Installed a 6 Inch Lift Kit On My 2008 EZGO and Lost Torque

loggy

New Member
I just put a 6 inch lift on a 2008 EZGO and I lost all of my torque. I can barley climb hills. I put 22 inch tires on also. I was wondering if i put 15:1 torque gears in if that would help. I put the hill chip in the controller also (supposed to be the hill climber jumper). I have a 3 hp motor and 12:1 or 8:1 gears (i think this is standard from factory). Or do i need to bite the bullet for bigger hp motor. I'm not wanting a hot rod i just want to be able to drive around the farm which has 3 or 4 decent hills. thanks for any help.
 

Pimp Daddy

Cartaholic - R.I.P.
I am assuming this is a PDS golfcart... Don't have much experience with them but from what I've read they will handle 22 inch tires with NO problem...Have you tested your batteries...That would be a good place to start...
 
I agree the batteries could be the problem. We have the 2007 version with total stock set up (seating and lighting is our current mods) and off road (grass covered very very steep hills) it will just creep up them but it keeps moving. We can ride it non stop for 20 miles OK on pavement with steep hills. We max out at 13 MPH due to the chip (steep hill) and with full charge take the hills at 9 MPH per GPS.

The steep hill chip (simple wire jumper ) is the same as running NO chip except with foot off the throttle pedal the regen braking/battery charging) limits top speed down a mountain to 10 MPH instead of 13 MPH with no chip. It adds NO torque but just changes the top speed with foot off pedal.

We have wired leads for a volt meter so we can monitor the battery bank voltage under all operating conditions. With a hot pack we can stay above 35 volts on steep hills. After 10 miles it will be more like 33 volts after 20 miles we are dropping below 30 volts on steep hills and will soon be pushing it home.

Have you physically removed all of the battery cables and cleaned them. Check all other power cables for tightness. If you have an temperature gun shoot all of the cables/connections and see if any are warmer than others.

With the OEM tires how many miles could you get non stop out of a fully charged bank?

You have a very fine cart. The batteries could be very good or near death at that age depending on their care since 2008.
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Welcome to the forum.

A higher amp controller will also increase torque and speed on a PDS cart. The different EZGO PDS controller chip/plugs do nothing for torque. They only change the top speed and the amount of regenerative braking.
 

loggy

New Member
Yes it is a PDS cart. I haven't checked batteries I will in morning. So the chip or jumper really is useless correct? It has 2009 batteries but I just bought this cart so I don't know how well the batteries have been taken care of. Do you guys still not recommend gears also? And how much would a bigger controller help me and what's the cost? Thanks so much for you guys help
 
Have you downloaded the free owners, repair/service and parts manuals for your PDS? If not get them and they will cover the great features of the EZGO PDS golf carts and how to care for them.

The chip is worth the price I paid my dealer (free) and more in my case. The golf carts main use is teach driver's ED to our two 13 year olds. The fact we live in the hills and the steep hill chip will slow the cart to 10 mph max with the foot off the throttle is a HUGE safety feature that I wanted.

Keep using the cart for a while. If you have ATV experience you are screwed.

These EZGO PDS electric golf carts are wonderful but they are not rockets like an ATV. They will get you where you are going but on their time line.

You can spend $2000 in upgrades and get some gains but you still will be going up steep hills at the fraction of ATV speeds. On our Drivers ED run late today we saw rabbits that barely got out of the road because we did not make much sound. The wildlife we see is unreal. In the event (rare) we have a car come up from behind we can hear it most often.

We are carrying 500 pounds of load when the voltage after a while starts dropping below 33v pulling steep hills it does start to slow down on the hills but it has to get drop to 27 volts before it hangs on steep hills which is after about 25 miles in our case.

Adjust to the ability of an electric golf cart. If that will not cut it for you trade it for a gas cart or and ATV.

Personally I would like more zip but for our use, high level of safety (regen braking) and much lower purchase price today I would not swap for gas. Because of my physical limitation I may use it to carry something just 50 foot even. That is not ideal for a gas engine usage. Quiet is nice too.
 

loggy

New Member
Ok my batteries all test good. I think my problems is I'm straining my batteries with the big tires. Guess I'll try gears next.
 

dougmcp

New Member
The stock gears are 12.44:1, a 15:1 gear set will reduce your speed and increase your torque by 25%.
IMO, I'd skip the gear change, you really need a larger controller (400a-500a) and 4ga welding cables for your battery connections.
 
If getting a new controller can one move to a 48v version even if you are staying with 36v battery bank at the time. We are fine at the time but if we lost our controller I would want to buy with the future in mind.
 

loggy

New Member
If I get bigger controller and cables will it take away from battery life? And I tested my batteries hooked up with a tester that says good, weak, bad. Do I need to unhook and test voltage on each battery for more accuracy? My cart runs 20 mph now so if I put gears and loose a little that won't bother me. I'm guessing putting 15:1 gears will be like putting stock 18 inch tires on does that sound correct or Am I wrong again lol?????? Thanks again everyone
 

Pimp Daddy

Cartaholic - R.I.P.
Leave everything connected... Just check each battery and post results...
tip.gif
 

dougmcp

New Member
A lager controller will not reduce your miles driven, it may reduce your run time but will increase your speed and torque. Run time all depends on how hard you push it.

With 20mph as a start point, 15:1 will result in a 15mph max speed.
You'll be surprised how slow 15mph is when you're used to 20mph.

You can test your batteries without disconnecting.
Check them after you completely charge them then let them sit overnight.
A fully charged 6v battery will be 6.4v.
 
Just across each battery will work. The best load test is to wire the VOM leads across the battery posts where you pull the 36 volts for the cart then take off up a hill and watch. Ours with standard tires/wheels will not drop below 33 volts for the first 10 miles of a newly charge battery bank.
 

loggy

New Member
Controllers and motors and solenoids and cables are expensive geezzzz!!!! Think I'll try the gears for $280 and the fast jumper. The top speed controller plug chip should put me back to 20 mph, is that correct?
 
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