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Education on Golf Carts

Ted_Kaczynski

Ted_Kaczynski

On A Journey
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
124
Messages
1,620
Loc
Jacksonville, FL
School me. Right now we want electric, lifted, big tars. Electric because we use the RV Park's power.

Tell me all about them.

Electric vs. Gas?

Lifted vs. Not Lifted?

36v vs 48v?

Used vs. New?

Other?
 
My dad has a 1960’s ez-go 2 stroke. Bought it for $250 bucks because it didn’t run. He put a piston and a jug in it and it runs like a bad ass! Half the people I know that race have them, all gas powered. Pin the governor wide up and they still have a throttle control. They’re good fun.
 
Don’t have anything to ad but we had a 3 wheeled Harley Davidson when we were kids. Took the governor off and it would do like 40. Super sketchy. Miss that thing. We would flop it on its side daily:lmao:
 
Ted_Kaczynski said:
I have a 36v rental now. I've rode it all weekend and am still above 50% charge.
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well why are you askin for an education, if you already like what you have..

I used to do security work at lot of events from golf carts.. unless they have greatly advanced.. it doesn't take much to drain one
 
48v is going to be a newer style cart, more power and speed and more cruising range between charges.

Nothing wrong with an electric, just plan to buy batteries every 5-7 years to the tune of about $700. If you find a cheap electric, chances are the batteries are getting weak. electric is nice and quiet, and some campgrounds only allow them due to this.

Gasser is going to cost more up front but they have unlimited range as long as they have fuel.

Lifted slightly improves ride and gives you wheel choices and style points, It doesn't improve their capability off road much, golf carts generally suck for woods and trail use. Go for a sxs if that's in your plans.

Like anything else, get what suits you and what you can afford. Personally I think the newer, the better, just for parts availability. I'm not a fan of older 2 stroke carts so generally I try to stay mid 80's and newer.


Both me and my neighbor are running mid 90's Yamaha G2's gassers I like how accessible the engine is in them to work on. My other neighbor has a old Harley 3 wheeled cart. His is faster but is annoyingly loud and smokey, also tippy in the corners.
 
crispins said:
Slight thread jack

Tell me about this rental please.

How much is the cost?

Do they provide a charger?

Delivery fee?
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Here's an example, Went camping here and rented a cart, no charger but if you ran it down you could take it to the shop and swap it out for another. Had a charge gauge on it. $50-70/day
https://www.lakerudolph.com/golf-car-rentals/
 
ArTi54N said:
well why are you askin for an education, if you already like what you have..

I used to do security work at lot of events from golf carts.. unless they have greatly advanced.. it doesn't take much to drain one
Click to expand...

I'm asking for an education from people that actually have input to give. I don't need robotics or retard info. Fuck off.
 
Juztyn00 said:
Here's an example, Went camping here and rented a cart, no charger but if you ran it down you could take it to the shop and swap it out for another. Had a charge gauge on it. $50-70/day
https://www.lakerudolph.com/golf-car-rentals/
Click to expand...

Yes, daily rate for the RV park carts is $65, electric, no charger, get another fully charged cart next day if you're doing multiple days. They only offer single day rate.
 
Stix said:
Don’t have anything to ad but we had a 3 wheeled Harley Davidson when we were kids. Took the governor off and it would do like 40. Super sketchy. Miss that thing. We would flop it on its side daily:lmao:
Click to expand...

Same here. It was gold sparkle, and would rip
 
I have a 2000 club cart, 36 V, I got 9 years out of batteries, but I'm real good about maintenance and repairs, it has a 2" lift and oversized knobbies on aluminum wheels .......12" wheels and 23x10.50-12 6-Ply tires.
I went cheap and didn.t upgrade the controller and haven't had a problem yet. i did upgrade all the battery cables to high quality #2 copper, the strain of larger tires does put a strain on all systems, we get a day or more on a charge, and that was with a 10 year old and his buddies joy riding the shit out of it.
our habit was every time it was parked the charger was put on.

Also battery brands I've done Trojans, and interstate, both have been about the same and are about $100 each. keeping them topped off with Distilled water is a must, and when leaving it sit for months I over fill the batteries.

It may sit for two months in the AZ desert with a 12V maintainer on it.

Everyone has a preference, mine has been Batteries.

Also bought the cart 5 years old for $1000, 2 sets of batteries, and a lift kit. it lives in a trailer part on the Colorado river.
 
We bought a 48v EZGO a few months ago. It's a 2015 model, refurbed in 2020 with new batteries. It's "lifted" and all that crap. One thing that caught me off guard was the 8volt batteries, I thought batteries were either 6 or 12 volt. But its nice. I can make it go faster for about $500, but its fast enough. Bought it really to just get my 11 year old used to driving a vehicle.
 
I’ve had two in my lifetime

EZ Go electric that was fine for what In asked of it. Batteries were a pain just like in a vehicle that didn’t get driven often and if used heavily they go dead. Batteries were $600 after 6 years of use.
Club Car gas that made me decide I never wanted a electric cart again. Regular maintenance and drain the gas out in the winter. Never done any repairs. Tires after 7 years. Stock.

Battery technology is still behind a internal combustion engines.
I have friends that have the newest electrics. They are fast and quiet but they have to have a AC outlet to charge. I drive to the gas station and spend 10 minutes to run two weeks.
 
The best deals are 2/3/4 yr old lease turn Ins. Most golf courses lease their fleets.

