1999 EZGO 36V, should i upgrade or sell

[dawson]

Hello, i am looking for feedback
I recently bought this Golf Cart and i am not excited about 9mph uphill and 14mph on the flat paved road with 2 adults and 2 kids. should i upgrade or sell?

1999 EZGO Series TXT
36 VOLT
6) US1800 XC2 Batteries August 2014
Alltrax NPX4834EZ
Stock F&R
6 gauge cables
No battery gauge
Stock motor
Tires 22x11-10 predator tires
Back seat

I spoke to Mr.ScottyB, that guy is really cool and informative. I would like some feedback from you folks if you have upgraded to his recomended package. Here is what he says will help me out.

"Most of the guys are using package #485. The 500 amp SPM control and 400 amp solenoid will allow the motor to access enough amperage to produce its maximum torque. #485 is on sale right now for $529. Use 2g cable kit #2 for $249 and HD F&R Switch number EZ575 for $169 and Digital battery meter and key switch plate for $69 to complete the upgrade.
This will give you a significant increase in torque or power. For additional speed you can run this cart on 48 V with this system to gain 33% more speed."

I plan to drive in the woods in south carolina hunting, around the house which has some decent hills. with usually 2 adults and kids.

Has anyone upgraded to this kit?
Do you notice a signifigant performance increase?

sorry for the lengthy post. thanks and have a great day!

[nobuckbuild]

I personally do not use electric carts but what i can tell you is that scotty b is top notch when it comes to electric carts and upgrades and really stands behind his products. your going to be hard pressed to find someone to say anything negative about him here and if you spoke with him on the phone about what your using the cart for then you understand he is not trying to sell you some random items , he is explaining the items you need to use your cart for your intended purpose. as to the selling vs upgrade . unless you find a cheap electric cart with no batteries and build it from the ground up and keep the stock cart until done if funds allow otherwise build what you have

[dawson]

Thanks NoBuckBuild, I appreciate the feedback.
Scottyb definately knows his stuff!
And is extremely nice to provide his insight free of charge.

My dilema is do is if i spend over a $1000 dollars on the above package.
And i still need to convert to 48 volts when the batteries need replaced and a charger to go with it.
And then a motor upgrade at some point. thats roughly $2,000 upgrades plus the $2,800 i just paid for it.

[radioman]

Sell.

[JohnnieB]

The NPX4834 is a 300A controller, so you essentially have a stock series drive cart with oversized tire and a back seat. In addition, your battery pack's storage capacity is 208AH, which is about 8% less than the standard 225AH and they are made by US Battery, so they very likely being under charged, unless you have a charger that has a US Battery charging profile.

Theoretically, your cart should do about 17MPH on level ground with the 22" tires, but is only doing 14, so something is costing you about 3MPH. It takes more torque to turn 22" tires and your amp deliver system is definitely lacking, so upgrading the amp deliver system as suggested probably will up the speed some, but if the tires are the low pressure type (Max inflation pressure less than 10PSI), it won't go all they way up to 17MPH, which is roughly the max speed with 22" tires, 12.44:1 differential gears and a stock motor at 36V.

In addition to increasing speed, the 22" tires also reduces the the torque available where rubber meets road, so the cart will slow down more than it would on stock height (18") tires. The number of RPM the motor has to slow in order to draw the amps needed to generated the increased torque needed to offset the increased drag of going uphill is about the same regardless of tire height, but the final drive ratio created by the taller tires increases the speed, so more MPH is lost for the same RPM loss.

Upping the battery pack to 48V will up both torque and speed by about 33%.

At 48V and the suggested upgrades, the cart ought to have a top speed a bit over 22MPH and should do about 15MPH or more on the hills it is now slowing to 9MPH on, unless they are low pressure 22" tires.

[dawson]

Thanks for the informative response JohnnieB.

I have a PowerWise EZGO Textron 36V Charger, unfortunatley this charger has no options to change battery profile.

I am unsure of the max inflation pressure, i will check this out tonight when i get home.

I appreciate the numbers provided, those are numbers i think i could be happy with.
just weighing spending all the money upgrading a 1999.
Or sell this one, and buy a newer cart to upgrade.

[rbuggies48IN]

You will get a perfect upgrade now with Scootyb's package and when the batteries die, you can go to a 48 volt system, as mentioned. The controller, cables, solenoid, F&R, Key, etc. are a onetime upgrade now leaving you with only need for new batteries later, which you will pay for with any cart you purchase, and a charger and a motor. A good charger would be DPI, less than $ 300.00 and I believe that you could do a Plumquick Bandit motor upgrade on your existing motor (call Plumquick for their recommendation) for less than $ 300, including freight. I don't know what your purchase options are now, but I am guessing your best performance value is staying with what you've got, but look around and be certain so there are no regrets, which I am sure you won't have with scootyb's package.

[dawson]

Thanks Rbuggies48In i appreciate your response.
I agree I spoke with a few other companies and have found ScottyB's upgrade to be the most cost effective and practical approach.
PlumQuick folks are very helpfu tool! I spoke with them and they suggested two options; $275 to upgrade my motor, or $575 to build one for me the next grade up.

my original thoughts were start with the motor, however; that changed after talking to scottyb which his thoughts made the most sense to upgrade the amp delivery system first. then motor/voltage upgrade later.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by dawson

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my original thoughts were start with the motor, however; that changed after talking to scottyb which his thoughts made the most sense to upgrade the amp delivery system first. then motor/voltage upgrade later.

Yep, get the bugs and the bottlenecks out of the amp delivery system first and then the motor guys (Plum Quick, D&D etc.) will have better idea what the carts performance is, so they can give better advice on what type motor is needed to give you the performance you want.

[HiTechRedNeck]

Counterpoint opinion.

A STOCK RXV will run 19.5 mph.
On most hills, will not slow down much, Probably maintain 15mph.

RXV's commonly have 4x12v batts which are not as good as 8v batts,
but swapping to 6x8v is not that hard and relatively cheep (compared to controller/motor/charger)

Might look at RXV as option as you will be spending about 1/2 to 3/4 the cost of an RXV to upgrade your current ride.

Find someone with an RXV and try it on a hill...