09 RXV Gear Change

[kuntekente]

I am thinking of a small upgrade for speed in my cart. I was thinking of changing gears and adding tire to it. Does anyone have a good link for instructions or a youtube link on changing gears. I am not having much luck finding a gear change. Just fluid changes.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by kuntekente

I am thinking of a small upgrade for speed in my cart. I was thinking of changing gears and adding tire to it. Does anyone have a good link for instructions or a youtube link on changing gears. I am not having much luck finding a gear change. Just fluid changes.

The RXV uses the motor as the brake (regenerative braking), so anything you do to reduce the final gear ratio will not only reduce torque, but also reduce the effectiveness of the brakes. It's bad enough to put on bigger tires, going with speed gears would probably be overkill. You could actually lose high end speed due to the lack of torque. If you had a Curtis RXV controller, you could hit 28 MPH with stock tires and gears with a bit of programming. If you do decide to go with gears, don't go too radical and be wary of tire size.

Bob

[cgtech]

If you must do gears, use the 10.5:1 gears, not the 8:1 gears. Your braking & Hill climbing is gonna suffer no matter which one you choose, but it will be less terrible with the 10.5 gears. LOL! Bob beat me to it.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by cgtech

If you must do gears, use the 10.5:1 gears, not the 8:1 gears. Your braking & Hill climbing is gonna suffer no matter which one you choose, but it will be less terrible with the 10.5 gears. LOL! Bob beat me to it.

Not by much. LOL

Seriously, I would not go any lower than about 14.5:1 and no taller than a 20" tire. The Danaher controller in a 2009 may not even be able to pull that to RPM limit on a flat road.

[sltintexas]

Have you driven a cart thats done 25+ mph? Its not exactly stable at that speed.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by sltintexas

Have you driven a cart thats done 25+ mph? Its not exactly stable at that speed.

I had my 2012 RXV up to a peak speed of 29 MPH according to my GPS, at the 9500 RPM limit. I was running the 350 Amp upgrade Curtis controller at that time. Peak speed was 28 MPH with the stock 235 Amp Curtis controller. It was ok for stability, as long as I sat in the center of the seat, when I was on curvy roads. Straight road stability was much better. It went through the battery charge too quick, so I reduced my top speed to 25 MPH to save on SOC. Thank goodness I wasn't going fast when I hit the tree with that RXV!

On my 2008 RXV Shuttle 2+2, I went back to my stock Curtis controller and reflashed it back to the stock parameters it had when I bought it. I wouldn't want to go faster with the loose front suspension on that cart. I have all the front end parts to replace everything, just not really interested in going that fast anymore. Bouncing off of the steering wheel and going through the windshield on an RXV kinda hurt, but getting thrown out the right side afterwards hurt even more

I healed, though I still bear the scars. The RXV, not so much. The frame is sitting out front as a reminder.

Bob

[ncrr]

I had a gas cart a while back, converted over to a 24hp honda engine, it would do about 40, but I only did it a very few times, just too scary. Enjoyed the 0-30 times though....

[kuntekente]

Hi all and thank you for the great replies. I didn't realize the gear would inhibit braking. What is the best and safest way to get a bit more out of my cart. I don't want much more but the closer to 25 the better for me as I can't keep up with traffic on my way to the store down my one lane road.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by kuntekente

Hi all and thank you for the great replies. I didn't realize the gear would inhibit braking. What is the best and safest way to get a bit more out of my cart. I don't want much more but the closer to 25 the better for me as I can't keep up with traffic on my way to the store down my one lane road.

Since you have a 2009 RXV, it likely has the Danaher controller. While the Danaher is limited a bit in torque as compared to the Curtis, and lacks torque and speed enhancement parameters, it can be upgraded to Freedom mode. An E-Z-GO dealer with the older RXV diagnostic handset can enable Freedom mode for you, select that profile and set your speed up to 19.5 MPH with stock tires. You can then put a pair of 20" tires on the rear to bump your speed up about another 10% without greatly affecting torque or braking. You won't need a lift kit for 20" tires on the rear.

For about $600, you can buy a Curtis RXV controller upgrade kit from a guy on eBay and put that on your 2009 RXV. I've bought a few RXV controllers from him.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172633567931

There's a few of us on here with OEM Curtis programmers that know how to program the Curtis RXV controller to deliver 25 MPH with your stock tires. There may be someone close to you.

Bob

[kuntekente]

Originally Posted by BobBoyce

Since you have a 2009 RXV, it likely has the Danaher controller. While the Danaher is limited a bit in torque as compared to the Curtis, and lacks torque and speed enhancement parameters, it can be upgraded to Freedom mode. An E-Z-GO dealer with the older RXV diagnostic handset can enable Freedom mode for you, select that profile and set your speed up to 19.5 MPH with stock tires. You can then put a pair of 20" tires on the rear to bump your speed up about another 10% without greatly affecting torque or braking. You won't need a lift kit for 20" tires on the rear.

For about $600, you can buy a Curtis RXV controller upgrade kit from a guy on eBay and put that on your 2009 RXV. I've bought a few RXV controllers from him.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172633567931

There's a few of us on here with OEM Curtis programmers that know how to program the Curtis RXV controller to deliver 25 MPH with your stock tires. There may be someone close to you.

Bob

Bob, thank you for that feedback. I have the freedom tune done already so I get 19.5 and stock tires. I don't need a racer but if I got to 25 I think that would be plenty. I see the link is for a 2012 and newer cart but I have a 2009. He did not have anything for my cart on his other items page. If you see something please let me know.