roof supports /windshield

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

Ahhh yeah I had one cart with a top similar to that but smaller and it was all cracked up and shattered from flopping around all the time. I took it off and chucked the whole thing. That cart is now affectionately known as “topless”.

Those roof struts don’t have anything for fore/back bracing. Getting the angle brackets for the front strut to the body will help but they will only do so much. You should also make some corner brackets that run from the struts up to the roof. Some 1”x 3/16” flat steel about 15” or a bit longer. Bolt it to the upright about 6” down from the roof line and run it towards the back of the cart to meet the roof. I would do those on both front and back. If head clearance on the front is an issue you could shorten them to maybe 10” for the front and have them come down from the roof only 4” or so.
To add some extra strength to the roof where those attach you could cut some pieces of 3/4”x1/8” flat steel about 8” long and mount those inside the roof line where the angle pieces meet the roof. Mark everything and drill all the holes then clean up the steel really well and paint it all silver before you install it.

You could use aluminum as well but it usually costs quite a bit more and would have to be a bit thicker to have the same strength. The good thing about aluminum is it doesn’t require paint, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to cut and drill.

Yeah I'm afraid I'm going to have to beef it up. If I do I will use aluminum, I don't want to mess with steel. sucks cause I like how my cart looks aesthetically now but I'm going to have to bite the bullet if I want to keep this long top.

[Fairtax4me]

Yeah it’s unfortunate the way the rear strut is done on that. They didn’t put any decent bracing there and I don’t see an easy way to strengthen that without adding a lot of extra material.

Where the brackets for the rear seat back come down, do they come down all the way and meet with the frame for the rear seat bottom?

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

Yeah it’s unfortunate the way the rear strut is done on that. They didn’t put any decent bracing there and I don’t see an easy way to strengthen that without adding a lot of extra material.

Where the brackets for the rear seat back come down, do they come down all the way and meet with the frame for the rear seat bottom?

they come down and go out under the seat to support that, then do another 90 and meet the platform right behind the cart body. If that makes sense. I can get pics tomorrow or something.



To somewhat save aesthetics I am thinking maybe I will try to make a curved or L shaped bracked that runs along the rear arm rests, then up the side of the current bracket. It might be tricking finding tubing or bending tubing, but I am not sure I will like the look of a bracket angling from the arm rest up to the current "strut."

Another thing I was looking at was possibly running something straight up off of the rear grab handle, to the end of the top. That probably wouldn't look as goofy as angled supports but I'm not sure how much front/back movement it would prevent to be honest.

Only other thing I can think of is like you said, to angle from the arm rest to the strut.

[CP241]

I wouldn't overthink it. Something simple like this would be very easy to do, and make all the difference in the world. You could push it back far enough it doesn't interfere with rear passengers using the armrest, and paint it gray or silver to match the rest of the bracing. This would be very easy to do, and what I would do if it were my cart.

I would think a bar going up from the rear grab handle would not only look goofy (though I've seen it done) but also I could see folks frequently hitting their heads on it climbing on/off the back seat. And I don't think it would offer a lot of support from movement, you really need to brace the rear struts so they can't move/flex on their mount.

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by CP241

I wouldn't overthink it. Something simple like this would be very easy to do, and make all the difference in the world. You could push it back far enough it doesn't interfere with rear passengers using the armrest, and paint it gray or silver to match the rest of the bracing. This would be very easy to do, and what I would do if it were my cart.



I would think a bar going up from the rear grab handle would not only look goofy (though I've seen it done) but also I could see folks frequently hitting their heads on it climbing on/off the back seat. And I don't think it would offer a lot of support from movement, you really need to brace the rear struts so they can't move/flex on their mount.

Yeah that doesn’t look bad at all .... I keep envisioning something farther back than that but that looks pretty simplistic. I like it. Between those and the front braces should help immensely


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[nwocart]

Originally Posted by CP241

I wouldn't overthink it. Something simple like this would be very easy to do, and make all the difference in the world. You could push it back far enough it doesn't interfere with rear passengers using the armrest, and paint it gray or silver to match the rest of the bracing. This would be very easy to do, and what I would do if it were my cart.

I would think a bar going up from the rear grab handle would not only look goofy (though I've seen it done) but also I could see folks frequently hitting their heads on it climbing on/off the back seat. And I don't think it would offer a lot of support from movement, you really need to brace the rear struts so they can't move/flex on their mount.

So i got some flat stock aluminum from the hardware, made brackets about like you drew up. Worked really good, roof felt much sturdier. Its not very thick stuff, maybe 1/8"? Id like to find something a little thicker but for the mean time this will work really good. Doesn't look too bad either.


While doing the front brackets I Ran into a predicament trying to install the brackets. My bolt on the front left of the roof bracket (the one that goes through the cowl) twisted off. I did not take the cowl off, and I don't plan to. I drilled the hole out and I am assuming the threads are shot.


Do these bolts thread into aluminum? or do they have some kind of thread insert, or nut? from what I can tell it feels like it just threads into a piece of aluminum in which case I will need to get a screw that will just thread into the aluminum again, I don't think I can get a nut in there anywhere close to getting a bolt threaded into it. While trying to remove that bolt I broke the bracket at the weld that I just fixed it at. So I decided to take the whole thing off and am going to weld it on both sides, hopefully a better weld than trying to do it still on the machine.

[CP241]

They should bolt to the strip that goes around the top of the cowl. Underneath that strip is frame. Should be a hole drilled through the strip and the frame and just use a nut and washer from underneath in the top of the glove box opening.

That's how mine is and it's never broken or come loose. And my cart pretty much never sees pavement, it's all off road around my property. I used grade 8 hardware, because that's what I had laying around. Not sure what fasteners are specified though.

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by CP241

They should bolt to the strip that goes around the top of the cowl. Underneath that strip is frame. Should be a hole drilled through the strip and the frame and just use a nut and washer from underneath in the top of the glove box opening.

That's how mine is and it's never broken or come loose. And my cart pretty much never sees pavement, it's all off road around my property. I used grade 8 hardware, because that's what I had laying around. Not sure what fasteners are specified though.

Is it the same as this villager? I was looking at a build thread earlier and thought this might be exactly the same as how mine is under the cowl. I circled the area in red, if its the same. I don't have a problem using a nut and bolt but I can barely get my hand in there, going to be a pain in the *** to get a washer and nut held in there and get a bolt started on them. Theres not a lot of room, I don't have the cowl off, and I'm not sure about how the glove boxes come out but I can't get to bolt from the glove box opening. Unless the cowl is easy to remove but I'm not sure and Wasn't going to mess with it. please advise

[NCPW]

Originally Posted by nwocart

Is it the same as this villager? I was looking at a build thread earlier and thought this might be exactly the same as how mine is under the cowl. I circled the area in red, if its the same. I don't have a problem using a nut and bolt but I can barely get my hand in there, going to be a pain in the *** to get a washer and nut held in there and get a bolt started on them. Theres not a lot of room, I don't have the cowl off, and I'm not sure about how the glove boxes come out but I can't get to bolt from the glove box opening. Unless the cowl is easy to remove but I'm not sure and Wasn't going to mess with it. please advise

Yes, that hole in the cowl is threaded for a bolt. No nut in the stock configuration.

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by NCPW

Yes, that hole in the cowl is threaded for a bolt. No nut in the stock configuration.

Yeah i went ahead and drilled it out because I am impatient and wasn't at our shop. I was at my house with limited tools... I need to find something to thread in there i guess. I'll try a few different things at least its going into aluminum that should make it a little easier


I'm not sure I had any other options anyways... not sure an ezout would have done the trick