Dangerously Sensitive Steering (Thunder Kart)

[icer22x]

I am in the process of fixing up this Thunder Kart for my kids. After modifying the 212, I am focusing on the steering now. I reluctantly allowed my 12 year-old to drive this for the first time and he almost crashed it due to the horrible steering. Almost gave me a heart attack. Thankfully he wasn't going that fast and had enough sense to listen to dad and let off the throttle and apply brakes.

The steering in this cart is as the title says. If you so much as breath on the steering wheel, the cart is turning. It's also pretty difficult to turn the wheel; requiring more force that it should... so it's very easy to over-steer (which was the cause of my son almost crashing). When this kart gets up to speed, you have to provide micrometers of steering or else you're going to have a bad day.

Where should I be looking to make adjustments/modifications? I have seen people on here suggest crossing the tie rods on the pitman arm. I've also seen the suggestion of drilling new holes in the pitman arm closer to the steering column.

 

[Sparkwizard]

Can you post a picture of the spindle where the tie rods attach? Moving that pivot point away from the kingpin /bolt will slow the steering down.
If there are more than one hole, move the tie rod away from the pivot. If no more holes, extend the arm by welding (preferred) or bolting an extension to the lever.

 

[Thepartsguy]

Did you add you own tie-rods and bend the square piece downward? This is how most of my karts are setup and it’s the factory way to do it.

The way your karts tie-rods are run is directly wrong in my opinion.