Gear Ratio Questions

[HONEYBADGERFTW]

Mainly flat, slightly hilly terrain off-road and flat street driven
2 seater "Big Thunder" Thunder Kart (not sure of weight)
16" Rear wheels
MaxTorque Torque Converter
Open aftermarket exhaust (steel pipe basically), GPS intake kit w/ .038 main jet
Driver weight 200 lbs. - 300 lbs. max (with combination of riders)
I'm not certain of the current sprockets tooth count, but best guesstimate is 10T jackshaft and 60T axle.

My questions are:

1) Is that setup going to burn up my engine/TC or should I change the ratio? (6:1 currently)

2) If ratio change is recommended, which sprocket and to what size?

3) Would changing the TC spring from factory "2" be beneficial?

I'd like it to run 35-45 mph but not take 5 minutes getting there and at the same time not wreck my engine, if that's a possible combination.

Also, what series would a MaxTorque Converter be considered or comparable to, and what HP rating is the max for it? I've had no luck finding that info out.

 

[KartFab]

switch to an 8t jackshaft sprocket if you have a 5/8" jackshaft and see how that feels.

"sprocket 8t type C 40/41/420p 5/8" bore" or something like that.

You should be fine the way you are. changing springs wont make much of a difference, the driven spring has three spots for the existing spring, so if you find you are going into overdrive too soon while climbing hills, you can make the tension stronger to hold it in the starting ratio longer.

 

[HONEYBADGERFTW]

Yeah, forgot to mention that, it is 5/8" jackshaft.

 

[KartFab]

Oops looks like i missed the rest of your questions,

the max torque torque converter is a 20 series torque converter if I am not mistaken. The first go kart i ever got was a thunderkart and it had a max torque on there. It is comparable to a comet 20 series or a max torque 20 series, the parts should be interchangeable.

IIRC they are rated at 8 hp, so you should be fine with stage 1 modifications on a predator 212 as stage 1 mods add about 1ish horsepower to the stock 6.5 hp rating.

The things that really add hp, that might mess up your torque converter are head, cam, and carb upgrades. Ive seen people run their torque converters pushing 13-20hp and they just chew up belts more often, and can fail. The max torque is really heavy duty I have seen it in person, and it has a higher grade and thickness of steel on the sheaves than a comet has. It is really well built. As long as you keep the drive unit lubed with dry moly on the hub and keep it all clean, you should be able to handle all the hp you can throw at it with the predator 212, but you will burn up belts. The nice thing about switching to 8t, is that it actually puts less stress on the belt to be geared for a slower top speed, that is because the belt slips less before it engages fully.

 

[HONEYBADGERFTW]

Thanks again. It's impossible to find information on my kart and people I got it from didn't know anything about it. And seems to not be a very popular one lol