Newb from NE Ohio

[turbostd]

Hi all my name is chris and im 24 and from North east Ohio. I just recently traded some old computer stuff (my other hobby) For a manco silver fox that is in need of some tlc. Well one thing lead to another and i ended up doing some more trading and now i have 2 karts lol. The second one seems to be a home made unit or maybe a shop class project of some type. It has a 70's era b&s 3.5 hp on it, one wheel drive and has scrub brakes. I am way to big to fit in this thing so im gunna get it going and sell it to fund the manco. The silver fox has lots of issues. one of the major one is the stearing is binding. I think the spindles are wore out and binding up when there is weight on them is there a easy way to fix this? The kart also needs breaks and a belt. The robbin 6.5 hp on it started right up and sounds good so its staying for the time being but being a bug guy i dont know how much umph its gooing to have. Anyhow here are some semi crappy cell pics of the karts. Ill get some better ones of the fox later.

 

[anderkart]

Hey Chris, welcome to DIY.

Your Fox spindles might be wore out but before you spend any money it might be worth your time to disassemble everything and see if your just fighting some rust/corrosion and lack of lubrication in your Kingpin bolts/pivot-points, Tie rod ends and steering column. Leaving a go kart outside like that usually results in all kinds of components binding up, corroding and causing problems.

Yeah your little "home made" kart would be a lot easier for an adult to fit into if it just had a single upright bar (in the center) supporting the steering column instead of that loop you have to squeeze your legs through. In the event the kart ever flipped over, this mod would also make it much easier for the driver to fly-free instead of being trapped in the kart where you'd have a higher chance of breaking your neck.

 

[Degerovita]

I'm from akron, if you need any help let me know, I have a full shop worth of tools and such if you need anything done.

 

[turbostd]

Thanks for the responses. I plan on going through the entire kart before anything else. My plan right now is to sell the small home made one as it is for a smaller person then my self and use the money to buy the required parts to fix the big one. So far I know for a fact I need brake pads and 2 front wheels. Ill take some better pics of it tomorrow now that the snow is gone and its in the garage. I am going to take apart the entire front end to see whats going on but from a quick glance it just looks like the spindles are plain wore out. Any one know of a semi-local place to pick those up? I got a belt tonight from tractor supply but didn't see any spindles.

@anderkart I do plan to clean and lube anything that needs it.


@Degerovita thanks for the offer but unfortunately I have no way of getting the kart to you as it wont fit in my 89 civic hatch like the homemade one does haha. I have lots of tools including a welder so I should be set but if I run into something i cant tackle on my own ill let you know.