98 Club Car 48 volt needs help on hills

[RSDennison]

Hi, I am new to golf carts in general and this forum specifically. It's a 98 CC with all new batteries and upgraded wiring, it seems OK on flats but any hills really slow it down dramatically. Even the slopes in my yard slow it to almost nothing and I would like enough power/torque to pull the hills reasonably. My question is this, is there an option to change the overall gearing, or must I invest in controller/motor upgrades. If so what would be the most economical way to get better performance on hills. I am not interested in overall speed increase so used parts from a different more HD unit might be a good option. Any help will be greatly appreciated
RSD

[JohnDaMan]

My stock motor on stock tires was pretty terrible on the hills as well. I think a motor or controller upgrade is needed

[lmswest]

There's plenty of motor options that don't require a controller upgrade...pq d&d and admiral make a motor that doesn't.

[Fishing Dude]

Go green Buy a horse

[RSDennison]

A local dealer wants me to come test drive a newer RXV, anyone familiar with this model? How would it stack up against my 98 ?

[JohnDaMan]

It's an AC cart unlike your DC cart. The programming isn't quite ironed out from what I know for the AC controller. Torque could be an issue from a dead stop. Especially with larger tires

[UpstateNYDS]

I had the same questions when I first got my cart this time last year. Just the nature of the beast with these. Then I did a lift kit and larger wheels and tires. You wanna talk about slow on hills. I read good stuff about PQ and got one of their purple models. No controller change needed or anything else. Just a quick swap of motors. Very inexpensive compared to the other options. I'm very satisfied with the upgrade. Not fast on hills but much better!

[revhompappie]

I recently bought a stock standard 99 Club Car 48V and I am experiencing exactly the same problem. I have enough speed on level surfaces but a serious lack of power on hills. My batteries are well maintained and tested fine. This leaves me with the programmer and the motor. Could this be a problem with the motor's brushings not making good contact anymore?

[Speedchaser]

Originally Posted by revhompappie

I recently bought a stock standard 99 Club Car 48V and I am experiencing exactly the same problem. I have enough speed on level surfaces but a serious lack of power on hills. My batteries are well maintained and tested fine. This leaves me with the programmer and the motor. Could this be a problem with the motor's brushings not making good contact anymore?

The stock motor is only 2+ HP and it is trying to push a 1000LB cart plus whatever else is on it, that is a lot to ask.

It all comes down to one's specific goals and the amount that person is willing to spend. Doing it right with a controller, motor and not forgetting HD F/R switch and HD solenoid, looking at around $1200 plus. And probably a good idea to upgrade cables so tack on another couple hundred.

With stock wheels, maybe a motor upgrade is in order, but with a lift and bigger wheels/tires, I would recommend going all the way

[lmswest]

A controller alone will absolutely help but if you really want to fly uphills its best to upgrade them all. I did mine in weekly stages and I ran my 650 amp controller for a few weeks before I installed my motor and could see a big difference..