golf carts

[Rttoys]

Since autocross is still on hold, I guess I should pick up a new hobby. Maybe we can autocross golf carts? Hhhmmm. Anyways. FIL wants a golf cart to tool around the neighborhood. I’m not spending thousands of dollars all at once on one, so let’s find a cheap one that needs repairs and spend thousands on it slowly.

Picked up this ‘02 48v club car for stupid cheap, “not running”. This thing is spotless and had a rain cover. The guy said it stopped running, they put a few batteries in it and it still wouldn’t run. Tossed it in the corner and a few years later they are tired of it being in the way, so sell it cheap. I have never owned or worked on one, but it’s just electrical, so what can go wrong? For the price I can replace a lot of things and break even, so let’s give it a shot.

 

[Rttoys]

Got it home and started to investigate. It has 4 of 6 “new” batteries. Although I saw where this was going, I grabbed a volt meter and was not getting the 48v required to run the cart. I got 8v, then 16v, then nothing. Hhhmmm. Wiggle the connections and hey there’s 24v, then nothing. Wiggle wiggle, 32v….you see where I’m going here?

Ya. That’s not gonna work. Messing with it, I Got it up to 48v and bam. She rolls. Weak batteries, but at least it works. Those cheap terminals were horrible. Got some new ones with studs and properly fixed the bad connections.

Gave it a charge and mostly up to full speed. The 2 older batteries were bulging and hot, but the cart ran well, just didn’t have good range. Replaced those 2 batteries and we are in business now.

 

[Rttoys]

This thing runs great now, but a little noisy hitting bumps. The leaf spring bushing are toast, so tossed in a set of those. Note, this stuff is amazingly cheap.

 

[Rttoys]

Other than adding a usb charger and phone holder, I’m kind of at a stopping point. This thing is in great shape.

 

[Rttoys]

Hey look at that……..

 

[Rttoys]

Estate sale down the street. Found another one and a hay spear. This one is a ‘96 club car 48v. “Not running”. This one definitely needs at least 3 batteries and odds are, when those are replaced the others will crap out. I jumped it with the good cart and it does roll so batteries it is. Once I figure out if I’m going to keep it or sell it, that’ll dictate if I do a lithium setup or not (more on that later).

Put this one in the air and discovered the front end is hammered. Pass side king pin is loose, steering rack is loose and 2 tie rods are worn. Again. A whole front end kit and steering rack costs $170 on Amazon. Hard not to replace everything.

 

[Rttoys]

When replacing the king pin bushings, freezing them helps press them in. Getting the old ones out was easiest using a 1/2” drive 5/8” deep socket. This is where throwdown tools come in handy.

 

[Rttoys]

And gotta align it when done

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Russell is henceforth to be known as the Golf Cart Goblin! If I was not up to my armpitsin other projects, this looks like a good working hobby. Fixing these doesn't seem too difficult and like you said, parts are relatively cheap.

You need to do one of these with a little more ground clearance and beefier shoes...

Club Car Lift Kit | Golf Cart Tire Supply

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[Rttoys]

Ya. People go nuts with the mods, kind of like jeep people.

I think if I buy correctly, I can make a few bucks flipping these. From what I can tell, a “dead” one is worth less than $1000. A stock good running one is worth $3000 and the lifted/modded out are about $6000. I think my plan is to put the good batteries from the white into the red one. Make sure red runs and drives right, then sell it. Take that money and buy a lithium setup for the white one.

In the future, find another good one to flip, then get the rear seat setup for the white one. Maybe a lift and tires at some time. Can’t make it too tall or it won’t fit in the enclosed trailer. Also, talking to others, if you go much bigger on the tires, it’ll kill the batteries quicker and harder on the motor.

 

[Ross]

Oh, a lithium upgrade.... now you have a re-engineering project.

 

[Rttoys]

Actually it’s easier than that. You can buy a complete setup and drop it in. Batt, charger, 12v outlets and everything. You lose 300# add a ton of range. Plus, like adding a tuner, you can control the power through your phone. The bad part is, there’s a ton of them out there. Which one is the best for what you want? One I’m eyeballing is a good simple one that’ll work well from what I have seen. But there’s another one that’s the cats meow. Hot rod type. One is $12-1400, the other is $2k+

 

[Rttoys]

Here’s examples of drop. In swaps

Club Car DS 48v - H frame (2004 - 2008)

Club Car DS - H frame (2004 - 2008)

awesomebatteries.com