My G2 Build

[J-ROB]

Originally Posted by CP241

I was just gonna say, my G9 was the same way. It got to where it would fog out an entire neighborhood but still had textbook perfect compression and ran awesome. I replaced rings and gaskets, with a quick hone job just to deglaze the cylinder. That stopped all the smoking and I never had an issue out of it again.

That's what I am hoping for with mine

[J-ROB]

Engine rebuild is redone.

Head over to my engine rebuild thread for pics.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/showthread.php?t=162086

[93yamslammer]

Originally Posted by J-ROB

I have been poking around the internet lately looking for some new front shocks for my cart, the original shocks were pretty worn out. I couldn't turn full lock to the left without rubbing even though I trimmed the rocker and fender. The $100/ea price tag for replacement golf cart shocks was more than I was willing to spend. I finally found some Chinese motorcycle shocks that come in all different lengths on eBay and amazon. The brand is RFY and a pair was $75, so I gave them a shot.

No more rubbing and I gained a half inch more ground clearance. I'll check again after the settle out some. The nice part is they are adjustable on the spring preload and they have an air reservoir for adjusting the damping. So far they seem pretty good for what I paid.

How have these held up so far? I am looking at purchasing the All Sport Lift kit as well along with some new shocks. Mine have seen better days. Also, do you remember the size you bought? Thank you for the help!

[J-ROB]

Hey there 93yamslammer, well I am on my second set of these shocks now...... The metal sleeves that go into the bushings on these shocks are not as long as the metal sleeves in the stock shock bushings so you have to be sort of creative when you install them. I used washers stacked in front of and behind the metal sleeves to make up for the extra space. The first set I installed I didn't put enough washers in the lower side to take up all of the slop and after a couple of weeks I had destroyed one of the rubber bushings. Since I purchased them from Amazon and they were a little shorter than I wanted (280mm), I sent them back for a refund. I ordered another set from the same supplier, went with a longer version (320mm). These were a tad bit tall causing a good bit of positive camber and I ultimately ended up drilling new holes in the shock mount tabs on the A-Arms to take up some of the length and it is working pretty good now. I made sure and put an extra washer in for spacing (was tricky but got it to fit). I also got 8 fender washers which still fit the shock bolt, but the OD is much, much larger, I made sure to sandwich the shocks between fender washers and fill in the rest of the gap with regular washers. I now have way more miles and abuse on the second set of shocks and they are doing fine. Not a bad purchase for the price.

If I had it to do all over again, I would have ponied up the cash and got the Jakes LT lift kit, it comes with upgraded LT shocks and no doubt handles better than my setup, but for what I paid for my setup it is great!

Here's the two different shocks I have used, the 280mm were a bit too short and the 320mm a bit too long, I would look for some 300mm and pay attention to the ends of the shocks, there are a few different mounting options out there.

280mm
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

320mm
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[J-ROB]

A couple more things, on the 280mm, I left the air pressure in the shocks as received, on the second set, because they were longer, I let the air out of the shocks to soften them up. They were pretty bouncy out of the box (the positive camber didn't help with that either). Once I drilled the lower mounting holes in the A-arms I had some slight negative camber. I ended up dialing about a half inch or so of preload on the springs and that solved my problem.

Don't try to adjust your alignment as the final step of the lift kit install. Go drive it several miles first, go off road, cycle the suspension, carry a passenger, go up and down some hills, climb a few curbs. You want to cycle the suspension quite a bit before adjusting anything. When I first finished my lift, with stock shocks, I had some serious positive camber \ /
after a couple of days driving around, it settled out and the camber was fine, that's when I did my toe adjustment, 1/8" toe in. Make sure you adjust both tie rods, not just one side or the other. Make sure your steering wheel is still pointed straight once the toe is set, otherwise your pitman arm will be slightly to one side or the other and it can cause some weird things in sharp turns. For example, I only adjusted my passenger side tie rod the first time I did it. As a result my wheel was turned about 1/4 of the way to the left going straight. When I would make a sharp left turn, I couldn't go to full lock without rubbing. Once I re-did the alignment and adjusted both sides until correct and the steering wheel was straight I was able to get rid of the rubbing and can now turn full lock either direction.

[J-ROB]

Here is a pic of how I re-drilled the shock mounting holes in the A-Arms. I took a lot of measurements, marked where I wanted and measured again to ensure I was dead nuts center and exactly the same on both sides.

Even if they are not the best quality shocks available, they work pretty good, and look even better than they work!

[J-ROB]

I created a YouTube channel to share some of my videos of my cart. I recorded a handful of videos after I rebuilt the engine and did the first oil change. They aren't anything special, just wanted to post the link to my YouTube channel for anyone who cares to take a look. Take it easy on my I am no A/V wizard, just messing around.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50...M7hA94g/videos

[J-ROB]

A couple more pics from my phone that I haven't posted yet. Our Labrador "Rhett" is very happy with the fold flat rear seat. It doesn't matter how far or how long you want to ride, he is happy to lay there and enjoy. Also, despite the boredom surrounding this "shelter in place" directive, I am very happy that TX is allowing To-Go Margaritas!!!!

[93yamslammer]

Originally Posted by J-ROB

A couple more pics from my phone that I haven't posted yet. Our Labrador "Rhett" is very happy with the fold flat rear seat. It doesn't matter how far or how long you want to ride, he is happy to lay there and enjoy. Also, despite the boredom surrounding this "shelter in place" directive, I am very happy that TX is allowing To-Go Margaritas!!!!

Thank you for all of this information. I have read so many threads between the All Sport and Jakes lift kits on the pros and cons. The biggest con from the Jakes is the leaky shocks. I am not sure if that has been fixed, but it seems since the All Sport is American made, they stand behind the product better. I am torn on which one to purchase. I like the look of both. I do not plan to off road or do any kind of free spirited travels in the woods. But if I do plan to head down to the local creek, I want something that will still function and not get mangled up. In the beginning I was going low to the ground and racing inspired but I do not see 14' inch rims fitting under the G9 very well on low profile tires. So I decided to lift it and just ride more comfortable. Also, I just subscribed to your YouTube Channel. I use it for all of my go to information!!

[J-ROB]

93, don't get me wrong, the Allsports is a great lift! I bash my cart down through the bayou all the way to the river and do dumb stuff like that a lot. I do my best to slow down for any big bumps or curbs etc. I could see the suspension getting damaged if I were to do that very often. I don't like how there is no bracing between the front and rear lower A-arm mounts on the Allsports, the Jake's looks way more robust with the receiver hitch in the center and the support tube below the lower A-arm mounts. I also like the fact that the Jake's LT comes with new spindles and changes your geometry moving the front tires forward and out. Plus the design of the suspension allows for a longer shock with more travel which will improve the ride quality. You might be surprised with the Jake's LT you could probably adjust it to the lowest setting and still fit the larger wheels and tires. With my Allsports, I have 12" wheels and 22" x 10.5" tires and I still get some rubbing at full lock in either direction with a passenger or slight articulation despite having trimmed my rockers and fenders. My wheels do have some offset and I am running 2" wheel spacers on all 4 corners, so if I took off the spacer or used a smaller one it may fix that problem. With the Jake's I think it would move the front wheels forward enough to eliminate the problem altogether.

Pic 1-3, the main thing I don't like about the Allsports, I feel like it should be braced between front and rear A-arm mounts, or they should be made out of thicker plate or both.

Pic 4, Jakes is way beefier looking