Rear Long Travel suspension

[boaterholic]

Originally Posted by scottyb

That has been done. I don't know how good a ride you would get though>?
A lot of engineering goes into a suspension system. If a better system was as easy as cutting off the springs and putting a coil or air shock on then that's what EVERYBODY would be doing but, it's not that easy in my opinion

You may be right about it not being that easy, but in looking at Jakes LT for a gas cart, to me at least it did not look much different than my idea. I think hardest thing would be finding the right airshocks or coil overs, and the probable need for a piece of angle steel going across the two current shock towers on top to bolt on the new shocks.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by boaterholic

You may be right about it not being that easy, but in looking at Jakes LT for a gas cart, to me at least it did not look much different than my idea. I think hardest thing would be finding the right airshocks or coil overs, and the probable need for a piece of angle steel going across the two current shock towers on top to bolt on the new shocks.

I never liked the short trailing arm but it is convenient to use the existing shackle mount. The question is
1. like you said, what suspension to use.
2. how to limit lateral movement

[boaterholic]

Originally Posted by scottyb

I never liked the short trailing arm but it is convenient to use the existing shackle mount. The question is
1. like you said, what suspension to use.
2. how to limit lateral movement

I'd love to find something like you made I can just buy since I don't have the tools or welding experience to do something like this. I could use the tools at work but still don't have the welding experience. I have to think the longer bars would be much better riding.
As to stability, at least in the case of the Jake's, are they just using the the gas engine mount to provide the lateral stability? It's the only thing I could think of in looking at it since they don't provide any other parts to do that. I guess if I was not getting enough lateral stability I could come up with some bolt on parts to make a track bar.

[boaterholic]

just an update.
For now I am running only the single primary leaf spring, and changed out the shocks for air shocks to help carry the load more softly. I had a brand new in box Rancho Shocks compressor kit for their adjustable shocks from a truck I use to have. I bought 4 new shocks for that truck and it came with this compressor kit I never used. So I thought why not try it.

Now on the dashboard hanging from bottom of cup holders is the control panel with 2 gauges and control buttons. I plumb each side individually because when I tried it with both shocks together the cart would sway too much too easily since the air pressure would travel between shocks to balance it self.

So with individually plumbed not much sway/lean on turns anymore, and with this control panel for the air I can change the firmness on the go. It's much better than what it was before on the ride. And last night I had 2 back seaters combined weight at around 400lbs and just kept adding air as we went until I liked the ride. Works great!

[boaterholic]

After another week of using this set up I am very happy to have tried it. The cart rides much smoother over bumps, and with the shocks set up individually as far as air supply, does not lean or sway too much. I wish I had thought of doing this a long time ago!

[AirJunky]

So just a single leaf in each spring, and the air shocks? What PSI?

I have the stock leaf spring (which has 2 leaves in each one), and a pair of coil overs. I have a flip seat on the cart, not to mention a full cage. With just me & another person it rides good, but not great. And with a load on the cart (4 people or a lot of gear) it leans quite a bit in the corners. I've thought about going with an LT tire instead of the ATV tires, but never pulled the trigger.

[boaterholic]

Never thought about an lt tire. Interesting. I would think they have stiffer side walls, but maybe I'm wrong.
So yes, single leaf - the primary leaf that bolts to cart and shackles. Air shocks that others have used on this forum. I think MA705's. They came with airlines with a single fill stem for both shocks t'd together. I had to much sway and leans on turns because the air pressure could transfer between the shocks.

So I did the Rancho shocks compressor kit I had laying around, and routed individual airlines to each shock which got rid of most if not all the leans and sway. Plus I can adjust on the go.

As far as air pressure I can't tell with the Rancho gauges because they read a different value for their shocks. But when I had the other fill stem that came with shocks, I think for just front seat passengers it was at around 55-60 psi, but don't quote me on that. I think for the extra load in back it was around 100-125, which makes sense since only one leaf spring so air ahock carrying most of the weight now.