Building Electric Drag Cart 101

GarageBuilt

Well-Known Member
We will be building this electric drag cart from the ground up. I have been working on this for the past 3 years. Now is the time to build. There are 5 guys and we are all going after the same World Tittle. Other than the AC Drive, this cart will be all EZ-GO. Allmost.

And to you Club Car guys. I put 84 volts of AC power into my 08- Bonanza
Car. Broke 10- welds, And bent up BAD a good set of rear springs. These AC motors put out alot of torque. 50-mph in 12-sec flat on 84 volts.

Thats all old news. So lets get this new one going.
 

GarageBuilt

Well-Known Member
This cart is expected to be on the track January or February 2009. I have built 2 carts now & I think this one will be the least expensive to build.
But I am starting out with a new EZ-GO frame, I didnt wont a 10 year old frame that would come with all that stress to the metal & welds with rust. Safety will come first on this cart.

You guys can ask anything about this cart. There isnt any secrets in raceing.

Lets start with what I dont know yet, Total RPMS of the motor,what gear in the diff. 15-1 or 10-1. And the date I will have the motor in my hands.

And now for the good stuff. A 60 hp 3-f AC motor. Now after the first of the year, We will be at a local track. Our frist run will be just a shake down run of 80-85mph, next we will run just over 100 mph. And if all that goes good, we will just see how close we can get to the world title.
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
This sounds like one nice project for sure. The numbers are VERY impressive. Feel free to post all the details and some pictures of this project and any of your other carts... :thumbsup:
 

GarageBuilt

Well-Known Member
I had talk to Robbie 3 days before the Bonanza. And for 2 hours we talked & talk some more, but not once did he answer one of my questions about his cart. Other than they had broke something in the diff. And wasn't sure if they could get it fix in time.

He told me that they were trying for the world record in the1/8 mile.
It was set on 96-volts & the speed, he thought was around 100/120 mph.

Talked toTerri the same day,he to is going to make a run at it also.

But I just don't know. Krazy Karts ran their voltage at 180-volts. Speed was 72 mph. Terri had his voltage at 96-volts. Speed was 62 mph. Nate did have his voltage at 120-volts. Speed was alittle over 50 mph. And I had the 84-volts. Speed was 50 mph.

Now we are all over the 96 volts, but no one is close to the 100 mph.
I now that 2 of the main carts are having one of a kind motors being built for this event. So I got on the phone, & hold on boys were going raceing.
 

GarageBuilt

Well-Known Member
Gronoman, when you made your post. I knew then,that you were trying to make a point. And after a little research on the computer.We decided there was no world record for a golf cart in the 1/8 mile.

Sorry, Guys, I have a tendency to belive what I hear. You know gornoman, like when you told me that you were going thru the mud pit in the zo6.

Now assuming there is no world record for me to go after. Just let me set the mph. Frist run 101 mph are stay at home.
 

JRay

Cartaholic
I wanna see this, Gorno going down the track at 101 :rotflmao: By the way nice work on your carts Garagebuilt.
Got any extra pots and bungees for the fat boy gornoman?
 

GarageBuilt

Well-Known Member
Thanks JRay.When this cart is race ready. We can all meet at a local track in Illinois. We can all take turns,That's right Gornman. You will also get a turn.

HotRodCarts, can you tell me the correct material & also what is the od & the wall thickness that I will need for the roll cage.

Hope to have the new frame in next week. But still need a Dana differential.
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
For the cage I would use either mild steel 1&5/8 OD with .125 wall or if you want to use chrome moly you could go with .065 or.095 wall to make it lighter but still be safe and strong...
 

GarageBuilt

Well-Known Member
I was hopeing to use all EZ_GO parts for this cart, but with the speeds that are involved. I belive the stock front end, will become unsafe.

What do ya'll think?
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
The steering components would probably be fine. I'm not so sure if I'd trust the way the front springs are setup on a E-Z-GO. Maybe a 4-link setup on the front so you can adjust camber and keep the camber the same through the travel of the front end. That way you could use the EZGO parts and make it a lot safer. A 4-link setup on the rear would be nice too.
 

WALKNTALL

New Member
No doubt a stock front end is the worst design for high speeds. I would think a dual a-arm or a modified long travel.

Frank
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Seeing how the cart is going to be used for drag racing he really doesn't need a lot of travel. I'd feel pretty safe with the stock suspension with some modifying, for drag racing...
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
To be honest for drag racing only I'd feel safer with a modified stock suspension than I would with a long travel suspension. Now if we're talking off road that's a different story.

I'd be more worried about the rear end blowing at 100 MPH.
 

COPB

Cartaholic - R.I.P.
I would agree that long travel is not needed. I also think that the stock spindles are not what you will want. I guess I would be looking for a small I beam axle and narrow it. Springs that are meatier than stock too. I would suggest that any stock cart suspension parts you use be magna fluxed. This front end has to be well engineered.
When I was a kid we always used a tube with the wall thickness of .OH! OH! 2 Thin! Worked good for us but we had a problem of burning through with that old Buzz Box stick welder. :rotflmao:
 

GarageBuilt

Well-Known Member
Thank's guy's, we will leave this one open for more ideas. I have to get this part right.

I was thinking maybe T Bucket Roadster. I guess that would be considered a 4- link set up. Does J C Whitney still sale them?
 
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