G2 front wheel camber

[Buckeye Bob]

Hey y’all. I purchased an ‘89 G2 gas cart this weekend and after I got her home for a closer look I noticed a very positive camber on front wheels. I’ve seen this before, on other carts, but was caused by wrong shocks being installed. Best I can tell these are the right shocks, so any ideas why the ‘positive camber”?

[CP241]

Camber isn’t adjustable. It’s either something bent, or most likely worn kingpin bushings. You can get a kit to replace the king pin bushings for pretty cheap and it’s not hard to do. Hint the roll pins are double roll pins, a little one inside a big one if I remember correctly. Lessons learned the hard way

Jack the front end if the cart up and wiggle the wheels. lol for what is moving (ideally nothing should move)

[Buckeye Bob]

Thanks CP will look further tomorrow. I saw no way to adjust but thought maybe I wasn’t seeing something

[slonomo]

Camber can also be affected by the toe setting, especially if the cart is rolling on pavement. Try rolling the cart backwards and see if the camber changes. I know it sounds weird, but it's true. The tires actually want to follow a straight line and if the toe is too far in or out it will cause the tires to extend or compress the suspension depending upon what direction the cart rolls.

On these kinds of carts you really need to set the toe perfectly at zero or maybe a tiny amount of toe in. The only way I know to get it just right is to use a long straight edge on the side of the tire and make reference marks on the floor of the garage with chalk. Draw a straight line down the middle of the cart and compare the lines.

Worn suspension and steering parts can also contribute to the toe, camber, and caster being off. And I agree that damaged/bent frame and suspension parts too.

[Buckeye Bob]

Thanks Slonomo. I haven’t had a chance to dig into it yet but I’ll take what you say and run with it. So you’re slow no more? What can I do to get some extra mph out of my old Yamaha? I also have a G8. Have high speed gears in both g8 runs 29mph but the G2 only runs 24. She sounds like she’s governed down but I can’t figure it out? All wisdom appreciated I’m fairly new to carts. Thanks Buckeye Bob

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Bob

Thanks Slonomo. I haven’t had a chance to dig into it yet but I’ll take what you say and run with it. So you’re slow no more? What can I do to get some extra mph out of my old Yamaha? I also have a G8. Have high speed gears in both g8 runs 29mph but the G2 only runs 24. She sounds like she’s governed down but I can’t figure it out? All wisdom appreciated I’m fairly new to carts. Thanks Buckeye Bob

Only two things will give you more top end speed....more engine rpm....lower gear ratio like 8:1. Taller tires will do it too, but that essentially is lowering your final drive gear ratio.

How fast do you want to go? 24-29 mph is might fast in a golf cart with stock steering and brakes. Any faster and I want front disks and a double wishbone suspension with rack and pinion steering.

My G1 experimental "hunting" cart was pretty fast and handled fantastic, even with 12" of lift. It would do 45mph at its fastest. Going over 30 in a stock single a arm suspension with gearbox/pitman arm steering is extremely sketchy. I built a front end out of an atv suspension and added a sand rail buggy rack and pinion steering with a steering column out of a TXT. That setup was better than any other golf cart I've driven, even better than the Jakes LT setups. It took some work, but by far the single best modification I've ever done. Handled like butter off road too.

[slonomo]

Some stock cart engines have an electronic rev limiter, seems like they stop at 4000 rpm or so. I've always run "non-stock" engines with rev kits.

My favorite engine is the Briggs Vanguard 16hp Vtwin. Mild enough that anyone can drive it, but has torque for days. You can install a cam and rev kit and it'll turn 5000+ rpm, with 23" tires it'll get you 30-35 mph or more. I had mine up to 42 before the old head gasket blew out. It's torn down for a rebuild at the moment. That engine would pull a 800 lb trailer full of firewood around my property. I also pulled my F150 up a slight incline in gravel, not very fast, but it pulled it.

My second favorite engine was the Predator 670. It's MUCH larger and has so much torque that it was hard to drive slow lol. It would get to max speed in 5 seconds, say 30-32mph before it hit the stock governor. With a rev kit, cam, and mikuni carb that engine will make 40 plus hp and rev to 5500 rpm. Never built one but I hear they are monsters. Mine was stock.

[slonomo]

I have done just about every mod to a golf cart lol. I've bought and sold many carts, each one was an experimental build. I was contemplating starting a business building carts but covid hit and prices went through the roof and supply went way down. Put that on hold for now. But anytime you need some advice I'm glad to help.

I'm by no means an "expert" but I've made a lot of mistakes and figured out what really works and what doesn't. What you do with your cart all depends on what your goals are and how you want to use it, and of course budget and mechanical ability. Most people want "bolt on" mods that they can do with sockets and a screwdriver. Others want "fastest" cart or want "wheelies". Just depends on your fancy.