EZGO Medalist locked leaf springs

[BeachbuggyNC]

This forum has been a big help to me but this is my first post.

On my cart, at rest the leaf sits correctly. If I put load on it and bounce a couple times the leaf will lock flat. I thought it was a bad leaf so I replaced it with a heavy duty one but it still does it. Thought, maybe the shock is pulling into a negative pressure or something so I disconnected it and it still does it. Haven't swapped the other side just yet but I don't see how that would effect this side. But I could be wrong.

Any thought?
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[JohnnieB]

Are you sure the springs (Old and New) are the correct ones for your cart?

Looks to me like new one is too long and cannot tell if the old one is too long or not from the only picture its shackle can be seen in.

The rear shackle ought to be only slightly passed vertical with no load and the picture of the new spring with no load shows the shackle at least 45° beyond vertical.

Here is a side view of my cart and the driver side spring is weak, so the shackle is further passed vertical than it really ought to be.

[BeachbuggyNC]

The new leafs and old leafs are the same size. Same size on both sides. About 27.25” center eye to center.
Ordered leafs specific for my 95 medalist so I assume they’re correct.
Here’s a pic of driver compared to old passenger. My passenger is near vertical but not quite yours.
The bushings are completely gone on passenger where on driver they’re all new.
I’ve pulled the body off to check the frame but everything looks square and there’s no creases or warped metal that my eyes or hands can detect.

[JohnnieB]

For some reason the geometry is off.

The spring lengthens when weight is added and the shackle shouldn't swivel past horizontal and lock up.

I can only come up with about 4 possibilities that will lock up the shackle like yours are doing.

1. Springs too long.
2. Shackle too short.
3. Front and rear mounting points on frame too close together.
4. Overloaded. Max load (Drive, Passengers, cargo and accessories) is 800 pounds, but I don't know what is the max per wheel.

5? You said they lock when you bounce on it. Maybe the shocks are bad. They are supposed to dampen the movement.

[BeachbuggyNC]

Any ideas where I could get stock cart suspension info?
When I do a quick google search, I can only find online stores with no info on lengths.
I guess my best course is to install the other side and pull off the body panels and take some measurements and measure the squareness if possible of the frame.

[JohnnieB]

My quick searches didn't come u[p with anything either.

If you go to the BGW home page and scroll down to the modified golf cart area, try posting our questions in the On road cart and Lifted cart (Off Road) and Restoration forums. The members there probably have a far better understanding of the rear suspension geometry than I do.

If they come up with anything, or you figure it out, please let us know here in this thread.

[BeachbuggyNC]

So I messed around with it some more, changed the other side leaf out and it was still having issues. Annoyed me enough that I got a little redneck and decided to cut the welds off of the spring mounts to the frame. The frame was definitely tweaked in a way that I couldn’t see because there was enough preload that it popped out of place to correct the suspension angles. Shackles are at a better angle now. I’ll try to set them to the same angle, square everything up as much as possible and weld it back on.

[JohnnieB]