GoKartTorqueConverterInstallationHow to build a go kart for beginners Go Kart Discussion. Looking for a go kart engine We show you which ones are the best. The cheap ones, and when to change the oil, air filter, gas, and cleaning. Go Kart Torque Converter Installation' title='Go Kart Torque Converter Installation' />How to build a go kart for beginners. Hey guys, I though I would start a thread for the benefit of beginners. I will start with the back end and drive train of the go kart then work my way to the front steering. I hope this helps Before Starting. Before you start your go kart project you need to establish a budget and decide on plans of the kart you want to build. There are many websites for getting plans so Im not going to go into too much detail. When I built my go kart, I easily spent 6. Im still building However, I used all new parts and now know I could have gotten them way cheaper. Before I built mine, I had done research for many weeks about how to build one youtube, websites, and this site and that did me wonders You can never do too much research and Im still learning new stuff today. Go Kart Kits Easy to Build with step by step instructions Cart Carts Karts Gocart Gokart Gokarts Azusa Vintage No special tools required and No Welding. The kits. This is an asymmetrical type torque converter system which means the sheave faces are nonsymmetrical. They have different angles. In this case, the movable sheave. Go Kart Cables Go Kart Throttle Cables, Go Kart Brake Cables, Reverse and Choke. Mini Bike Cables, Hardware. Free Tech Support MF. Go Kart Cables Throttle Cables. Over time, you will learn how go karts work without having to think to hard. Fifa 13 Windows Phone 8. Tools you will need. Tools for karts. What type of metal to use. A standard go kart will have square or round steel tubing. The wall thickness be no less than. Some areas of a go kart will require some thicker metals like the engine mount. It all really depends on the output of your welder, but just about any welder should be able to handle making a go kart frame. XGVkozIFeQ/hqdefault.jpg' alt='Go Kart Torque Converter Installation' title='Go Kart Torque Converter Installation' />There are two options for metal tubing, round or square. A round tube requires a tubing notcher or templates and a grinder. It is tougher to weld the bends and welding square tubing can be easier if you havent welded before. But, on the positive side, it can flex a bit for a smoother ride. Go Kart Torque Converter Installation PriceI would suggest square tubing, as you can usually get pretty cheap at your local steel yard, for maybe 5. Ask around and someone will know of a place, but stay away from Home Depot or other hardware stores because their metal is way over priced The Frame. A frame is really personal preferance depending on how complex or simple you want it to be. You can find plans on a website or make some of your own The Rear Axle axle, axle nuts, sprocket, brake drum or rotor, hubs, keys, wheels, and bearingsThe drivetrain is the most important part of the go kart, its how you move and stop You will need an axle with a key way. A keyway and key is used to lock a component to a rotating shaft so the component will spin with the shaft, and not allow the axle to rotate freely inside the hub. You will now need to worry about transmitting power. There are two main types, a centrifugal clutch 3. Ive heard. A centrifugal clutch is the most common because it is the cheapest and is simple to use. A clutch works like this there are two parts to a clutch, an inside and outside drum. The inside drum is connected right to the motors shaft with a key and set screws and is loaded with springs. The outside drum is attached to the inside drum and can rotate freely of the motors shaft and inside drum. Now you might be thinking why do I need one Without one, as soon as you start your engine will be really hard to start because shaft cannot rotate your go kart will go without you pushing the gas. What a clutch does is it lets you have the engine running, without the kart moving. When you start your engine and it is idling, the inside drum will rotate with the motor shaft without the outside drum rotating. The outside drum has the sprocket for the chain on it, and the chain connects to the driven sprocket on the axle. When you accelerate, the inside drum expands and grips the outside drum, making the chain turn. When the RPM of the engine is increased, the inside drum expands against the pull of the springs, get itIt is kind of hard to explain how a clutch works without showing you what it looks like but just look it up on youtube, there are a lot of videos about it. A Torque Converter TC, a form of a Continuously Variable Transmission CVT, changes the gear ratio at all times so you get more speed they can achieve overdrive and acceleration through compounded gear ratios and are worth the money IN MOST CASES, but they are a little harder to set up. Once again, there are more detailed links for TCs and clutches on other threads, but Im just covering the basics. There is a cheaper option such as a 1 wheel drive kart. In this case, there will be a stub axle on one side of the rear end, supported by bearings. On this axle, there is a wheel, sprocket, and brake of some sort. The wheels on both sides ride on bearings and the drive side has a sprocket attached to the wheels hub. Brakes are more of a preference here, but a manual or hydraulic caliper can be mounted as to grab onto the unused portion of the sprocket, as if it were a brake rotor. This style of kart will most likely struggle off road, but will excel on pavement. Gear Ratio. A gear ratio how many teeth you have on your drive sprocket divided by the number of teeth on the clutch or jackshaft. Lets say you have a 1. You want to pick your gear ratio carefully because two high of a gear ratio 4 1 will burn out your cent. Too low of a gear ratio 9 1 will give you great acceleration and torque, but a really low top speedThis is where a TC comes in handy, so you can have a higher gear ratio but still have great torque, speed, and acceleration If you have a really heavy kart you will need a really low gear ratio, and if you have a light go kart racing or yard kart style you could get away with a 5 1 or 6 1 gear ratio. Just remember, higher gear ratio higher top speed, but less acceleration or a lower gear ratio, more acceleration, less top speed. Another option is a jackshaft. It is an intermediate shaft in the drive line used to achieve compounded gear reductions or transfer power to a different location on the frame. But thats more advanced and not for beginners, however it can come in handy. To calculate compound ratios, multiply the ratio of the motor to the jackshaft input by the ratio of the jackshaft output and the axle sprocket. Torque converters generally have a reduction of 2. With a TC, the secondary ratio between the JS out and axle sprocket can be low like 4 1 and, the kart can have a starting ratio of 1. Once at top speed, the TC will have a ratio of. Engine. An engine for a go kart is very important. A typical engine for a go kart is 6. HP or somewhere around there would be perfect. Now remember, if you have a small engine 2. HP 3. HP then you might want to consider a mini bike. There are many engine mods that can be made to the motor can be covered if interested although not suggested for a 1st kart. You can usually find engines at garage sales at a great price snowblowers and tillers are good sources. Another highly reccomended engine is a 6. HP engine from Harbor Freight, its a Honda clone. Its perfect for a go kart and is really cheap around 1. Lawnmowers and generators are not good places for motors because they have tapered shafts and lawnmowers require extra work to convert to a horizontal shaft. Axle Sprocket. The axle sprocket is the sprocket on your axle that makes your go kart go. It is bolted on to a hub that has a keyway like we talked about with the axle. You want to make sure that the sprocket is perfectly aligned with the driver sprocket, or it will throw off the chain and could wear the sprockets quickly. Brakes. There are four main types of brakes. Scrub Brakes pressure pad against the tire, drum brakeband brake 3. On my kart I have mechanical disc brakes and they work great, but would be really nice to have a hydraulic brake setup There are two types of drum brakes.