Need advice new cart or upgrade to 48v

[Mrbruin2k]

So need all your advice. I have a 1996 TXT DCS cart. I have upgraded to 12" rims, lifted it, lcd head/tail lights, extended roof and rear seat...basically has all I want except the power on it sucks. I only use it to drive around our family of 5 on paved roads in the neighborhood. Problem is we live in a very hilly area and it struggles going up the hills with us all on it. I upgraded the batteries about 12 months ago to the costco interstate batteries. I also upgraded all the cables and it ran a bit better, but the batteries seem to already have dropped a bit in capacity registering about 37.9 or so after sitting 12 hours after full charge.

So my question is......should I spend the money on this cart and upgrade controller, add 2 batteries, and get new charger etc? I hope that since the batteries are only about a year old I can add the 2 extra and not have too bad a problem. I assume the upgrade would cost me about:

$500 controller
$200 batteries
$200 charger

So around $1,000 with all the odds and ends. My other option is selling the cart and finding a 48v newer ez go cart. I figure I can get around $3,500 out here in Los Angeles by browsing craiglist ads.

Is it worth it to continue to invest in this cart and could it have the potential I need for higher torque use? Don't really care to get speed up much past 20mph, just want it to not crawl up the hills.

If not, what cart should I look to get? TXT 48v or RXV? My current cart is also nicely painted with stereo etc. Only other problem I have is steering is pretty loose, so would need to figure out how to try to fix that as well. Any advice/help would be appreciated!!

[Mooncarter]

Just my humble opinion. I would never change a 36v cart to 48v and spend $1000 to do it, mix new batteries with old etc. and spend that much. All about what you have to spend and what you want to do.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by Mrbruin2k

So need all your advice. I have a 1996 TXT DCS cart. I have upgraded to 12" rims, lifted it, lcd head/tail lights, extended roof and rear seat...basically has all I want except the power on it sucks. I only use it to drive around our family of 5 on paved roads in the neighborhood. Problem is we live in a very hilly area and it struggles going up the hills with us all on it. I upgraded the batteries about 12 months ago to the costco interstate batteries. I also upgraded all the cables and it ran a bit better, but the batteries seem to already have dropped a bit in capacity registering about 37.9 or so after sitting 12 hours after full charge.

So my question is......should I spend the money on this cart and upgrade controller, add 2 batteries, and get new charger etc? I hope that since the batteries are only about a year old I can add the 2 extra and not have too bad a problem. I assume the upgrade would cost me about:

$500 controller
$200 batteries
$200 charger

So around $1,000 with all the odds and ends. My other option is selling the cart and finding a 48v newer ez go cart. I figure I can get around $3,500 out here in Los Angeles by browsing craiglist ads.

Is it worth it to continue to invest in this cart and could it have the potential I need for higher torque use? Don't really care to get speed up much past 20mph, just want it to not crawl up the hills.

If not, what cart should I look to get? TXT 48v or RXV? My current cart is also nicely painted with stereo etc. Only other problem I have is steering is pretty loose, so would need to figure out how to try to fix that as well. Any advice/help would be appreciated!!

It's hard to beat a 2012+ RXV for hill climbing torque. Just don't go overboard on tire/wheel size, and this applies to all carts. By going larger on your wheels/tires, you just may have effectively crippled your carts hill climbing ability. The SepEx drives were intended more for speed than torque. Rethink what it is you want more, looks or performance. It's easy to throw more money at problems created by making uninformed choices. Thinking it through and asking for advice like you have, is probably one of the best decisions you have made. Let some of the SepEx experts guide you through your options.

I'm an AC drive guy, so I try to stay out of the other cart type issues when I can. Some things, such as issues caused by larger wheels/tires are universal

[scottyb]

You Can increase torque and speed in this cart easily. 48v produces 33% more torque and speed from the stock motor.

What controller is in the cart now?

Stock control? Well, it's time to upgrade to Alltrax XCT48400 and the HD SW180 solenoid. This upgrade alone will net you 33% more power and speed around 20-22 with the DCS cart on 36v for about half the cost you quoted.
Later you can add 2 batteries or better replace the 6/6v with 6/8v and gain more speed and torque. I never met a 36v cart that didn't perform better with more voltage. Add one more 6v and net 42v for a 17% increase in performance.

[Mrbruin2k]

Originally Posted by scottyb

You Can increase torque and speed in this cart easily. 48v produces 33% more torque and speed from the stock motor.

What controller is in the cart now?

Stock control? Well, it's time to upgrade to Alltrax XCT48400 and the HD SW180 solenoid. This upgrade alone will net you 33% more power and speed around 20-22 with the DCS cart on 36v for about half the cost you quoted.
Later you can add 2 batteries or better replace the 6/6v with 6/8v and gain more speed and torque. I never met a 36v cart that didn't perform better with more voltage. Add one more 6v and net 42v for a 17% increase in performance.

Thanks for the advice Scottyb. So that controller is able to be used for both 36v and 48v? If so, that seems to be a good choice for me....

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by Mrbruin2k

Thanks for the advice Scottyb. So that controller is able to be used for both 36v and 48v? If so, that seems to be a good choice for me....

YES....the controller will work for both 36v and 48v......so later if you decide to jump to 48v, you can and get even more torque and speed. all that you would need, other than the 2 extra batteries, is a 48v charger ($285), and a new resistor ($10.00) and diode ($8.00) for the solenoid.

[Mrbruin2k]

Perfect...sounds like I'm keeping my cart and starting with upgrading controller etc. Also, would you all recommend to use a separate 12v battery for accessories? I have a voltage reducer and don't often use them with fear they deplete my batteries..I saw the sealed 12v 20ah battery someone posted from Amazon and that looks like a nice option

Also I'm using the stock charger for my batteries. I replug it often so it keeps them topped off, but I have 3 battery tenders...would it be worthwhile to connect those three to pairs of batteries to trickle charge the batteries as well when not on the big charger? Would it help keep them holding capacity better and lasting longer?

[yurtle]

I have a Battery Tender for my 12 volt accessory battery, and it claims to have a float mode, not a trickle charger. My understanding is trickle applies a constant current, while float keeps a constant voltage, which is superior.

I preferred a reducer, but experienced momentary radio/CD/iPod/phone dropouts when I punched it. I have an aggressive setting on my controller. I tried capacitors, but also was unhappy with the radio memory wire being unavailable. While I spend the most time listening to tunes on my phone, I sometimes like to tune into the auto-pilot radio. I ultimately changed to an aux battery, and have the charger wire wire-tied to my DPI cable, so I plug it into the "cigarette lighter" when I plug in my DPI.

[yurtle]

As to your fear of a reducer killing your buggy batteries, just look at the size wires, vs. the cables for the motor. Even a 30 amp reducer is a tiny fraction of what your motor wants. Unless you sit with powerful lights and tunes for hours at a nighttime bonfire, you probably won't end up walking home, due to battery drain.

[Mrbruin2k]

That is true so won't worry about it. Yurtle I see from your sig you have 8 6v batteries under the seat...could you shoot over a picture of what the orientation looks like?

Thanks