Terrible Handling, not safe....

[Sergio]

Just a quick note about the Toe-in adjustment procedure posted, that text is missing an important sentence.

It should be something like this:

Lift the front of the vehicle and support on jack stands.
Rotate each wheel and scribe a chalk line around the circumference of the tire at the center of the tread pattern.
Lower vehicle and, with tires in the straight ahead position, roll it forward approximately five feet in order to
allow the tires to take their normal running position.
Measure the distance between the chalk lines at both the front and rear of the tires.
The measurement taken at the front of the tires should be 0" - 1/8" (0 - 3 mm) less than the rear.

[paintdude96]

no you can leave the body one and get to the front shocks I went to auto zone and got some Gabriel PT#81270



and dave the front drive side shock broke from poppin wheels and it slamming down hard and bent the shock bolts and finally broke off and was riding with just the right side hooked up . with the new shocks hooked up its hard to even move the front when people get on the back . you just have to know how weight will change the set up of ur cart . I grew up in dirt track racing . so I kinda know my way around how weight and car set up

[chloe]

kobx, how much experience do you have with carts? By the simple nature of their construction, they are less stable, in general, than most any other vehicle you might commonly encounter. Add a six inch lift and 22 inch tall tires and the original instability is exaggerated considerably. While it's a good idea to check all suspension parts, to ensure proper alignment, wear, installation, etc, it could be you are just not acclimated to the vehicle. If this is your first encounter, you may want to see if your local dealer, or a friend with a stock cart, will permit you to put several minutes behind the wheel. Being able to compare the difference in the two may resolve all or part of your problem.

[kobx]

Originally Posted by chloe

kobx, how much experience do you have with carts? By the simple nature of their construction, they are less stable, in general, than most any other vehicle you might commonly encounter. Add a six inch lift and 22 inch tall tires and the original instability is exaggerated considerably. While it's a good idea to check all suspension parts, to ensure proper alignment, wear, installation, etc, it could be you are just not acclimated to the vehicle. If this is your first encounter, you may want to see if your local dealer, or a friend with a stock cart, will permit you to put several minutes behind the wheel. Being able to compare the difference in the two may resolve all or part of your problem.

I have minimal experience, except drunken rowdiness on the golf course in my pre-domesticated years...

In all seriousness, this cart is the first one I ever worked on. I knew the handling would be compromised by lifting it, and putting bigger tires it, especially at the higher speeds. That's why I was asking if this normal. The flip side is, I see lifted carts on big tires, that are street legal driving on the road that don't seem to jump all over the place, so I was wondering what I could do. For now I am going to take paint dudes suggestion and upgrade the front shocks, and see if that helps. I am also considering going to coil over shocks up front. But they seem to be a lot more expensive.

[DaveTM]

Originally Posted by paintdude96

and dave the front drive side shock broke from poppin wheels and it slamming down hard and bent the shock bolts and finally broke off and was riding with just the right side hooked up . with the new shocks hooked up its hard to even move the front when people get on the back . you just have to know how weight will change the set up of ur cart . I grew up in dirt track racing . so I kinda know my way around how weight and car set up

Paintdude.....I hear that. I just raced dirt bikes.....So I only had to be concerned about two wheels and two tires. My biggest concern was when I got all out of control on a bike was to "get away from the machine." It usually was the bike thumping down on you that would give your body great harm, so the best thing to do was throw the bike...or jump off the bike....ie: get away from the bike. Rolling on the ground created less harm than the bike landing on you.

[chloe]

Originally Posted by kobx

I have minimal experience, except drunken rowdiness on the golf course in my pre-domesticated years...

In all seriousness, this cart is the first one I ever worked on. I knew the handling would be compromised by lifting it, and putting bigger tires it, especially at the higher speeds. That's why I was asking if this normal. The flip side is, I see lifted carts on big tires, that are street legal driving on the road that don't seem to jump all over the place, so I was wondering what I could do. For now I am going to take paint dudes suggestion and upgrade the front shocks, and see if that helps. I am also considering going to coil over shocks up front. But they seem to be a lot more expensive.

Just my opinion, but I don't think the coil-overs will do anything for the "drivability" of the cart. Most quality lift kits come complete, new shock etc, if necessary. So they should be much newer than the cart. Tire pressure is the cheapest thing to check. Air them up good and give that a try before looking at potentially expensive repairs and/or replacements.

[paintdude96]

54 dollars for a pair of car shocks . Like I said u have a lot of weight ove the rear tires. Take a chevy 1500 long bed and load it down with dirt and try to drive it fast it's going to be all over the road . Add some good shocks and H/D leaf springs to the back and a good pair of shocks to the front it's going to ride better now with a load on it and ruff when there is now load on it. So I made mine stiffer .I am running 6" lift drop spindles and I have a rear seat and I have 27" tall tires . And I am running 30 mph. So I'll just stick with what I have until something brakes . Happy carting

[Jeffreynmandy]

Originally Posted by paintdude96

54 dollars for a pair of car shocks . Like I said u have a lot of weight ove the rear tires. Take a chevy 1500 long bed and load it down with dirt and try to drive it fast it's going to be all over the road . Add some good shocks and H/D leaf springs to the back and a good pair of shocks to the front it's going to ride better now with a load on it and ruff when there is now load on it. So I made mine stiffer .I am running 6" lift drop spindles and I have a rear seat and I have 27" tall tires . And I am running 30 mph. So I'll just stick with what I have until something brakes . Happy carting

I also had to add springs. My cart is not lifted, and it was dangerous at 25mph. I went all out and replaced the front and rear leaf springs to heavy duty, replaced the steering box, and added a steering stabilizer made for lifted carts.


It ran close to $400 but it cleared the swaying and wandering right up. I didn't want to spend that on it, but I could have been seriously hurt or killed if I had to jerk the wheel with it before.

[bronsonj]

kbox, when was the last time you greased your fittings? My old marathon would throw me all over the road at high speeds (22 to 23mph) so much so that I considered re-gearing it to make it slower!

In the end cooler heads prevailed and greasing the fittings took away half (or more) of the steering quirkiness, making the cart quite driveable again.

Grease is quite cheap if you already have a grease-gun. If not, I bet for a couple dollars the corner repair shop (auto, lawnmower, boat, any of them) will grease the front zerk fittings on the cart for you.

[kobx]

Originally Posted by bronsonj

kbox, when was the last time you greased your fittings? My old marathon would throw me all over the road at high speeds (22 to 23mph) so much so that I considered re-gearing it to make it slower!

In the end cooler heads prevailed and greasing the fittings took away half (or more) of the steering quirkiness, making the cart quite driveable again.

Grease is quite cheap if you already have a grease-gun. If not, I bet for a couple dollars the corner repair shop (auto, lawnmower, boat, any of them) will grease the front zerk fittings on the cart for you.

Hmm, I just bought this back in May, so who knows when the last time they were greased. I will try that as well. Once I get time to actually wrench on my cart, I will report back with what I did, and the results.

As always, you guys rock and I appreciate the input/replys.