Electric Off Road Kart

[Mammoth]

I just picked up a Ford Transit van so I can travel with multiple vehicles. I like the idea of having an electric full suspension kart so I can explore dirt roads in the forests and not disturb the wildlife.

Since the kart is going to fit into a van it has to be on the smaller size. I saw a Zyliathor kart and thought one would be perfect for my needs. It can be ordered in several different versions of gas or electric. I wanted a little more power with a lot more range than offered. So I decided to order a Zyliathor clone 63cc gas version off Temu and convert it to electric.

The total for the kart was $640, and it arrived in a crate. I had low expectations on quality, but that didn't concern me because I planned to upgrade most of the parts anyway.



Upon assembly I noticed they used soft rubber plugs to center the a-arms which is probably fine at 18 mph, but not going to suffice at 70 mph. In order to remedy this I milled some steel inserts to press into the tubing.






I cut the steering handle off and mounted some regular handlebars.






The two short rods on the rear 4 link are mounted to the front of the axle housing which can cause the axle to roll under acceleration or braking. It would be better if there mounted to the top of the axle housing.




Decided to fix it while I'm upgrading all the parts.



Built some adjustable tie rods in the process.

 

[Mammoth]

The shocks that came with it were not shocks at all, they were just springs. I ordered mountain bike Fox Float X Air Shox which are shorter, but have more travel. All the mounts had to be altered so they could fit.

The rear upper mount 12mm bolt hole had to be welded so I could drill a smaller 8mm hole. The new shocks use 8mm bolts.




The bottom mount had to be cut off and built taller to work with the shorter shock.





Rather than weld the A-arm mount 12mm hole and re-drill, I drilled an 8mm hole below and ground off the rest. I had painted it white which ended up getting ruined. I will have to sand blast and repaint again.




The upper front mount had to be cut off, then cut in half so I could roll it down to make up for the shorter shock.




Filled the gap with a pie shaped wedge, and the bolt holes had to be resized to 8mm as well.

 

[Hellion]

Stupendous project. Soon you’ll be riding with Pinkpanda3310, just on the upside of the Disc World . Matter of fact, did he inspire you to do buy this?

I want to see the Transit van stuffed full of fun toys when you’re done.

…but not going to suffice at 70 mph

Be still my beating heart.

 

[Grizzlymi]

Nice! Man, those shocks must have cost close to the cost of the kart!

 

[Mammoth]

Surprisingly I didn't come across Pinkpanda3310. I searched all over looking for any info or videos.

The shocks are normally $400 but I found them on sale for $129. I like these because I can adjust the air pressure to match the weight of the kart.

Made some shock guards to block any rocks that get kicked up from the front wheels.




I had to make a cradle to hold the battery. It ended up simpler than I had envisioned.






The battery I chose was built by Spiderbatterysystems. It's 84v, 45Ah with Molicel P50B 5000mah batteries. I wanted to have a good range without carrying too much weight. This battery at 28 pounds was the right balance between weight and distance.

 

[Grizzlymi]

I've had a few full suspension mountain bikes with those shocks. Nice idea!

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Heres one of pink pandas posts.
He has 3 different karts of similar design.

Thread '2nd go kart conversion' https://www.diygokarts.com/community/threads/2nd-go-kart-conversion.52818/

 

[Mammoth]

I ordered a hydraulic disc break conversion kit as an upgrade to the mechanical brake that came with it. The conversion kit had a single piston caliper which is a design I don't really care for, so I swapped it with a dual piston caliper. I had to make this bracket just to hold it.




The red caliper is what came with it, the black one is the single piston and the gray is the dual piston. Should be able to lock the tires up pretty good.

Upgraded to race kart hubs and wheels. Stock wheels are known to crack.





Replaced all the cast aluminum Heim Joints with chromoly. I don't want one to break way out in the woods.




Had to make a mount for the FarDriver ND72680 controller.




Welded it behind the seat, which also adds support to the back of the flimsy seat.






The motor is a Sotion GST11 which is capable of 11000 RPM. It's geared to 68.7 mph.

I upgraded the #35 chain to a 420 o-ring chain in an effort to reduce noise, and give it more strength. Im going overkill with the parts to make it indestructible.





The stock tires are made of some cheep rubber so I ordered a set of Carlisle dirt tires with the same tread pattern. The tread is twice as high and I mounted them to some two piece aluminum wheels. Now I can switch back and forth between dirt and street.