Lift Kits - Lift not same in Rear...why?

[Land Owner]

I checked Craig's List for parts and saw a lifted CC for sale near me that was canted, front to back, in a manner that looked awkward. The tires were the same diameter, front to back, but the lift in the front was "substantially" (couple inches +/- over the wheel base) more than the lift in the rear and the visual brought home the following:

A "4-inch" (say) lift kit elevates the front of the cart (a full 4-inches over OEM?) and the larger wheel & tire provides 1/2 their new diameter to elevate the rear differential.

Rear Example: one-half of (23" dia. tire minus 18.5" OEM dia. tire) plus OEM 4" clearance at differential equals about 6.25" final clearance at differential. Yes?!?

Or only about 2.25" total rear lift (vs. 4" lift in front), canting the cart front to back by the 1.75-inch difference. Is that right?

Why isn't the final lift horizontal and level front to rear? What's the purpose of a canted lift? I suppose it must be that the rear axle output to the must be straight and no lift kit is going to offset that relationship in the rear.

[BigBlockMan]

Most lifts are level front to back, Some even add a extra inch to the rear because so many cart owners install a seat or box or something on the rear. My neighbors kid has 5 or 6 trucks. Toyota to full size ALL of them sit lower in the back by a couple inches. In the old days we raked them forward now they rake them the other way. LOL

[scottyb]

'The Look' was born from the offroad racers like the pre-runners of the desert race trucks and dune buggies..... It became critical to them to have maximum front travel to survive the open desert runs, and so the look became synonymous with the baja prerunners

We used to jack em up in the rear, as Tom said. They call that old style 'sitting stink bug' and the new sitting pre runner.
Hope this helps bring u old guys up to date

[crash12888]

Originally Posted by BigBlockMan

Most lifts are level front to back, Some even add a extra inch to the rear because so many cart owners install a seat or box or something on the rear. My neighbors kid has 5 or 6 trucks. Toyota to full size ALL of them sit lower in the back by a couple inches. In the old days we raked them forward now they rake them the other way. LOL

Most of that is due to the limitations of the available driveshaft angle.
Short beds and Broncos being the worst due to the shorter shaft.

I would say that if a lift on a cart is not level then someone has home built it or installed one incorrectly.
A good quality lift regardless of height will keep the cart level.

[Pipsta]

That new back raked look makes the trucks look like they got a big dookie in their diaper!

[clubcar95]

lol

[kevinandrew]

i used to have a desert truck (before i had a wife and kids) i took it down to mexico and used it to prerun the baja races. more travel in th front eats all the nasties off road. it also gives you a better attack and launch angle. like a boat in the water....you want you nose up. higher in the back will toss your behind up and over and make jumps really hairy and hard to control. not a good thing when you're doing 80mph down a trackless river bed or rut that you could hardly walk down.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by kevinandrew

i used to have a desert truck (before i had a wife and kids) i took it down to mexico and used it to prerun the baja races. more travel in th front eats all the nasties off road. it also gives you a better attack and launch angle. like a boat in the water....you want you nose up. higher in the back will toss your behind up and over and make jumps really hairy and hard to control. not a good thing when you're doing 80mph down a trackless river bed or rut that you could hardly walk down.

UMmmmm....... that's cool ... but this is a golf cart with a top speed of 15 mph

[kevinandrew]

Originally Posted by scottyb

UMmmmm....... that's cool ... but this is a golf cart with a top speed of 15 mph

yeah....ok. for the golf cart.....level would probably be better. if you are going to spend the $ to go faster.......spend some $ on breaks and other things to. long travel suspension would be a good choice too. take a look a what polaris and yamaha have done on their sport utvs. golf carts are tough, but they really aren't made for what most of us are doing with them here.

[LostHusker]

Is the rear leaf springs on top of the rear axle?