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Old 08-13-2014, 10:14 PM   #1
birmingham
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Default Bang for your buck range mods

What mods will give the best range improvement/$?
I have a 2004ish PDS stock used for hunting fairly to very hilly for this part of the country. 4 year old battery pack Sams club batteries. I try to take the best care i can of it but they sit in a garage for 8 months i go down about every other month and plug back in again/ add water (1.5 hour drive each way).

leave it stock?
Power cables? any gain? $125?
new batteries? 140$each going to a better battery
New Controller? 400$
42V conversion? 7 batteries controller and switches 1500?
48V conversion? 8 batteries controller and switches 1650?



Also i want to lift the cart about 3 inches to get better ground clearance but i dont want to increase the track width and i really don't care to go to a bigger tire (im assuming this will reduce my range if i go bigger in this terrain). its breakover angle that i care about. does this lift exist? all i see increase the track width.
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Old 08-13-2014, 10:17 PM   #2
birmingham
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

Im sure that these questions are answered but no one seems to have any ideas on range increase % increase would be fine. I always feel like i am discharging the batteries too far to get where i need to go, about 7 miles gravel/mud clay road. hills. me heavy (250) wife light (160). guns/ gear (75)she brings the world.
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Old 08-13-2014, 10:20 PM   #3
cgtech
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

Loose weight? (either you or the cart) . Keep tires at proper psi. If you do decide to get batteries, get the highest AH rating you can find.
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Old 08-13-2014, 10:22 PM   #4
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

they widen the track to help with "breakover angle"
new batteries will help and larger cables
get a dpi charger and it will maintain batteries while you are away
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Old 08-13-2014, 10:32 PM   #5
birmingham
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

Im sorry by "breakover angle" i mean its bottoming out in the middle, not dragging the axle on anything. so i just need the axles farther from the frame i dont want to widen the track because i can just fit through the trees now.

I have like mini tractor tires on the rear and stock smoothies out front. they are about the same size. its got that sweet 2wd truck look. never took the stickers off from the golf course.
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Old 08-14-2014, 03:47 AM   #6
yurtle
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

Quote:
Originally Posted by birmingham View Post
What mods will give the best range improvement/$?
I have a 2004ish PDS stock used for hunting fairly to very hilly for this part of the country. 4 year old battery pack Sams club batteries. I try to take the best care i can of it but they sit in a garage for 8 months i go down about every other month and plug back in again/ add water (1.5 hour drive each way).

leave it stock?
Power cables? any gain? $125? Maybe a little, depending on your existing and usage.
new batteries? 140$each going to a better battery Biggest amp-hour you can find. When it comes to price, you need to think in terms of years of useful life, not just the initial "Ouch".
New Controller? 400$ Efficiency probably doesn't improve, but with the hills, if you brake a lot, adjustable regen "may" help. Gotta worry about heavy foot, but if you're creeping in the hills, may not be a problem
42V conversion? 7 batteries controller and switches 1500? See below
48V conversion? 8 batteries controller and switches 1650? Both can help increase range.



Also i want to lift the cart about 3 inches to get better ground clearance but i dont want to increase the track width and i really don't care to go to a bigger tire (im assuming this will reduce my range if i go bigger in this terrain). its breakover angle that i care about. does this lift exist? all i see increase the track width.
Lifting won't gain you anything at the axle, only bigger tires will. It may help if your frame is dragging, depending on what's dragging.
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Old 08-14-2014, 10:52 AM   #7
JohnnieB
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

Range in a cart is akin to how far a car can go on a tank of gas. It depends on what the car's MPG is and the size of the gas tank.

With a cart it is how many Watt-Hours the battery pack holds vs how many Watt-hours the cart uses per mile. In other words, how efficient the drive system is.

Range was my goal also, but ended up with a lot of torque & speed as well as a lot of range.
Our carts are similar, but you needs are a little different. I don't need more ground clearance and I run on turf tires.
Just lifting a cart's body off the axles doesn't change range, but changing tire height and type does.

My first upgrade was to 2Ga cables. My cart was a 2008 and I got it in 2011, so the stock cables were only about 3 years old and looked good to my critical eye (Retired Clinical Engineer), but I did get a noticeable increase in low end torque.

Then I graded to an Alltrax DCX400 controller and a Super-Duty solenoid. That upped the speed to 24MPH and upped the torque by about 33.3%. My range with an iffy 36V battery pack was about 25 miles.

Next I installed a 42V battery pack (seven 6V-245AH batteries). That upped the speed to 28MPH and upped the torque by another 16.7%. At that point my range was about 38 Miles with two well fed people on-board.

I was happy with the range, torque and speed and I might still be running a stock PDS motor today, except I made the foolish mistake of wanting to see how fast it would go downhill at full throttle. I figure the motor was spinning about 8,000 RPM when I lifted my foot and the regen braking kicked in. The armature exploded and took the relatively new controller with it.

So now I have a more robust motor and a higher ampacity controller, but not quite as much range. However, it is still over 30 miles and meets my needs.

---------
Going to 42V (7 x 6V) will get you range, torque and speed. Going to 48V (8 X 6V) will more of each. However, going to 48V (6 X 8V) may only give you about the same range as a standard 36V pack.
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Old 08-14-2014, 11:21 AM   #8
DIRTPIT HC
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

Bham, do you have a SOC meter on the cart or using a hand held DVM? What voltage do you start the trip to the stand with and were is voltage when you get back?
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Old 08-14-2014, 11:50 AM   #9
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

get a gas cart and 2 five gallon cans
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Old 08-14-2014, 04:49 PM   #10
birmingham
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Default Re: Bang for your buck range mods

I have a light gauge green yellow red. its like 10 bars. i am going to bring home the cart next weekend. i will be able to do some testing then. I really dont see how my cart can only be doing about 7 miles on a charge and your able to get 30plus. are hills really that much worse? I seem to have plenty of power its slow up the steeper hills but i expected that. it will spin the tires from a stop in gravel. unscientific but it dont think its low on power.
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