G1 DIY Lift

zerk76

I wanted something to do yard work with so my dad sold me his 82 Yamaha G-1. Never had a golf cart before so I thought I would spend this winter and build it up. It runs good so I think it will work. Unfortunately I need something a little taller and smoother riding. I am a mechanic and a welder so building a lift should be no problem. To start with I want to do something easy and see if I like it the height before I go all out with a 4 link. Here is my question. For now can I just make longer rear shock brackets and dimple the frame rail? On the front I was just going to do the same plus cut the spindle tube off the control arm and machine a piece of solid stock to go inside the existing tube so I can widen the front AND re-set the spindle angle to correct the geometry from the lift. Does this sound like it would work? I have everything I need in my shop to do this. My biggest worry is the rear lift. Sure doesn't look like I could clear a 22" tire in the back because as the rear swings down the tire would get closer to the wheel opening on the front side.

BGW

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1989Marathon

22's will hit the rear if loaded down. Your biggest worry should be the front. Instead of cutting the A-arms, why not make a plate-lift?

zerk76

I was considering that too. Like the lifts pachanga builds, I have receiver hitch box I could build off of.

1989Marathon

It's much easier, and you can move the front forward, or widen the track when you build it.

zerk76

What can I do to the rear to make "extra" room to clear the 22's?

slonomo

you'll be ok with 22's, you'll want to trim some extra metal away from the bumper and wheel well frame areas. There are threads here about this, that's what I did and I'm running 22'' 489's that actually measure 23'' in the center. I've never had any rubbing problems, but my lift is more like 10". I had the 6" Jakes before my current setup, and it cleared also. It just used a drop bracket for the upper shock mount.

The idea you have for the front will work fine to clear the 22's, but it will still ride crappy. I tried 3 different atv shocks and still no good. Steering was a big problem too. I ended up grafting an atv front end in. Now it's excellent.

zerk76

Slonomo, I read your ATV conversion thread and I am not really ready to go that far just yet. I want to make sure that a golf cart will be able to do what I want before I go all out with it. My back yard is 2 acres of roughness, I want something that will pull my lawn sweep, maybe a yard roller, yet still be able to enjoy going down a trail. I had a side x side and vowed to never spend that much $$ again. It sat more that I used it. That's why I bought this cart. It was cheap and runs relatively well, so if it can handle these tasks I will have no problem spending the $$ to get it the way I want.

slonomo

I hear ya man. I have 2.78 acres, was an old farm field, now 1/2 has high grass/weeds/brush. I use my cart to tow a swisher pull type brush mower, haul firewood, hunt, and for cruising around the yard with the kids and wife. It'll do all that and more. When you get the lift on and drive the cart over 17 mph, you'll see how well that front end works. It's just not a safe setup in my opinion, and the camber is never right. But I get it. Time is money. It's all good, you'll get it together and it'll do what you need it to do. These G1's are super tough.