Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

I've got a 2012 Valor that has always given me a VERY rough ride off road. I've never been on another cart that was so rough! I had it stock for a couple of years, then had it lifted about a year ago. The lift helped slightly, but I'm still getting jarred on normal rides around our property, and not really going fast at all. It's got 23" tires on 14" wheels, lifted with a 5" Pro-Fit lift, and has the factory 2" lift that the valor came with as well. I believe that the 2" kit included heavy duty springs, so that was the first thing I looked into. My springs have 4 leafs, I assume those are recommended for the rear seat kit it came with. I mounted my GoPro camera under the cart and took it for a good rough ride to watch how the springs moved, and they're moving up and down with the terrain, but not too much. Other much smoother lifted carts I've been on have springs with 3 leafs, but I can't imagine one leaf would make that much difference. If having less leafs would help the ride, can I remove leafs from my existing springs or do I need to order new ones? What else can I do to improve ride quality? :help:

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

Removing Leafs or going to the original springs will help your ride immensely, but will not support the weight of passengers or cargo on that rear seat.

23's on 14" rims are also a culprit for ride issues, they have far less sidewall flex so they are much stiffer. Taking a few lbs of air pressure out of them may help a bit, but be careful - too much and the sidewall flex will make the cart VERY unstable and "tippy" at speed.

Carts weren't designed for rear seats as stock, so that's why adding one is always a tradeoff because of the heavier springs required. The "Long Travel" lift kits eliminate the leaf springs altogether up front and use an adjustable coilover spring setup - VERY nice ride - but with a rear seat You're pretty much stuck with the bone-jarring rear ride and inch or so of travel. Lift kits (with the exception of long-travel) do just that, LIFT the suspension. They don't change travel, dampening, etc at all so generally they add stiffness to the ride by design.

If You swap to stock springs in the rear, You're going to lose some ride height and pretty much have to forget about that seat entirely. Same with the front, that 2" factory kit is comprised of stiffer, taller springs to give the lift, take that away and You're back to stock height +5 for your Pro-Fit lift, and 5" isn't recommended with larger than 22" tires

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

Thanks for the info! I forgot to mention that i've also taken down my tire pressure and that never really helped. If I ever change wheel/tire setups I'll go for smaller wheels. So you don't think that i could even get rid one one leaf and run 3 and be able to support cargo on the seat? I believe the other carts i've seen that were smoother had rear seats and the 3 leaf setup and they seemed sturdy enough to handle people on the back. Besides, I only use my rear seat occasionally. It's mainly just me and sometimes one other person on the front seat. I definitely wouldn't feel safe running any less than 3 leafs. I'm not too worried about losing ride height. It has extended spring shackles so I don't think it would drop down too much.

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

You could give it a try, but taking leafs away will also change the dampening, You could end up with a softer ride that bounces You all over the place ... 4 leafs are the heaviest available, You may want to go to the dual-action 2-leaf, they're a lot softer than the 4's (still might have some sag with the rear seat loaded up w 2 adults though)

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

I may be interested in the dual-action springs. What do they do differently? Where do you recommend I purchase them from if I decide to get them?

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

The 4 leaf spring is what ez puts on the 1500 series Oasis so yes they will be stiff. You might be able to pull out 1 leaf from your current spring but not sure. I will take a look at mine today to see how it is setup. Out of town for the weekend but will look in the shop when I get home to see if I have any used 3 leafs.

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

The "Dual Action" springs are the same idea as helper springs that used to be fairly common for cars. The lighter main leaf gives a much softer ride when lightly loaded (1 or 2 people up front). When you put enough weight on the back to squat that main spring it runs against a heavier secondary spring leaf that adds to the weight capacity. That secondary spring isn't even touched till the main spring sags into it. Yes that drops the rear ride height slightly, but from the sound of things you have enough lift that it shouldn't be a problem. Yes, with 4 leaf springs I would expect it to ride pretty much rock solid.
As to where to get them, they are available all over. Hit the "Site Sponsors" link near the top of the page and take your pick.

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

Sounds good, thanks for the help guys!

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

Based on where you live you might even be able to find then local :lhmo:

Re: Gas EZGO Has a ROUGH Ride!
 

I'm gonna take a look at my springs and see if i can remove the smallest 4th leaf, I saw on another thread where someone had success with that. I may even go down to two if it seems to hold up well under weight, but i doubt that's a good idea with a rear seat. If I have no luck taking apart my stock springs, I'll get the dual action.