"alright, alright...I'll keep the d@mn thing!"

[shrpshtr]

Some of you all (ScottyB & JohnnieB particularly) may remember the multitude of inquiry posts I have made over the last few months about ALL of the components required to upgrade my cart from 36v to 48v. I haven't wanted to pull the trigger because of the fact I would really rather sell it and buy a John Deere Gator. This is where the problem comes in, HER. She doesn't want a Gator for about 6 million reasons of which 3 might make something that resembles sense. She wants "her" cart and so she shall have it. (I'm going to buy a Gator anyway. )

So, it's time to revisit all of those questions again (I know ScottyB is probably thrilled at that notion) and upgrade the cart so that when I have to drive it, it does what I want. Here are immediate questions I need answered:

1)Upgrading to 48v isn't going to happen anytime soon. I've already bought 6 new 6v T-105's so that's out of the question on this go round. The question here is related to the controller. Is a 500amp controller wasted on a 36v cart or would the torque performance increase be worth the cost?

2)If the controller is upgraded to 500 amps (with applicable HD F&R/Solenoid/etc.), what will that do to the run time of the cart? This is a big factor for this cart as we will use it ALL day at the beach or sporting clays tournaments. Will it reduce run time because it's providing more juice to the motor or increase because of ample power availability to the motor?

3)I will be installing a stereo/speaker combo and feel like it, and all lights/other accessories, should be run off a separate battery since I'm staying at 36v. Is there a recommended way to charge it easily and which type/battery details should I consider for these applications? (Note: it will reside under the seat in the space available.)

4)I need to repair a couple of issues on the cart. 1-it squeaks pretty loudly just driving down the road. Sounds like it may be the leaf springs or shocks but not quite sure which and can't really isolate it while not in motion. Any ideas on approaching with this? 2-Brakes seem to not work smoothly anymore. Most stops from speed seem to cause the cart to rock back and forth (front to back) almost as if bouncing? I have no idea what may be causing this other than over-inflated tires but I've checked that several times and they are spot on recommendation on tire wall. Thoughts here?

Thanks in advance all.

shrp

[kgsc]

In the prequil.. IF Momma ain't happy, ain't Nobody happy.. Just saying..

1 I assume this is a series cart.. IF you relocate the FNR switch with a contactor setup you can cram a battery on each side of the pack. Easy on the drivers side and cut the rear feet off of the controller plate and move it back on the passenger side..

2. I have the 500 in mine but still at 400 due to the stock motor but with 8 T145s I think I should have decent run-time.. Time will tell

3 Radio is a radio. If you go with 8 6s you will have to find a place to put an external..

4. Squeaks are normally rubber moving around and the bushings in the leaf springs can get stuck.. A complete new set of 12 is around $20.. The bouncing may be multiple things.. Brake drums maybe a little out of round causing surging and weak shocks can't handle that

[shrpshtr]

KG, it is a series cart with the stock motor.

For clarity, are you saying you have a 500a controller that is limited to 400a output due to the stock motor? If so, is that a requirement or preference? If I purchase a 500a controller it will run for some period of time with the stock motor. I need to know if that's going to be an issue.

For the accessory battery, I was thinking about just adding a 12v battery instead of 2 - 6v's. Would I just buy a cart battery, car battery, marine battery, etc? Would specifics matter for an aux battery?

For the bushing, is it 12 for the leaf springs, shocks, or both? I can go ahead and replace those to see if that resolves it.

Thanks for the help so far.

shrp

[kgsc]

I have the controller set to 80% output until I get the motor replaced just as a personal preference plus want to break in everything a little first without melting a battery.

I meant adding two more T 105s to get you up to a 48 volt pack. If you decide to stay at 36 and just get an aux buy a group 27 or larger deep cycle and stick it on the driver's side pan under the seat..

12 bushings are just the rear springs. 2 at the front and 4 at the back. Upper and lower shackles.. When you replace them, I advise putting a little axle grease in the pivot points..

That being said, my carts just squeak for all kinds of reasons.. Usually when they are being flexed.

[cgtech]

Burned up some motors, learned the hard way that 400a is the "top end" for the abilities of factory motors (in the stock cart motor realm we are speaking of). They perform great on higher settings, but dont last too long.

[JohnnieB]

Before answering to the enumerated questions, there is a conceptional issue to be resolved.
Specifically, she wants HER cart and you want to build it so it does what YOU want it to do when you have to drive it. Those two concepts might be mutually exclusive. It depends on how far apart what she wants the cart to do is from what you want it to do.

