front lift axle wrap question

m16ty

I just picked up a 1998 Ezgo TXT and soon found out it only goes good on my driveway or in the yard in stock form. I need something that will go through the fields and woods trails so I'm looking to add a lift.

I've looked at lift kits and several builds on here and think I want to build a lift. While I am new to golf carts, I do have adequate skills and a fab shop.

The question I have is about front axle wrap. It looks like the cart in stock form could be susceptible to axle wrap with basically nothing holding the front axle other than the spring ends and adding a lift will just compound the problem (more leverage). I have seen some threads on here where people added lower control arms to combat this but the geometry seemed wrong. IMO ideally you'd want the control arms to have the same pivot point location as the springs and be parallel to the springs so the axle would move completely vertical.

Another question is if this is really needed. I'm not planning on climbing mountains or jumping logs but just don't want the front axle flopping around everywhere when going over rough terrain. The front axle does seem like the weak point on these things.

BGW

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nocerus03

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT ABOUT THE AXLE WRAP. I HAD THE SAME ISSUE ON MY 92 MARATHON.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/lifte...und-rig-4.html

CHECK THIS LINK. BOTTOM OF THE PAGE THERE IS A PICTURE OF MY CART ON ITS SIDE. IN THAT PICTURE YOU CAN SEE HOW I FABRICATED SOME 2 LINK BARS FROM THE CHASSIS OF THE CART TO THE FRONT AXLE. IT STILL HAD FLUID MOVEMENT UP AND DOWN AND ARTICULATED WELL, HOWEVER IT DID NOT HAVE ANY AXLE WRAP WHAT SO EVER. QUICK AND EASY FIX. I JUMPED AND BEAT ON THAT CART AND THEY HELD UP FINE.

branson

you could lower the springs from the body instead of lower the axle from the springs

m16ty

I thought about that and actually helped a friend of mine do that to his cart. The only down side to that is you loose some ground clearance because the springs are still at their original height (minus what you gain by the bigger tires).

branson

yeah I guess you would but the springs are kind of protecting the tie rods at that point. also your rear axle is the limit to ground clearance. the way I did it was a combination of both. I used a four inch spacer off the body to lower the springs and then I moved to springs to the top of the axle. I've been over some pretty nasty stuff I've never had a problem with the front springs hitting anything