car brakes on a go kart?

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crazykart

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I know the braking system for both cars and go karts are basically the same. So does anyone have any advice or input on this? Im building my own kart, and was thinking about using a master cylinder, line, caliper, and rotor from a small car on my kart instead of forking over the $$ for actual kart brakes. Think it will work?
 
landuse

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crazykart said:
I know the braking system for both cars and go karts are basically the same. So does anyone have any advice or input on this? Im building my own kart, and was thinking about using a master cylinder, line, caliper, and rotor from a small car on my kart instead of forking over the $$ for actual kart brakes. Think it will work?
Click to expand...

You can use motorbike brakes. Might be cheaper
 
OzFab

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:iagree: Car brakes are too powerful for a small go kart, even if it's a big offroad kart with a roll cage... not to mention, to integrate the brakes onto a kart, you would need to integrate the entire hub assembly... even the big offroad buggies only use motorbike brakes...

Paul is correct, a cheap ATV brake steup (master cylinder, caliper, pads, hose & disc) can be found for as little as $40; the biggest problems you would face is making/modifying a hub to hold the disc on the axle & mounting the MC so it can be operated by a standard pedal...
 
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90droptop

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I would look into a willwood master and calipers not terribly expensive and great quality from a reputable company. I plan to use them for my crossfire upgrade
 
J_Walker

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Get a piston from a busa. its 6 piston caliper. and the pads are super cheap..

plus did I mention its a 6 piston caliper..?

here you go!
 
ML-TOYS

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First off explain what you have or are building.
Car brakes are just too extreme for a kart, the weight difference alone is not feasible.
 
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One big difficultly in getting car brakes( even a small car) is finding a rim to work with them, that is if they are on the wheel's end.
This would be more feasible if the rotor was on a hub for a live axle. But a suitable mount will still need to be fashioned as to allow the caliper to float properly.
Originally(on my bike) this was how I was going to have my rear brake setup as I had the wrong caliper style, instead the rotor floats on the rear axle.

Non the less, a lot of work, to make it work properly, and most likely it will be too strong.
 
crazykart

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Ok, let me explain just a bit more. I understand that a cars brakes may seem to be too powerful, but they really aren't. The only reason they seem powerful is because of the vacuum brake booster. Without that the stopping power is only about 1/3 at best. I was also thinking about using only 1 rotor and caliper for one wheel.

Let me explain that better. I'm making a 3 wheel kart, 2 in front, 1 large drive wheel in back. The brake will only be on the rear wheel so that there is no forward momentum yo cause a flip. The wheel is a center bearing wheel, and will be attached sort of like a motorcycle wheel. The sprocket will be welded to one side, and I was planning on bolting the rotor yo the rim itself while the caliper will be bolted to the frame of the kart. As far as price: free. Just a master cylinder, no vacuum booster, one rotor, pads, and caliper. Total weight including the 1 line is 15 pounds (I already have it all and have already weighed it)

It is from an extremely small car, one that was never meant to go over 35 mph in case anyone was wondering.
 
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Crazy kart I don't know who explained how brakes work on a car to you but they were idiots. A properly designed manual brake system will generate the same pressures as a properly designed power system. The only difference being the amount of foot pressure applied to the pedal. Golf kart brakes are mostly useless at speeds over 20 mph especially on loose surfaces. Why else is there a market for golf kart front brake kits. :mad2: Rant over.

Denny
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Poboy kartman

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Given the information crazykart has now provided....I'm with it 100%.....

Since when can you have too much brake? I have a band brake and I can lock it up.....so what's the big difference?

The brakes on my truck lock up very easily.....but...I manage to not do that except in emergencies......he ought to be able to feather his set-up all day long......

Were not talking about brakes off a F250 here.....they aren't that oversized at all......

Go for it...and let us know how it works out.....:thumbsup:
 
DeathMachine

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Since car disc brakes keep the pad in constant contact with the rotor (and to a lesser degree, so do hydraulic kart brakes) how much power will be robbed by a big brake?

I have no doubt it will work, but at what cost?
 
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