If you can find the guys buying them by the truckload sometimes you can get a good deal before they install the lift kit stereo, under glow & glitter paint, and mod it yourself as you like.

ive got a 48v club car just for use around the property, guy thought it was broken, but it just had a couple weak batteries. it’s bone stock aside from a flip down rear seat/ cargo bed. They’re pretty simple machines.

club car has an aluminum frame, ez go uses steel. Not sure what Yamaha uses. Club car has smoother throttle/ brakes than ez in my observation which I prefer.

I’d stick to club car or ezgo since they’re most common so parts are all over the internet., but Yamaha makes a nice cart too.

we rented a gas cart on vacation last summer and i really didn’t care for the noise, as you’ve seen, the electric range is pretty good, the only reason to get a gas cart is if you’re Off grid Oreo to have easy access to charge it overnight.
 
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We have the Yamaha version of the golf cart
Little 2-stroke, if it is gas that is tipping the scale, a tank lasted over a year at our place.
We weren't going on 18 hole trips three times a day, but used it around the neighborhood daily.

Started putting 1/4 tank in there as a fill up, the gas would go bad

I'll vouch for the governor pinned and it getting sketch, they are too fast for what they are lol
 
We had a 98 club car ds 48v. Went about 10 mph. Swapped a 36v motor on it and that brought it to 20mph.
neighbor had a same year gas club car. We both absolutely beat on them on and off road. They both were equal on speed. They were both equal in drifting abilitys. Mine would slow down considerably in the grass, I didn't have the torque he did. They both performed the same on our trails and in the mud, both stuck. I never really had a range issue I would charge it at the end of the day.
 
I swapped a predator 670 into a mid 90's EZGO. It has a hillbilly lift on it as well. Fun golf cart but can be dangerous! If your in to that, I'd look for a cart with a blown engine in the $500 price range.
 
Ezgo 36v from 2003 with a lift. Will post pics in a few. It's a blast and they charge up pretty quick with the newer 15amp chargers, the older box style takes forever. Get 48v, converting is more $ than it sounds and you'll want it if any decent grade is involved. I beat on it like crazy and put a hitch on the back.

If you have kids they'll love it too

As far as range, they are meant to run at least 36 holes at a golf course. Bigger tires may pull it down a little. I don't golf so can't convert that to a relevant distance
 
I've got an ancient EV GO retired golf cart from some golf course that I use for hunting on a farm. It's a 36 V and does about 12mph. I'm curious to how loud a gas cart is?

The electric is like a ninja... I've literally got within less than 20 yards from a coyote or hog to take a shot.

That being said. Make sure you have a good charger. Some of the "stock" chargers can fry you batteries. Also, they now have lithium batteries that carry a 10 year warranty but are stupid expensive so I'm told.
 
MAN O' MAN...... Golf carts...

Below is MY OPINION based off my experiences...

Electric-
Pro's- Quieter, technically less maintenance, more throttle response, and more torque than gas (in stock form).
Cons's- the maintenance you do have to do is more meticulous and typically is expensive, when the batteries are dead your day of riding is over, travel range, and less accepting of lift kits and big tires with out up grades.

Gas-
Pro's- it runs on gas, more traditional maintenance, easier and cheaper to upgrade little things, less impacted by bigger tires.
Con's- louder, less torque (in stock form).

I have lots of experience with electric golf carts and I will say... They are fun and I prefer electric over gas. However, one needs to know up front that if you plan to run bigger tires, back seat or use it on a dear lease then you will be dumping money in to it over time. The stock controllers are not designed to handle the load. The only golf cart I have seen come from the factory that seems to do ok with the heavier add ons is the EZ-GO 48V TXT (2014-2019) maybe newer as well but 2019 is the latest I can remember, but iirc that is the lucky year ranges. Electric golf carts can become money pits if not properly set up and maintained. You can stretch the life of the batteries as long as you take care of them, Trojan and US-battery are the 2 best brands IMO, and as long as you check the water about once a month, always use distilled water to fill them and always keep them on the charger as a battery tender you can get some extra life out of them. Lastly, I would try to get a 48V, 36V will leave you really wishing you had more speed and torque!

Gas models are tinkers dream or the lazy soccer dad's worst nightmare IMO. When they run they are awesome and reliable. They have more grunt as far as using them to haul fire wood or load up the entire family to cruise the beach... but I swear gassers have problems that always come in 3's, it never seems to just be one thing that is wrong with them when something needs fixed. If you can, try to find one that comes from the factory with the bigger engine, there is nothing worse than wishing you had a bigger gas engine on your golf cart, because although you can do little upgrades to your current engine the bigger "big block" engines are night and day on power and to swap out can cost a lot of money.
 
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We keep 3 48v electric carts running around the plant all the time. It's all paved. They get put on the charger every night. We keep them for 8 to 10 years then sell them govdeals and buy a new one. We have one EZ go left, the two newest ones are yamaha. We have utility beds on the back of them and trailer hitches. If we are going off the smoother manicured areas, we do have a kubota RTV. over the 8 to 10 years, we will change out the batteries once and when we sell them, it's going to be time within a year. Tires have usually been changed once. Drivers seat is usually split on the outer edge. Occasionally on the ez gos the throttle control board has been replaced. Have not seen that on the yamaha's yet, but I am still a year or two away from the oldest yamaha getting to that point.

Use is the key. If it's rough terrain where I want it lifted and bigger tires, just get a sxs. If it is smooth and you can recharge it at night, electric is great. They are fast enough, body damage will happen with these jackasses that run ours btw. I've threatened to make them wear crash helmets if I see another crack in the plastics. :lmao:
 
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