steering colum fab help !

[thefuzz]

has ANYONE ! cut down [shortened ] there steering colum any to lower the stering wheel from being up in yer chest or belly if yer a BIG GUY ? I would like to take out about 4 inchest outa mine but not sure if it can be done ? or is there a SHORT shaft colum you can buy for a 2001 club car ds

any help or pics would be helpfull...

[Gonkulor]

Hi Fuzz,

I have an EZGO, not sure of the difference to a club car. I had the bottom cut 3 inches, it's easy squeezy. There is alot of discussion within the board about shortening the steering shaft and here is my 2 cents.

Do it right and either chop off the top or the bottom and have it machined. Some have cut out material in the middle and welded it back together, but are you willing to trust their weld job will not break? I know highly skilled and certified welders who have NDT capabilities to certify there welds and I still would rather have the bottom end machined. Any machine shop can do the job in less than an hour, two hours if they really milk it. I could have shortened mine myself with a high speed grinder to rough cut and filing to finish the job but it would have taken me a long time and instead of removing 3" I could of ended up removing 4" 5" on attempt #? if I screwed it up.

So that was the long answer. Short answer is yes, a lot of people have. No I haven't ever seen a shortened shaft for sale.

Hope that helps

[Gonkulor]

Oh, one more thing. If/when you shorten your steering shaft you will also have to shorten the housing it goes into. Don't do what this idiot did and just go with cutting 3" from the housing because that is what the machinist was told. The upper end of the steering shaft on mine is tapered and the top of the housing has a seal cap which fits the taper. Now my taper sticks up through the seal just too far enough to make my steering very tight, almost too tight.

HEY! Thats how you fix sloppy steering right

[scottyb]

I agree remove the shaft and take it & the column to a professional for the best results.
As for learning to weld on your cart? I see people learning to weld on their bumpers, battery trays, lift kits, suspension, rear seats, you name it, so why not the steering shaft?
Is it really less dangerous for the steering wheel to come off in your hands than say the batteries to drop out the bottom or a wheel to fall off or the rear seated passengers to drop off or the front bumper to go under the cart?
I know, I know, I'm just saying if you trust your welding enough for these other projects then you can probably cut and weld a rod in a jig. Grind the ends in a conical shape and weld it up from the inside out...For a jig put a piece of straight angle iron in a vice & lay the halves in it.

[smallblock450sl]

Also would depend on what type of steering it is, Rack (with splines at both ends), then have it machined or like early Yamaha's (worm gearing at the box end for the pitman pins to ride in). I did shorten 1 once, as Scotty said, ground both sides of the cut for great welding penatration and I also added a "collar" that I slid over the welded joint and welded the ends of the collar also. Never heard of a problem from the customer. Good luck

[Gonkulor]

Hah Scotty I must say I can't argue with your logic.:beer:

[hookm]

Instead of shortening mine I moved it forward 3 inches & down probably 6.hookm

[thefuzz]

another question ! if your welding on your cart do you disconect the battry cables on the cart ?? I'v had some say yes an som say no now mose welders i tlk to that welds for a living say YES they would...

[pachanga90]

Always unhook the bateries when welding,It can spike electronics in a split second and cost a fortune to repair.As far as the welding,My concern is Scottys' statement "that if you try welding everthing else,why not the steering-shaft".If an inexperienced person goes to _____ tool supply and buy a welder,whether a good one or an offshore buzz-box,If they don't know how to set it or use it,they are asking for a visit to the hospital.If you are a new or inexperienced welder,please do yourself a favor and have someone weld components such as steering for you,or at least have them there to guide you.Always sleeve the shaft over the weld-joint so that you spread the force out,instead of relying on a butt-weld.I've been involved in everything from Go-Kart to DIRT Sportsman racing,and even Off-Road/On-Road lifted-trucks,and I've seen the bad-side of things like this.A battery-box or bumper is one thing,Steering/suspension needs to be done safely.

[scottyb]

My point was whether a suspension or battery trays it all needs to be done professionally. If you can not make professional welds you shouldn't be practicing on your cart in my opinion.
I guess my off handed humor didn't come across right. Try dropping a battery out the bottom of a WOT golf cart and see how fast that pitches you out of the cart and flips it.