Front of cart shakes after extended use

[PhilipSherriff]

I have a 2015 EZGO TXT 48V stock cart. When I first begin to drive it is smooth but after about 1/2 mile or right after climbing a “hill”(hilly road in neighborhood, not off-road), the front of the cart begins to shake as if a tire was not balanced. I have checked tire pressure/alignment, solenoid and batteries but nothing seems out of the norm. My gut says it has something to do with power distribution but I’m a newb at this so not sure. When I tested the batteries I put leads on terminals and drove up the same hilly road. I didn’t see a drop in voltage but still felt the shaking. Because it’s stock and cruises at Mach 10-12mph 🙄 I want to invest in increasing the speed but don’t want to start spending money until I figure out why it shakes. Any help or guidance on resolving this so I can eventually get it up to 25(ish) mph would be greatly appreciated.

[bronsonj]

That's odd. So it isn't speed related but distance/effort related.

Did you buy the cart new and this just started happening? Does it happen when you have passengers and when you're alone on the cart? When the cart starts shaking do you feel it in the seat or in the steering wheel? Do you have any aftermarket brakes? Stock TXT carts have rear drum brakes only but you can upgrade to disc brakes in the rear or there are a few kits for front brakes too. Just wanting to verify what you've got first.

If it's related to front end components then those are not related to the drive. So they 'should be' impacted by load/speed/terrain/etc and not time on the road. If it's related to rear end components those are part of the drive system and time on the road increases heat and can deplete batteries which can present with time-related issues as well as load/speed/etc.

[Doubles Shooter]

Try swapping the tires front to back to see if the bounce moves to the rear. This could eliminate or show a tire problem. Beyond that, I can't help much.

[Capt. Lenny]

Since you say it shakes in the front, I would check lug nut torque and wheel bearings if you haven't done that. Weird thing is it does it after 1/2 mile.

[PhilipSherriff]

I bought it used but just started doing it after engine locked up and dealer replaced under warranty. I feel it in the floorboard. Doesn’t matter if I ride alone or have passengers. Brakes are stock. I have rotated tires to determine if it’s a tire but same shaking occurs. I was told the “engine is failing when under stress and is surging” but that doesn’t make sense to me. How could I check to see if this is the case or rule out that as an option?

[bronsonj]

So in a regular car when you feel the shimmy in your butt or feet that's usually the rear of the car and when you feel it in the steering wheel that's usually in the front.

If the engine is having trouble maybe you've worn out your brushes? I don't know as I haven't had to replace the brushes yet in my TXT48. The biggest components of the drive system is the motor and controller. If the rear diff, solenoid, etc were having problems they would be having problems from the start, not after a 1/2 mile.

Controllers and motors do heat up so the electrical characteristics can change but it really doesn't sound to me like a motor. But I'm not a pro golf cart repair guy, I'm a tinkerer and cart owner. I know if you had an Alltrax the next step would be to do a run hooked to a laptop and log all the data but I don't think there's a way to do that with the stock controller.

Also, if the dealer replaced the motor under warranty then wouldn't this issue still be under warranty?

[PhilipSherriff]

I’m definitely no mechanic though I do like to tinker as well. I appreciate your breakdown. Makes sense. I didn’t think it was the motor either. I beginning to question the integrity of the controller. It is a stock Curtis and planned to upgrade to alltrax or Navitas but honestly no clue which is better. As for the motor being under warranty, it truly wasn’t but when in 30 days of being purchased and it locked up I pretty much demanded a replacement. They reluctantly moved forward with replacement. That being said, even if still under warranty I would rather pay full retail price from a new mechanic before going back to that dealer. They seemed to be a bit on the shady side and now I’m here picking up the pieces trying to make my cart whole again.

[jasonojordan]

Originally Posted by PhilipSherriff

I’m definitely no mechanic though I do like to tinker as well. I appreciate your breakdown. Makes sense. I didn’t think it was the motor either. I beginning to question the integrity of the controller. It is a stock Curtis and planned to upgrade to alltrax or Navitas but honestly no clue which is better. As for the motor being under warranty, it truly wasn’t but when in 30 days of being purchased and it locked up I pretty much demanded a replacement. They reluctantly moved forward with replacement. That being said, even if still under warranty I would rather pay full retail price from a new mechanic before going back to that dealer. They seemed to be a bit on the shady side and now I’m here picking up the pieces trying to make my cart whole again.

Alltrax is the one widely recommended around here. I went with the navitas since it was quicker to get and local shop supported them. I can say my short talk with customer service at Navitas was very pleasing and they got my questions answered very quickly.

[bronsonj]

If you're looking to upgrade controllers I recommend Alltrax. The software to make changes is free and you can do logs easily. The stock TXT48 motor is a nice long stack unit and has worked very well for me with an Alltrax controller.

I don't know if that's the cause of the shimmy though. It's just so very odd that it doesn't do it for the first 1/2 mile. Did you check for oddities like worn out spring bushings or other mechanical issues? I presume so but it's better to ask. Still odd since those would present issues right away

[PhilipSherriff]

Could this be the micro switch beginning to fail causing the inconsistent speed (shaking)?