Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum - View Single Post

MDLNB · 05-15-2015, 06:28 AM

I have American made, three leaf HD springs. I installed them because I wanted to add a rear seat eventually. Now, I can jump up and down on the back with little movement. Before, the fenders would hit the oversize tires in the back if I jumped on the back. Even with the extended shackles I installed. I left the shocks on, using shock extenders, but they do little to nothing. The cart jars your teeth when you go over a bump, it's so tight. I get almost NO spring action. But, I haven't put anyone on the back yet. I believe they advertise that I can add another 500lbs to the load with the new springs. And these are three leaf springs too. With a light vehicle like a golf cart, I imagine it is difficult to get a perfect ride. Especially with an old '97-99 like my CC DS. If I was going for a smooth, Cadillac ride I would probably have to give up the ability to put a heavy load on the little machine. If I was going for a better ride, I think that I would go with real light springs and real nice shocks. My wife complains about the ride on her stock Yamaha. She wants me to do something about smoothing it out. I believe that she has coil springs. But I digress. I believe that if you remove leafs from your HD springs, you are sacrificing the reason for HD springs.
As far as the shock is concerned, on mine it does absolutely nothing in regards to stabilizing the bobbing action of the cart. I have such heavy duty springs that I might as well have no springs because the whole cart bounces over bumps, not just the body. I have not put a heavy load on it yet so I doubt the shocks have had a chance to act yet. But, I have large tires on my cart so the springs work perfect for my purpose.
I saw a Youtube instruction video that said you can leave the shocks off when you install HD springs. I left them on even though they do nothing for the ride. The only way shocks are going to work is if you have some movement between the axle and the body, and they will only act to dampen that movement, creating a smoother ride...supposedly. Like someone else said above, shocks just stabilize the movement so you don't get the "bobblehead" action.

05-15-2015, 06:28 AM	#19
MDLNB Gone Wild Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: The Villages, FL Posts: 552	Re: Heavy duty leaf springs? I have American made, three leaf HD springs. I installed them because I wanted to add a rear seat eventually. Now, I can jump up and down on the back with little movement. Before, the fenders would hit the oversize tires in the back if I jumped on the back. Even with the extended shackles I installed. I left the shocks on, using shock extenders, but they do little to nothing. The cart jars your teeth when you go over a bump, it's so tight. I get almost NO spring action. But, I haven't put anyone on the back yet. I believe they advertise that I can add another 500lbs to the load with the new springs. And these are three leaf springs too. With a light vehicle like a golf cart, I imagine it is difficult to get a perfect ride. Especially with an old '97-99 like my CC DS. If I was going for a smooth, Cadillac ride I would probably have to give up the ability to put a heavy load on the little machine. If I was going for a better ride, I think that I would go with real light springs and real nice shocks. My wife complains about the ride on her stock Yamaha. She wants me to do something about smoothing it out. I believe that she has coil springs. But I digress. I believe that if you remove leafs from your HD springs, you are sacrificing the reason for HD springs. As far as the shock is concerned, on mine it does absolutely nothing in regards to stabilizing the bobbing action of the cart. I have such heavy duty springs that I might as well have no springs because the whole cart bounces over bumps, not just the body. I have not put a heavy load on it yet so I doubt the shocks have had a chance to act yet. But, I have large tires on my cart so the springs work perfect for my purpose. I saw a Youtube instruction video that said you can leave the shocks off when you install HD springs. I left them on even though they do nothing for the ride. The only way shocks are going to work is if you have some movement between the axle and the body, and they will only act to dampen that movement, creating a smoother ride...supposedly. Like someone else said above, shocks just stabilize the movement so you don't get the "bobblehead" action.