99 TXT gas build, The DAWG! Jakes LT and 670 Predator

[JPonLKN]

Update: Dawg has the new motor in, new gears installed, runs and drives.
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Had to build a little frame from some angle I had laying around to put a lawn mower seat on...old seat won't fit till after the lift goes on and I can drop the motor down. Functions as is. 23 MPH at 3600 RPM, starts, idles, shifts, tach and lights work...now, time to work on the body while I wait on the rest of the parts.
I will say, without a governor...it wants to run...feel like I am at half throttle at 3600...its begging to go more.

[JPonLKN]

Holy crap...**** cart tried to kill my neighbor and I last night on the way home...He is a pretty big guy, 6'7", 250 lbs, I am 6', 200 lbs. I was driving, he was on the rear seat which is behind the rear wheels, got up around 25 mph, cruising down a straight road, down hill, and the cart got into a massive death swerve, back and forth across the road. Thought i was going to flip it. The cart is not lifted and has stock tires on front, stock size atv tires on the rear, stock suspension, new bushings in the rear. What would cause this craziness? I do have a new name for the cart dubbed by neighbor: "Hell Bucket" LOL.

[cart around]

Nut loose behind the wheel.

Weight, and balance. Putting all of that weight at the rear of a cart that wasn't designed to go that fast with lousy brakes is a deadly combination.

I'm willing to bet that he wasn't sitting in the center of the seat either. His weight was most likely on the driver's side with yours.

Weight, and balance has killed a lot of pilots.

[JPonLKN]

I'm sure he was sitting side saddle, facing forward... I looked at the cart this morning and found that the driver side rear tire is very low...surely didn't help the situation.

Steering wheel is tight, steering to the front wheels is tight as well...no significant play. I think it is a tire issue...the rear tire is 2-ply and soft. Hopefully, that is the issues and it gets solved when I put the Jake's LT lift on and better tires/wheels. This thing will get crazy scary if the lift and tires make it worse, which higher center of gravity is likely to do.

[BaselessEarth12]

What are your plans for the brakes? I'm currently at the point where I just have to add a few things to the front of mine, then extend the brake cables or compensator rod... I know for a fact that the stock brakes WILL NOT be happy trying to stop about 400lb more than the cart weighed originally, 25×10×12 rear tires, and a VC625 Big Block... Mine will MOST LIKELY NOT be receiving speed gears. YET...

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[JPonLKN]

I have Jake's front discs ordered...just got an email from them last night as follow up to my email asking for a status update on ETA of my lift and brakes...another 30 days at least.

[JPonLKN]

In case anyone is interested...this isn't one of those dead build threads. Figured I would post an update. Body work ongoing and won't get reinstalled till after the lift installation. Motor is in, runs great, shifts ok, could be smoother. I'm going to have to change everything anyway when the lift comes in, if it ever does. Already had my first passive aggressive noise complaint "are you going to put a muffler on it?". It has the VC header/muffler, and yes, it is still very loud. I have some thoughts on how I will tame the noise a bit, but I need some real estate under the cart to work with and that will happen after the lift gets here. Come on Jake's...they are just steel parts...find a US based source for parts and a machine shop to do the fab work. Geessh!

Last night I picked up some used 12" rims with 23" tires to add a little clearance while I wait for the lift. They are likely temporary as I want bigger tires, and different wheels...maybe these will grow on me. They aren't horrible.

As for 23" tires on an un-lifted cart with a 670 cc Predator....Won't work without some sort of lift. They can be bolted on without the body on...doubt you could even do that with the body on, but even without the body, they rub everywhere with a little weight (ie: My fat butt) on every turn, and bump. It will drive straight down the road though. I'll look into swapping the springs to the top of the axles to get a few inches...maybe extend the shackles at the rear. Might even build the 4 point for the rear while I wait for the front suspension. Need some time to work out what is possible first.

Has anyone flipped the springs to the top of the axles for limited lift? Front and back. Is it doable? Any issues I will run into?

As a side note, speed is up to 30 MPH at 3,600 RPM with 8:1 gears according to the GPS on the phone on a very short speed run. Very stable too without my neighbor on the back.

[JPonLKN]

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Its a bit odd looking, and not level. Added the 6" drop axle for now...also added homemade rear lift blocks. I could cut them to level it out...but not going to for now. Body work is on hold till I get both the workhorse and MPT complete...one is running. Tomorrow, hopefully the other will be.

[JPonLKN]

Update: Ordered the RHOX 7" lift two days ago....Its friggen here...a day early from the early window of the promised delivery of Nov 13-17. Looks like the front shocks are progressive as well...Should get installed this weekend. While I have the pre 2001.5 TXT, they don't make this lift kit for that model, so I will be doing some steering mods. The differences in steering between the two models appear to be the column and attachment point, the steering box and associated drag links, the spindles and axle, and this kit replaces everything but the column and attachment point. I will be doing some mods...I have a workhorse with the 2001.5 4-bolt column that will be trading steering and suspension with the TXT, and ultimately get the 6" drop axle lift that is on the TXT now. Considering I ordered the Jake's LT kit back in mid July and just got a response that it is at least another 60 days out...it got cancelled. Maybe get the disk brake kit and do the mods to make it work some time in the future once all the Covid Mess and China Trade stuff has eased up...mayby not, we will see how well the brakes work with the new setup.

I'll do another update once the lift gets installed, but here is how it comes from the factory...I unboxed it of course, but it is mostly pre-assembled.
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[JPonLKN]

Well, install has started, or at least the demo has.
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Since I am going to move the 3-bolt steering and lift from the TXT to the workhorse, rather than buy another 4-bolt lift specifically for it...I am going to deal with a few more road blocks to make this 4 bolt lift work on my 3-bolt TXT. I have access to a stripped down 4-bolt donor frame, so it looks like I will be cutting out the front frame of the donor cart and then cutting out the steering support section of the TXT frame to keep for the workhorse, and weld in the donor frame sections. The steering support for the 3 bolt steering rack is in the way of the RHOX upper frame mount arm, so cutting that portion of the frame out is necessary anyway, might as well keep it intact and ready for welding into the workhorse when the time comes. Sadly, I'm considering stripping the entire TXT cart down to the frame, cleaning and re-painting. Wasn't originally in the plan, but since all the rivets are now out, might as well pull it all apart and start over with pretty clean, freshly painted parts. It will look and drive like brand new when I am done...need to find a way to get the "new cart" smell. LOL