2013 Yamaha Drive Steering out of control at 20mph

[trotsky13]

2013 yamaha drive has 3" lift, not sure what kind, and 20" tires. It steers great up until about 20mph which is top end speed and it begins to erratically go left and right very fast and acts like it's going to tip the cart over. It does this whether there are people setting on rear facing seat or just with one person in cart. I'm going to install HD springs on rear but what would cause the squirrely erratic uncontrollable steering at that speed? Thanks for any help you could provide!

[Cruise Master]

In a motorhome that was called a death wobble. It was fixed with either a pan harden sway bar of a steering dampener. Neither exists on golf carts that I know of.

Curious what the more knowledgeable cart members will say on how to fix your "death wobble" and if it's a common thing on carts that exceed their design speed limits.

[Gregorio]

Are your tires inflated correctly?

[trotsky13]

Yes, tires inflated to correct level

[PingEye3]

Check your toe in settings. Lean more toward neutral on the adjustment rather than toed in 1/8" to 1/4" in the specs. I found that the drive is much more stable with the toe in straight or slightly toed out. This also worked on my CC Precedent for stability at the higher speeds.

[trotsky13]

I'll give that a try. What is the camber supposed to be set at? Mine has a slightly positive camber.

[Gregorio]

Great. I was going for the easy things first.

Experimentation will usually reveal that "some" toe is typically more stable than none at all. Too much toe will result in tire wear, increased steering effort and more. Regarding camber, negative amounts are most beneficial on vehicles that experience high cornering speeds. It helps keep the loaded tire flatter and in more contact with the pavement during a corner. Too much of it will result in outside (negative) tire wear or inside (positive) tire wear. However, cross camber is most critical. It should be as close to zero as possible or the vehicle will fight itself and try to turn in the direction of the side with less negative camber.

[trotsky13]

Great information and thank you for the help!