Hey everybody, its KartFab here, and today we are going to learn about assembling the
go kart steering parts.
This is for the go kart kit that I got online, you can check out the links in the description,
as well as get free go kart plans on my website (KartFab.com).
Alright, so the steering column is the first thing we are going to look at.
That's the thing that rotates when you turn the steering wheel that will move the pitman
arm, tie rods, and eventually, your wheels.
So the pitman arm, steering stop, fixed bracket, collars, hub, and steering wheel all go together.
We are going to show you how they go together.
So, you basically to make your tabs and your pitman arm, you take 3/16" steel, and cut
it out.
You are also going to want to cut out the steering stop out of angle iron.
So, if you look up here, this is the hub that the steering wheel attaches to.
It's basically just a big flat washer that you get at a hardware store.
There are three holes in the steering wheel, so you are going to want to drill holes out
so you can bolt the hub onto the steering wheel.
You mark it, drill it out, and then make sure the dots line up.
This next thing is a fixed bracket that you are going to drill a 3/4" hole through.
This is the pitman arm, and you are going to drill a hole through that for the tie rod
bolt.
It would be a good idea to grind off some sharp edges so you don't catch on them; then
finish it up by removing the burrs.
This next thing is the column again, but if you notice, these collars don't fit on very
well, and the shaft has to rotate very well within it.
You just grind and polish a little bit off that shaft, then the collars fit right in
there.
There's a 1 5/8" gap at the end of the steering shaft.
You are going to have to make sure that, that's right on the money and only weld on one side
of this collar.
The reason why is this lower support needs to have an open space in between it to allow
the column to pivot within it [the lower bracket], then weld the pitman arm to the bottom of
the shaft.
Alright, so if you notice here, this pivots very well.
The steering stop that prevents you from over steering, needs to have a little bit of play
right there so that this lower bracket can rotate freely.
Notice it rotates freely, (it has a little bit of play room).
That's exactly what you are looking for.
You do not want this to bind.
Next you have a little washer that you can weld to the opposite end of the steering column.
Make sure you have your collar in there so you don't have to weld anything on there and
have to chop it off later.
Then, you take the flat washer (the steering wheel hub) and you put the bolts in it.
You make sure that the pitman arm is pointing up with one of the three supports for the
steering wheel.
The reason why you do this is, you want to have a free spot for each hand when you are
steering left and right.
You don't want to have one of those three supports in the way.
Alright, so the next thing we are looking at is the steering hoop.
It's the thing that the column will be attached to.
Take your protractor, and you are going to want to cut out an exactly 51 degree angle
for the cuts for the top of the hoop and the two side supports.
You can cut from both sides if you need to.
If you look at this, this is a little jig or setup that I use to prevent warping.
Whenever you weld, as you probably already know, things will tend to shift on you, or
warp.
So, if you support everything when you tack weld, that will hold everything in place.
Then you do your final welds after you tack weld.
Then, grind down your welds if you want to make them look good, then take a polishing
wheel and polish them up.
Next, you want to take the front of the go kart, and mark where the lower steering bracket
is going to go.
The lower steering bracket is centered within the driver's side.
Then, you mark the other side where the steering hoop will go.
Then, you take your angle finder and you rotate it to about 55 degrees.
Then, you raise the steering column up and you just tack weld.
I want to repeat this, you just tack weld this one spot.
The reason why you want to tack weld that is that it will bind if you full weld everything,
so just make a few little welds on the top collar, then you rotate your pitman arm to
about 45 degrees.
Notice it's right there at 45 degrees, then rotate it the other way 45 degrees after you
make your first tack.
Then,the steering stop will contact the front axle at 45 degrees left and right.
The next thing we are looking at is the kill switch bracket.
There are two holes you want to drill.
I used about a 1 1/4" flat bar, and I figured out- you know - this is right about where
I want to have the kill switch, so I used a c-clamp, marked it with a razor blade, put
a little dimple in there, and drilled the two holes out.
The video only shows one hole, but you drill one big hole and then a tiny hole for the
ground.
Then, you weld it right up!
It's that simple.
Next are the spindle brackets, these are very, VERY critical welds.
So, if you have a very small 90 amp welder, you will need to do a couple passes on that.
So, you tack weld them first right at 90 degrees (or a small 2 degree incline from the 90's),
and then you fully weld.
The welder I used was pretty powerful, so I only did one pass.
So again, if you have a very small welder, do a couple passes so it will be a strong
weld.
Now, before you fully weld everything, you might want to check the spindles and tie rods
and make sure everything lines up the way you want it to line up.
So you assemble the kingpin bolt on the spindles (there is a right hand and a left handed spindle)
as well as the tie rods.
You can adjust the tie rods by rotating the tie rod ends in and out.
If everything lines up great, you are good to go and fully weld.
The final step is to go ahead and cut out some spacers, or alternatively, you could
just buy some spacers at your hardware store.
That is about a 1" spacer that goes over the 5/8" spindle bolt.
Put the rim on, put on your machine washer, and hand tighten the nut on it.
So that's it!
That's what it should look like with the spacer and tire on it.
That's what the kill switch will look like when its all bolted together, and the steering
wheel, pitman arm, all of the steering wheel assembly for your go kart is set up.
So, if you like this video, as always, give it a thumbs up, rate, and if you haven't already,
subscribe.
The last video that we looked at was how to install the seat and seat slider, the next
one will be the brakes.
Thanks guys for watching this video, have a good one, check out the plans at kartfab.com