Lifted G2 hard to keep steering straight!

[nzdrew]

I have a 4” lifted G2 on standard rims with knobbly tyres. Since the lift it’s become very difficult to steer straight and darts all over the track. Are there any adjustments I can make to counter this? It would be good to keep the old girl on the straight and narrow!

[slonomo]

Sounds like the alignment is off. Your toe setting might need to be corrected. Take a long straight edge and hold it up against the side of each front wheel, make a reference mark on the garage floor. Take measurements to determine which direction the wheels are pointing. Adjust the tie rods until both front wheels are pointing inwards just a hair, maybe 1/8". This is called "toed in".

[cgtech]

Your in for the long haul of "try several settings to get it just right". I would suggest a toe setting of near zero (less than 1/16" toe-in to start), but you will be at this for a while to find the perfect spot. You might even find a smidge of toe-out is what you need.

[slonomo]

Toe out on a single a arm suspension will cause the front suspension to "squat" while moving forward on pavement. If the wheels are pointed outward the cart will want to steer left then right and repeat. That's what leads to "squirrely handling".

Why you say? The natural thing for the tire to do is to travel in a straight line. When pointed outward, the two tires want to move away from each other. This causes the tires to put upward pressure on the a arms, which causes the shocks to compress. The result is front end squat.

On a single a arm (aka swingarm) front suspension, the tires must be toed in slightly to avoid the bad steering and suspension squat. The toe in setting allows the suspension to do the opposite action, which is lift itself, in forward motion.

[nzdrew]

Awesome. Is this caused by the lift? It wasn’t “squirrelly” before...

[nzdrew]

Apparently I also need Caster. Is that a thing?

[cgtech]

I totally agree with the above statement (and constantly fight that battle on mine). As far as "caster" goes, you can't do a danm thing about that unless you have a "double a-arm" lift kit, and if you dont have that, stop worrying about that right now (because you cant do squat about it). The further we go down the rabbit hole on things we cant adjust, the further we are away from fixing the things we can adjust. These suspensions offer nothing like what can be fixed on a real car, and we have to work with/around that. The G2 front suspension is akin to the rear suspension of an old VW beetle, it doesnt offer things afforded in modern stuff. (except we gotta steer that old "VW" suspension). Unless you go get "double a-arm" front suspension, this is the world we live in.

And those junky "club car style" transverse leaf spring lift kits disgust me with the idea of that trash on a yamaha, I could never do it, I know they cant hold an alignment, and if you hit a obstacle, they're knocked all outta whack.

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by cgtech

I totally agree with the above statement (and constantly fight that battle on mine). As far as "caster" goes, you can't do a danm thing about that unless you have a "double a-arm" lift kit, and if you dont have that, stop worrying about that right now (because you cant do squat about it). The further we go down the rabbit hole on things we cant adjust, the further we are away from fixing the things we can adjust. These suspensions offer nothing like what can be fixed on a real car, and we have to work with/around that. The G2 front suspension is akin to the rear suspension of an old VW beetle, it doesnt offer things afforded in modern stuff. (except we gotta steer that old "VW" suspension). Unless you go get "double a-arm" front suspension, this is the world we live in.

And those junky "club car style" transverse leaf spring lift kits disgust me with the idea of that trash on a yamaha, I could never do it, I know they cant hold an alignment, and if you hit a obstacle, they're knocked all outta whack.

The EZGO front suspension really leaves a lot to be desired as well. Yamaha has always been the king of golf carts IMO.

Oh, and the double a arm long travel kits.....worth the money!

[nzdrew]

Thanks all. So given that the cart will never operate (at least while I own it) in pavement because it's on a remote island, then I'm adjusting for toe-in right?

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by nzdrew

Thanks all. So given that the cart will never operate (at least while I own it) in pavement because it's on a remote island, then I'm adjusting for toe-in right?

Yes, toe in just a hair.