93 marathon suspension

KMV77

It looks like the marathons have different rear suspensions. Mine has the coil springs and others I have seen have leafs. Is that correct? What determined the type of suspension, the year of the vehicle? Only reason I'm asking is that I was looking on ebay for inexpensive lifts and they list a few for $50 that are spacer lifts, and are for up to a 94 marathon, but they show leaf shape spring shackles, so I'm guessing they are wrong. It doesnt look like it'll work with mine.
Thanks,
Kevin

BGW

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AirJunky

Coils on gas carts. Leafs on electric carts.

KMV77

OK that helps. Are coil spring spacers and longer shocks used for lifts in the rear? I know that would shorten the wheelbase by pushing the tires down though (in an arc due to the link suspension), but would probably be less expensive and easy to install.

scottyb

You can put in a front drop axle, coil spring spacers, and shock extensions in the rear....... stay away from the cheapest thing you can find on ebay. It may be a waste of money.

AirJunky

Yea, I have the cheapie lift on my Marathon.... shock extensions all the way around, axle spacers in front and coil spring spacers in the rear. It does the trick & was under $100. And it was good experience for my first real project. But it doesn't do a thing for the cart's ride or ability to take the bumps. You'll need to spend a bit more money on a real suspension to do that. My next project will be more like an independent suspension from an ATV made to take a little beating occasionally.

After reading what all the old timers do on this site, another option I might consider is a drop axle & leaf springs from an EZGo ST350 Workhorse. I see them occasionally on Ebay for pretty cheap & am under the impression that it would be a lot stronger than the axle spacers, and have a bit more suspension travel.

KMV77

Air junky,
I was looking at that lift that you had. Thats what I'm going with as I wont be using the cart a whole lot. It should have the same ride quality as stock as you only made the existing parts further from the frame. Its like my jeep tj and 2 grand cherokees. I did budget boosts on them which was 4 2" coil spring spacers. Yours looks good. Where did you get the tires? I have a 220 mig welder so Its pretty much anything goes for me. I thought about making my spacer lift myself which I still might do.
Kevin

AirJunky

Yea, your right, KMV. It just spaces the hubs further away from the frame, making room for bigger tires. I only run about 6 or 7 psi of air in the tires so it did soften things up a bit from stock.

This is the lift I have. And the black steel rims & tires came from there too but I just glanced at the site & didn't see them. I think I ordered from their catalog.

Coming from a 40 hp, 4x4 ATV I didn't expect a lot. But the cart got around in the snow & ice pretty good considering it's basically 1 wheel drive & only 9 hp. The site sponsors (see link above) can help you a lot. CPP has clutch springs that will return a lot of torque to your cart after your bigger tires are installed. My old Marathon does a lot faster & goes a lot further now than EZGo ever intended it to.

pachanga90

Another "Cheap-Mod" after you lift and go to bigger tires.If you still have the factory Drive-Clutch(engine)remove the cover and spring,add a 3/16" shim.This alone makes a "Big" difference.Secondary-Clutch,remove spacer between sheaves and shim spring(be careful this one is stronger)1/8"-3/16".I haven't tried more than that, but it delays shifting into "second-gear".My cart is a 85 Marathon w/stock 244cc 2-stroke and runs over 25mph on 22" tires.Hope this helps.