Building Your Own Go Kart

Advantages to self-building

Building your own go kart is a challenging project which requires general mechanical skills and will cost time, patience and a lot of effort but which will also provide you and your family or friends a lot of excitement in the process and pride in the finished product. Making your own also means you can customize it to your preferences.

Purchasing all the go kart parts costs significantly less than buying a pre-assembled one. An already made, high quality go kart can cost up to $3,500 but buying all the parts and building the same machine yourself would cost around $1400.

The purpose of the go kart

You need to consider the purpose for which you intend to use the go kart when deciding on what type to build. For example, you may only want one for family fun, or else you might be using it for utilitarian purposes such as pulling a small trailer, or perhaps you are interested in competitive race-tracking. The use intended for the kart greatly affects the type you build and also the expense involved. You also need to take into account the prospective driver’s age/size and level of experience when purchasing go kart parts.

Go kart parts

When deciding on an engine, you need to think about the kind of power you wish to have. A motor around five horse power will reach 20 mph with a sixty tooth sprocket. If you want more torque you can go for a 6.5 HP engine. There is also the option of having an electric start instead of a gas motor. Electric engines don’t go as fast and need to be recharged around every twenty minutes but they have fewer parts making them easier to maintain and are also quiet with no harmful emissions. Electric engines are good for beginners and family fun.

Other essential go kart parts include the chassis which needs to be strong but flexible, the transmission which allows the kart to change gears so it can have different speeds, tyres for different weather conditions, axles and the seat. You can also add additional external controls which are primarily for safety such as a remote speed limiter.

It is important to select go kart parts that are suited to your vehicle and therefore you need to do research and plenty of planning before buying and building. You can find the necessary information on the Internet and also by joining a forum and getting help from other members. You can purchase kart parts conveniently online. There are also plans and design samples online to help you create your own.

Go kart kits

An alternative if you still wish to build your own is to buy a go kart kit. Kits contain all the go kart parts and come with step-by-step instructions. There are basic and advanced kits which also vary according to the type and size of kart you have in mind. This takes a lot of hassle out of the technical aspect of building your own such as calculating the center of gravity and working out the engine to drive-line ratios.

Maintenance

It is essential that you carefully test-drive your go kart to ensure that everything has been put together properly to avoid possible injury. Of course, your kart will need on-going maintenance and go kart parts will break down and wear just like any other vehicle. However, with proper care you will be able to enjoy your go kart for many years.

See also Go Kart Gear