Bumpy ride, what else could it be? Help Please!!

[Stevegrmich]

. . . have you tried jacking up cart and spinning the wheels to see if they run true? . . . .

[txbonds]

Will try that this afternoon along with rotating tires to see if the bump spot changes and will report back.


Would a bent axle be visible without tires if I spin the rear brake drum after jacking it up?

[txbonds]

Okay, one more observation. Just got back from a multi mile drive using the golf cart here in the neighborhood.

I had almost forgot but my cart makes a funny little bump, bump, bump type sound when the cart is sitting still and in run mode. The cart continued to perform over the past few years otherwise, so I just always put it in tow mode whenever we stopped. Not an ideal fix, but a solution none the less.

Today, I heard the sound pretty clearly in the garage when we got home so I climbed under the cart and could clearly hear and feel the little bump sound coming from the motor. I'm not sure if this is a sign of something inside the motor wrong, or if maybe some sort of setting inside my alltrax needs to be changed that is pulsing small power to the motor. On a side note, the controller was cool as a cucumber, but the motor is so hot I can't leave my hand on it for longer than a second.

Could the motor be causing the bumpy ride issue, or would it most likely have to be related to tires/wheels, hubs or axels not being true? Thanks.

[Mr.ken]

I have a 98 DS. I just checked my cart up in the wobble is definitely the worst in the right rear wheel. I can't tell if the left rear wheel is just residual because it is bouncing so bad. The tires and wheels are both new but I have no way to know for certain if they are true. I took my tire off and the wobble was still there but not as bad. With all of them people that seem to be having problems I would imagine it has to be some sort of action related problem

[txbonds]

I just jacked the rear of mine up. Ran the cart in forward at fast throttle while my wife and I watched the rear wheels. The drivers side rear was running pretty true but the passenger side rear was all over the place.

Just took the wheels/tires off and ran it again. Only one hub spins in forward, but in reverse I can see the same passenger side rear hub wobbling. The drivers side rear hub looks like it wobbles a slight bit too, but nothing like the drivers side.

Does this sound like a bent axle situation or something else? I'm wondering if there is lots of friction in there also causing the motor to get so hot as well. Looking around I see lots of advertise complete used rear end assemblies, including plum quick. I'm wondering if it would be simpler to just order a new rear assembly instead of trying to replace just axles if that turns out to be the diagnosis.

I'm going to flip flop the rear tires and try the run test again to see if the non-wobbling tire starts to wobble on the other side as that would help rule out the tires/wheels versus the rear axle/hub.



Anyone have an opion if the corresponding wobbling tires have wobbling rear hub underneath?

[Mr.ken]

I can't look at my hub with out the wheel since I'm alone today but it sounds like you're and mine are doing the same thing. Could it be worn axle bearings or something???

[Xact1]

Originally Posted by txbonds

Okay, one more observation. Just got back from a multi mile drive using the golf cart here in the neighborhood.

I had almost forgot but my cart makes a funny little bump, bump, bump type sound when the cart is sitting still and in run mode. The cart continued to perform over the past few years otherwise, so I just always put it in tow mode whenever we stopped. Not an ideal fix, but a solution none the less.

Today, I heard the sound pretty clearly in the garage when we got home so I climbed under the cart and could clearly hear and feel the little bump sound coming from the motor. I'm not sure if this is a sign of something inside the motor wrong, or if maybe some sort of setting inside my alltrax needs to be changed that is pulsing small power to the motor. On a side note, the controller was cool as a cucumber, but the motor is so hot I can't leave my hand on it for longer than a second.


Could the motor be causing the bumpy ride issue, or would it most likely have to be related to tires/wheels, hubs or axels not being true? Thanks.

I would think that this rules out a bad axle bearing, or bent axle. If the cart is in run mode, with the cart sitting still, and you have the bump, bump, my guess is something either motor related or the connection from the motor to the gearbox. It could be a bad bearing at the motor spline/gearbox connection. The fact that the motor heats up so much is an indication of a possible motor issue.

[txbonds]

Originally Posted by Xact1

I would think that this rules out a bad axle bearing, or bent axle. If the cart is in run mode, with the cart sitting still, and you have the bump, bump, my guess is something either motor related or the connection from the motor to the gearbox. It could be a bad bearing at the motor spline/gearbox connection. The fact that the motor heats up so much is an indication of a possible motor issue.

But I wouldn't think a motor issue would cause such a bumpy ride in the cart would it? I mean, it feels like the tires are not rotating in a circle when I say bumpy.

[rib33024]

Here's how i check to see if some thing is out of round or bent, get a concrete block, or some thing like it, get a small piece of wood, jack the wheel off the ground so you can spin it, put the block in front of the tire, and place the piece of wood on the block about an inch away from the tire and spin it to see if it's out of round, do the same on the side of the tire, and the rim to see if it's the tire or the rim, do the same thing to the rear tire and rim , and remove the tire and rim from the cart, and do the same to the brake drum to fine where the problem is, very easy to do.




click on pics to enlarge

[txbonds]

Okay, this is getting more and more frustrating. I just swapped the rear tires and here are my observations.

The extreme wobble moved with the rear passenger tire over to the rear drivers side, meaning I think this tire/wheel is obviously at issue.

The other thing I noticed, and I'm not sure if this is normal or not, and may be a function of the motor or rear end assembly, but there is a lot of jumpy bumpy feeling and sound whenever I run the cart forward with the rear end off the ground. It is making me think I have two issues going on with one being a possible wobbly tire/wheel setup and the other being a problem down inside the rear end.

What else should I be checking at this point? I'm getting frustrated and it seems that short of just replacing the entire rear end and motor, I'm not finding an easy way to narrow down my issue other than I think it has been isolated to the rear as the main problem and that the suspension and hubs up front are good at this point.