Loose steering

[wilby99]

I have a 1989 ez go marathon when getting up to speed the steering gets real loose and the littlest turn makes the cart turn to much and the cart gets real swaying. anything i can do to fix it?

[nobuckbuild]

start with checking tie rods and the steering gear , typically all golf carts get squirrely when moving at speed and are much easier to flip than you would think a little bump had me on two wheels and i was only going 5 mph its just a matter of driving smart and remember that the the balloon tires make it bounce and drive like a solid brick. yes carts have suspension but its only designed to smooth bumps on a golf path at 15 mph tops. think about how your car handles when you get over say 90 mph the front end gets loose and wind resistance moves you around quite a bit. same thing smaller scale on a golf cart hence the reason when some people lift and v twin carts one of the best things you can do to improve drivablility is to get the long travel lift kit to smooth out the suspension at speed

[guyboy1970]

Have you recently changed anything on the front or rear of the cart? Like added a lift kit or changed springs or wheel and tire combo? Several things can make a cart get crazy because I dealt with this problem with my 89 gas ez go.

The guys here on the board were awesome with info on getting mine driving fairly straight again. Start with toe in and then I had to adjust my caster to get it riding straight again. May not be your problem but that is how I fixed mine.

[wilby99]

how do i check those?

[nobuckbuild]

start with the cart on the ground look at the front end while having someone turn the steering wheel from lock left to lock right and back again . you will notice that the joints (the parts that connect the steering to the wheels) that is what is called a ball socket and it has a bolt that attaches to the spindle when turning the wheel you may see one or more joints move out of sync with the rest of the assembly , start by checking that tie rod by rocking it back and forth to see if the joint is loose if they are loose replace as needed some people will just replace them all to get that nice tight steering back. if someone else would chime in here I dont know if you cart has kingpins and bushings but if it does they could also be the cluprit as worn kingpins will let it travel wherever it wants to

[icyveins]

I believe the 89 front axle have a king pin setup that goes through the bottom and top flanges of the front axle and through the center of the spindle housing grease zirk on the inside of the spindle housing. should have a castle style nut on the top with a cotter pin locking the nut in place.