Hello! My class is building a go kart for the very first time. Literally none of us have ever built anything ever soo...what is the centrifugal clutch for? Which one should we buy if we have a 15hp 4-stroke gas engine, 420cc OHV horizontal shaft single cylinder? Are they even different or can we buy literally any of them? Also we have a budget of $400 and $200 has already been spent on the engine. Thanks! PLS PLS PLS RESPOND PLSSS
Help with centrifugal clutch!
- Thread starter kaylsy
- Start date
bob58o
SuckSqueezeBangBlow
“what is the centrifugal clutch for?”
It provides a means for disconnecting the output shaft of the engine from the drive wheel(s). For example, if the engine idles at 1400 RPM you don’t want the kart moving when the engine is idling. A centrifugal clutch stays disengaged until you hit the gas a raise engine rpm to 1600 or 2000 rpm or so.
“Which one should we buy if we have a 15hp 4-stroke gas engine, 420cc OHV horizontal shaft single cylinder?”
What else do you still need to buy? The 420cc probably has a 1” shaft so any gokart clutch with 1” bore will probably fit.
Which clutch kinda depends on the sprocket(s) you have and the diameter of the tires on the drive wheel(s).
Id look for something with 1” Bore and 10 teeth for #420 roller chain. But this will change if you already has a rear sprocket with different pitch.
If the tires are tall, sometimes centrifugal clutches struggle and Continously Variable Transmission -style torque converters are better options but more difficult to install / more expensive.
Something like 10T on the clutch, 60T in the rear, and 16” diameter tires would probably be ok. 13” diameter tires would be even better IMO. Tall tires and centrifugal clutches don’t play well together unless willing to accept a pretty low top speed.
16” tires with 60T and 10T means 30 mph at 3600 engine RPM, but it means that when traveling under 15 mph or so the clutch is slipping and burning. This is the nature of the centrifugal clutch.
It provides a means for disconnecting the output shaft of the engine from the drive wheel(s). For example, if the engine idles at 1400 RPM you don’t want the kart moving when the engine is idling. A centrifugal clutch stays disengaged until you hit the gas a raise engine rpm to 1600 or 2000 rpm or so.
“Which one should we buy if we have a 15hp 4-stroke gas engine, 420cc OHV horizontal shaft single cylinder?”
What else do you still need to buy? The 420cc probably has a 1” shaft so any gokart clutch with 1” bore will probably fit.
Which clutch kinda depends on the sprocket(s) you have and the diameter of the tires on the drive wheel(s).
Id look for something with 1” Bore and 10 teeth for #420 roller chain. But this will change if you already has a rear sprocket with different pitch.
If the tires are tall, sometimes centrifugal clutches struggle and Continously Variable Transmission -style torque converters are better options but more difficult to install / more expensive.
Something like 10T on the clutch, 60T in the rear, and 16” diameter tires would probably be ok. 13” diameter tires would be even better IMO. Tall tires and centrifugal clutches don’t play well together unless willing to accept a pretty low top speed.
16” tires with 60T and 10T means 30 mph at 3600 engine RPM, but it means that when traveling under 15 mph or so the clutch is slipping and burning. This is the nature of the centrifugal clutch.
Last edited:
bob58o
SuckSqueezeBangBlow
I think there is a guy around here from Max Torque clutches. Maybe somebody will remind me who and you might want to message them.
ezcome-ezgo
G'me sumthin to write on
What is the name of this class? What are you expecting to learn?Is it a shop class? I didn't think those existed anymore. JimD is our Max Torque savant, he has not only the answers, but also the resources to be the most helpful human in this regard on earth.