Best chassis for air ride

Bremsen

I'm new to carts and have decided to pick one up this winter to fix/modify. I'm a diehard gearhead and have always wanted to bag something so that's the end game for me. But, what donor(s) should I be looking at?

I've read the bigger air ride threads (Hotcat, mazdawg,etc) and was wondering if there was an opinion on the better chassis/years for bagging or, on the flip side, ones to avoid? I'm still looking for the right deal, so the only real requirement for me at this point is it has to be gas and <$3k for a clean runner (hopefully <$2k or less).

The varying front suspension/steering designs are where I'm most concerned. From what I've seen, CC or the Yamaha look to be the easier ones to bag with IFS, but that's a very uninformed opinion since I just started researching yesterday. Most of the projects I've seen used older carts, so I don't know if the newer ones would be any better.

Any thoughts/opinions on this would be much appreciated. Hoping I can snag a deal in the next few weeks and surprise the fam on xmas. Searching didn't get me any specific threads on the subject so sorry if this has been covered before.

BGW

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Shepard

This is only a suggestion -- unless you weld aluminum your self and have equipment to do it --- don't start with an aluminum chassis system. Steel frame you can weld the homemade parts -- aluminum frame you pay someone else to weld your homemade parts.

mlj427

I have always thought a Yamaha would be better since it is coil springs all around. So you don’t have to convert from leaf springs. Already has a panhard bar.

Bremsen

Really appreciate the replies.

Shepard, I did noticed the Club Cars were aluminum (only later models or all?). Were any other brands/models that you know of? I do have access to a TiG, but I haven't tried my hand at it yet. However, living in racing country, you can't throw a rock without hitting someone who can and that sort of stuff can be done pretty easy/cheap if you make friends with the right people. Most likely, I'll try to stick to bolting stuff on though.

mlj, I think I've narrowed my search to a Club Car DS or Yamaha. Both have front suspension designs that I think would work. I will probably leave my options open between those two, but there are more DSs around (at least in my search) and I think that might be the easier of the two. I did like the panhard bar on the Yamaha and will probably fab something similar if I don't end up with one.

Frankenstein

I'd chose yamaha, I've been bagging one myself and so far it has been proven that it is quite simple, check out my build thread (Yamaha/club car on air)