to me, maybe a little weak, but not as weak as I was expecting based on the huge off road tires that are installed. Top speed was GPS measured to fluctuate between 15-16mph with a fresh charge. That dropped down to 12-13mph fairly quickly.

I've looked over the cart and I think the battery cables have been upgraded. Also, the speed controller is a Curtis 25864G09, which appears to not be stock? I can't tell what the motor is, it's aged looking so I would guess that its stock.

Does everything seem okay to you guys? Should I downsize the wheels/tires to gain back some efficiency, or do you think it's okay to run it as is. I am at the beach, and the land is really flat, except when parking at a beach access. I'd ultimately like to add more MPH, hopefully with a goal of 22-25mph. I haven't done enough research to figure out how feasible that is yet. The current torque output is fine with me, but I certainly wouldn't complain about more.

Attached Images

image.jpg (15.2 KB, 0 views)

BGW

__________________
This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum

Sir Nuke

1. YES all the parts of your cart are actually the same as TXT parts.

2. well this a little tricky....but in reality, YES the tires are to large, BUT with the proper up-grade they will be fine (I'll address that later in another question you ask), your tires will work, but by running large tires/lift it taxes your drive system. It wasn't designed for that type of load/stress....sooner or later something will fail.

3. Your batteries are fine, and you don't need another charger to equalize them.

4. not to bad at all. the next time you make that run, once you get back, let the cart rest for about 30 min. then check the voltage of your pack.

5. You know already that you have a series drive cart, the speed you posted is normal for a series drive.

6. that controller is a stock controller for your cart.

7. if/when you go back to smaller tires, you will recover a little torque....but you will loose some speed. The fact that you want to get more speed out of your cart, there are 3 ways to accomplish this, actually a combo of these things. first you will need to up-grade the drive system to either a 400 or 500 amp controller (your stick one is 250-275 amps), HD F&R Switch, 400a SD solenoid, ALL the cables (batteries and all) to at 4 ga. (400a controller) or 2 ga. (500a controller). This will get your ready for the things that will make it faster. to up the speed, you will need to up the pack voltage to 48v (new pack of 6-8v batteries), this will increase the torque and speed roughly 33%. OR, but a high speed motor, OR change the gears in the diff. (stick gears are 12.4:1, you could go to 8:1) AND/OR you could go with a combination of those things.

you can see in my sig....I have a cart like yours. I use mine on the street, and its FLAT where I live. I upgraded my drive system to a 500a system, stayed at 36v, I was buying new batteries and got ones that have a higher AH rating than standard golf cart batteries, that way my run time would be greater. also I too a, lifted and running 23" tires....and opted for a high speed motor. currently it runs 27 mph. and has a range for roughly 25-30 miles on a complete full charge. before a REQUIRED charge.

jmauld

Wow, that is a lot of helpful information. Thank you for posting all of that!

mutant

welcome to BGW! DONT TAKE YOUR BATTERIES DOWN BELOW 50% STATE OF CHARGE-36.31v(MEASURED AT REST) not if you want them to last...you might want to pick up a digital soc meter-i did,very helpful....carts unlimited has a good one and excellent service as well as the best parts for upgrading on the web....also has a bunch of charts and info for troubleshooting ect....check them out-one of the site sponsors....

Sir Nuke

jmauld....mutant is 100% correct in what he posted above.....of you don't have a digital SOC meter on your cart, you would be wise to invest in one. and Scotty at CartsUnlimited is the best place to get one.

jmauld

I already had Scotty's website bookmarked from my previous searches. With the info above, I've put together the following upgrade plan.

Maybe in this order.
- Neglected maintenance items (brake lights and the horn are broken, get a real volt meter, etc)
- Wire upgrade (there is already a partial upgrade now. The battery wires are larger than the controller wires, I'll probably just replace all wires at the same time)
- HD F&R switch
- 48500 controller and Solenoid

Then I will probably do a 48V upgrade and use the stock motor until it gives out.

Sir Nuke

well those are good choices (pretty much what I have) and will get you a very reliable cars, but your still at 36v, but what in the stock system that would have failed are the parts you are replacing, not the motor. so it will most likely last a long time....and you will still be running around at 14-15 mph. that is unless you bump to 48v's, get the increased 33% bump in speed/torque with the stock motor....but the stock motor won't last as long on 48v.

jmauld

Well, I was thinking that I would do the 48V upgrade when the 36V batteries died. But it looks like the current batteries are only 2 years old, so I should get quite a few more years out of them. I'm not sure how long I'll be willing to wait, and I don't want to throw away perfectly good batteries so I might would move the motor upgrade ahead of a battery upgrade.

I've been looking at AC motor conversions and they all look to be over $3000? These are appealing to me due to the longer run-times that they can deliver, but not really appealing at that price range.

Sir Nuke

well when I started on my current cart, I had to get a new set of batteries just to make it drivable, and about that time I found the forum, read for a few days and the light blub came on.....it took me all if a week to know what I needed to do, went to the garage and started totally dismantled my cart down to the frame....and rebuilt it all, did a total drive system up-grade (thanks Scotty) and a week later (took a weeks vacation) my cart was on the road again. But wasn't as fast as it needed to be, as the motor took a few more days to get here. the next weekend it was swapped out and been running ever since. SO with said, that's why my cart is still at 36v's as my batteries were/are new.....that was 3 years ago. when my current pack "expires", I will most likely make the bump to 48v as well, as the entire drive system (including my motor) is set up to run on 48v as well....and I'll get that ~33% bump in speed/torque whether I need it or not!!! LOL

Here's a link to my cart build

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/membe...art-build.html

jmauld

Okay, I got the cart registered for street use and have driven it around a bit. I like the cart, but it definitely needs more speed and could use a slightly softer suspension. Based on the info above, I'm looking at spending $1700-2200 on upgrades to get to 25mph.

Is upgrading this cart the smartest path? Is a series drive cart suitable for neighborhood use*, or should I trade this for a different drive system? The cart has some rust damage, so if I do keep it, I will have to tear it down at some point and repair that damage. That's not a huge deal, since I have the tools and available space to do those repairs. I could do that over a winter when I'm not using the cart.

*I'm using this at the beach, so I'm driving around to Beach Access, Restaurants, grocery store, etc. All within about 3 miles from my house.