What to shop for (cart to build)?

catscratch

Hi guys, long time stalker but first poster...

I want to build a cart. I will lift it and put bigger tires on it. It needs to be able to drive dirt pasture roads with a smooth ride and navigate a moderate hill (about 70ft tall but not real steep, I've played on golf courses that had bigger hills and stock carts did fine on). I want it to have enough torque to get up the hill with 4 adults on it. It will probably never travel more than a mile from the house.

I can build stuff, so modifications won't be a problem. I've built many cars/race cars/demo cars, etc... and have also done enough stuff on the farm to know my way around a chop saw and a welder. I know cars and machinery, what I don't know is golf carts! Hence looking for your help.

I'm willing to spend the money to build what I want but don't want to spend in excess. I want it do what I need it to reliably and without issue. Anything else is wasted $$$.

So (I know you get these questions all the time, so please bear with me), what cart is the best to start with? Brand, model, yrs? Do I buy a running cart just to replace the suspension, controler, and motor? Or do I buy a cheaper one that needs work as I will be replacing that stuff anyway? Or will stock stuff work for what I need? Is long travel suspension worth it, or will cheaper lifts work?

Thanks in advance!

BGW

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91kuhndog

Are you thinking electric or gas? If your going to hunt with it and looking for quiet, electric might be better. If your going to work it around the farm, pulling carts or trailers, gas might be better. I went and bought an old EzGo Marathon gas cart to be my workhorse.... It has a box on the back to carry stuff in. On the other hand, I have a 4 seater, low rider (Club Car DS) street cart to play in the neighborhood with... both have their place in my garage as I use one at the cabin in the mountains and the other here at the house.

my $.02 would be to look old and cheap so you can dump your money into mods... after all, why dump a big lump of money into a cart you'll cut up and modify anyway.

91kuhndog

Catscratch... another thing, you get what you pay for in the golf carting world. I looked at the economy lift kits but opted to spend a little more (with the help of this forum) and pieced a kit together and built my own. Remember, buy cheap, buy often; buy quality, buy once!

catscratch

Electric is what I'm thinking. This will be used by my wife and kids often and I want something easy and quiet that they can jump into and take off. Low noise and no starting problems.

So your basically saying buy a cheap chassis and replace everything on it with quality parts. I'm fine with that. I don't mind spending my money on quality, just don't want to buy beyond what I really need.

Any suggestions on a good platform to start with? I know with hotrods you can get a quality rod with just about any make, but you are going to spend a fortune to build a 426hemi vs a 454 Chevy... and end up with the same drive ability.

catscratch

Oh ya, what are the recommended mods: most important to least important?

The instant I buy a car I know what I'm going to do first though last. When I buy a cart I'm going to lift it and change the tires, what do I look at next? Any must do's?

StoveBolt

upgrade motor 400 plus, controller 300, batteries 150 plus X 6, heavier battery cables 95

Sparky's are not for me.

catscratch

I'm not opposed to gas. It's just that the electric carts I've been on are very quiet and comfortable to drive. Leaving wanting those qualities in my cart.

If you can convince me that gas is more applicable or cheaper (for what you get) then I can go that way...

catscratch

Tell me this; how easy and costly is it to upgrade gas engines? You just gave me a list of upgrades for an electric, how does gas compare in price and ease of acquiring parts?

91kuhndog

To start over, knowing what I know today, all manufactures have their strengths and weaknesses; I'd buy a Club car DS due to the aluminum frame.... Thats as basic and light weight as you'll find. Tons of accessories on the market and like Stovebolt said, motor, controller and new batteries and your rolling.... everything after that is cosmetic.

Airbagged

Personally, I would go with an EZGO the frame is steel, so it's easier and cheaper to weld. Aluminum is fantastic don't get me wrong, but not everyone knows how to weld aluminum, and the ones that do charge for it. EZGO parts are also cheap and easy to get ahold of. Gas vs electric, I'm a gas guy so that's an easy choice for me, even with my big block my cart weighs less than a Electric ( unless you do a Lipo setup that's going to cost a pretty penny) gas engines don't take hours to charge, plus as long as you have gasoline you have an unlimited range. Even with my big block kit with the Zemco exhaust my carts not that loud, and it has tons of power! As for suspension, if you want a smooth ride long travel is the way to go, just don't do a jakes rear long travel because it won't work with four passengers it's way to soft for that. The rear long travel is pretty good of road with two people, but on the road at any speed it's pretty unstable.
One thing I'll say for sure is it's easy to spend a ton of money on a custom golf cart, so pick and choose what you want carefully!