The question most of us have in our head about go kart drive lines is “Does increasing the sprocket size along with the tire size change my go karts speed and accelleration performance?” The answer to that question may surprise you.

Tags: Calculation Aids, Go kart Drive Systems, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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The wood go kart steering system comes with its own sets of nuances. In particular the relationship between the angle of the steering wheel and the angle of the bogie system: just what is it? Second the relationship between the amount of force required to move the steering wheel and the amount of wheel movement: What is that too? This article discusses the basic wood go kart steering fundamentals and demonstrates the relationship between the two main issues, namely: steering wheel angle, and steering wheel force.

Tags: Calculation Aids, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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In this article we will discuss how the twisted belt drive presented will not work, and why. The main issue with this twisted belt drive is first a smoking clutch and secondly, tracking issues. Typically this system is proposed as a solution for driving a go kart with a vertical engine. Though simple and straight forward this article will discuss in detail the issues with the drive system from a mechanical stand point. Other articles concerning this belt drive also discuss differnt issues such as Center of Gravity and overall packaging considerations, this article goes one step further and demonstrates the major design flaws in the drive line layout.

Tags: Calculation Aids, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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The Go Kart Drive Line Program (This is an exerpt from the Go Kart Building 203 Book on the Drive Line Program) After having gone through all these calculations you may be anxious to get some answers quicker.  The go kart program will help with that.  Though it is not as exhaustive as the graphs [...]

Tags: Calculation Aids, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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It is astounding how many go kart builders are emailing me and asking why their go kart clutch smokes. It seems I have written several articles on the subject…but perhaps, just perhaps I am not getting you the information you need. So here goes…why is my clutch smoking? What can I do to make my go kart run better?

Tags: Calculation Aids, Go Kart Building by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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The go kart was finally complete with suspension and all, but the go kart was disappointment in corners and on straightways. The wheels would bend over in corners and the suspension was too soft bottoming out constantly.

These problems could have been addressed before the go kart was even finished with vector loop equations, or an mechanical analysis of the go kart suspension. The mechanical analysis begins with an understanding of basic math and as we discussed last time, trigonometry.

Tags: Calculation Aids, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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Very often we get our emotions crushed when we see the limitations of our go kart. The biggest limitation, almost an embarassing one, is when the go kart will not climb the hill. All your friends come over for a ride, but it won’t make it up the hill.

What is the solution? This article discusses the low cost answer to hill climbing problem.

Tags: Calculation Aids, Go Kart Building, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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Chain breakage can be a problem on go karts, especially if the chain is mismatched for the power ouput and the overall wieght of the go kart. This article discusses in detail how to calculate the chain tension in the system so that you can figure out if the chain is going to snap or not.

Tags: Calculation Aids, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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When a vehicle collides into another vehicle we often can predict the outcome. One vehicle flies one direction, and the other another. We take for granted what is occuring, and actually play on these laws for our abilities in this world. For example the worlds most renowned billiards (pool player) probably doesn’t understand all the complexities of momentum, but he has seen it so many times, and uses his experiences to sharpen his skills.

In this discussion we will talk about momentum and how it is linked to forces. Forces being one of our pivotal tools in machine analysis and performance. When we tackle forces, we can start talking more about go karts….and vehicles in general…

Tags: Calculation Aids, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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Physics is important for understanding go kart dynamics. This article introduces physics and is a prelude into more comprehensive calculations that will be performed especially on the drive system.

The wild eyed teenager had a rude awakening with the reality of natural law…

Tags: Calculation Aids, Latest Posts by GKG... (GoKartGuru)
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