I don't know if there are any multi-mode (Different profiles for different users) controllers for series motors out there, but there are two-speed motors and two-speed differentials, so a multi-purpose series cart is possible.

-----------------
1. As mentioned, 400A is about all a stock motor can handle, however a 500A user programmable controller can be turned down to 400A while a 400A controller cannot be turned up to 500A should the stock motor be replaced with a more robust one that can handle 500A and needs 500A to obtain max performance from it. Higher initial cost, but less expensive than upgrading to a 500A controller if/when motor is upgraded.

2. Range reduction with a higher amp controller depends on how heavy the driver's foot is when accelerating form a standstill. Jackrabbit starts kills driving range, the same way they kill a car's MPG.

Due to the laws of physics, the higher the motor's RPM, the fewer Amps it can draw. So above a certain RPM, a motor can only draw so many amps, no matter what the controller is capable of passing to it.

IE: With a 36V battery pack, a hypothetical motor can only draw 275A (Stock controller limit) at 1400 RPM, which is 6 MPH on stock height (18") tires, so at speeds above 6 MPH, the range will be the same with a stock, 400A or 500A controller. A max effort acceleration form 0 MPH to 6 MPH will shorten the range more with a 400A or 500A controller than it does with a stock controller because the higher amp controllers will allow the motor to draw more amps. On the other hand, accelerating from a standstill at a 70% throttle with a 400A controller or 55% throttle with a 500A will have the same effect on range as a full throttle acceleration with a stock (275A) controller.

3. What kgsc said.

4. In addition to the spring/shock bushings, check the seat and top mounting brackets.

After tightening all the not quite tight enough nuts and bolts, I ended up adding adhesive backed foam weather stripping in the channels the roof mounting brackets fit into the roof.

IIRC, Loose/worn/missing rubber inserts at the spring hangers will cause shuddering when stopping.

[benjylafond]

JohhnieB:
You can set up an Alltrax controller to run at 2 different speeds (1/2 and full) without having to reprogram it. The folks at Alltrax told me how to do it. If you run a wire directly from the positive to the 1/2 speed reverse connector on the controller (after pulling off factory wire to controller), the cart will only run at half speed. this could be done with a toggle switch to toggle between half and full speed, but I didn't do this because I don't want my daughter to have the ability to flip a switch and go 30!

[scottyb]

I think Johnnie covered the main issue with 400 or 500 amp controller use.
The key point is how the controller functions. It allows access. It sends nothing.
This works because the motor draws amperage. The amperage drawn diminishes with rpm and VOLTAGE.
I have hundreds of customers out there with 500a controls in series carts. Most of these have been operating with these controls for many years. I have seen a handful tired motors burnt up but not enough to be statistically significant. In my opinion these motors were on their way out and the bigger tires and additional loads polished them off.
The motor can draw the full controller rating for a few seconds only at start up under high load. After that the motor draw is reduced as well as the controller ability to sustain the draw.

[Sir Nuke]

shrpshtr, just like scotty stated.....there are plenty of carts running 400 and 500 amp controllers..... I for one, am one of those people. I totally redid my WIFES Series cart....come to find out, although its HERS, I use it more than she does! lol and seeing as how I was the one doing the upgrade, I made sure it would do EVERYTHING I needed it to do. Seeing as how my wife tends to have a HEAVY foot.....that wasn't going to be a problem. I purchased all of my equipment from Scotty (Pkg #485) plus a set if his 2 ga. cables. as you can see in my sig......I also upgraded the motor to a high speed motor.....and you can see that I am still at 36v.....still run 27 MPH....AND my range is between 25 to 29 miles. NOW, when my pack needs to be replaced....which will be a number of years down the road, I may bump up to 48v if my NEED FOR SPEED gets the best if me!! LOL

[shrpshtr]

JohnnieB,

My wife's expectations are that when she pushes the throttle pedal the cart moves. She doesn't care how fast, only that it goes in the intended direction. As a matter of fact, she specifically doesn't want it to go fast as we let all 3 daughters drive it regularly. So, I don't believe we'll have conflicting needs there. (at least that one thing we agree on. :))

2)Based on that logic, is it safe to assume as long as you don't floor the throttle when starting from standstill there shouldn't be a substantial run-time fluctuation?

ScottyB,

For clarity, you're referring to customers with stock motors and the 500a controller, correct?

About the suspension squeaking, I think I am going to replace the leaf springs 1st and bushings all the way around. It appears they are stock springs and I am getting a lot of movement when shaking the cart. I'll test the shocks when I pull the springs off. Thanks for the direction on this issue. (hopefully there is a slim chance this addresses the rocking front to back when stopping also)

Shrp