I recently bought a go cart / race kart. I’m extremely new. I don’t know what make model the frame is and I feel like it’s a European style based off some of the measurements I’ve taken. It has a predator 212cc engine which I already replaced the carburetor and replaced the air intake. I also drained the gas and oil and refilled.
**I need help with the wheels and tires. It’s not 5/8 on the front. It measure .66” and I don’t even know where to begin. The cart originally had 2 separate bearings on each of the front wheels and they were lawnmower tires I feel like. The rear tires are the 3-lug 58mm pattern. It came with 16x8x7 tires on it where they drilled holes in the 78mm rim tires. I’d like to buy some big rear wheels (at least 11”) and some front wheels but I don’t even know where to begin. **
**Ive tried measuring with caliper and researching. Wish there was a 58mm hub adapter to 78mm for rear tires
I am guessing the tires are probably available from a recreational karting company.
Race karts have smaller slick wheels and are mostly much smaller than what’s pictured there. Those are meant for traction on unpaved roads. Thus the term yard kart. It’s a catchall name for non-homologated karts meant for estates/farms/messing about.
I should delete this and repost. I don’t know how that picture with my kids on there came up. I must have bumped it while selecting the other cart pictures. I don’t think I can edit to remove that picture.
Race karts (which is what this forum is mostly focused on) are quite a bit more detailed and advanced (and expensive) in terms of materials and construction. They’re completely different classes of vehicles in reality.
What you’ve got there doesn’t even have any brakes, which would be a detrimental feature in racing.
Ty! So the blue frame is still a yard cart? It only seems to fit slick type tires. It does have brakes and I have new caliper, cabling, and … well more but I guess it’s an after thought now. Do race karts frown upon yard karts? Or is just apple and oranges… like a wreck soccer league vs club/competitive?
Yeah blue frame is still a yard kart. Race kart frames have always been welded tubing construction, they don’t have two-piece articulated rear ends like yours has.
I wouldn’t say race kart folks frown on yard kart folks, I mean we all like driving vehicles fast so we’re cut from similar cloth. It’s just totally different worlds with not much overlap. I would guess 99% of us kart racers don’t know anything about yard karts from a technical standpoint other than the basics.
I wouldn’t say it’s rec league compared to competitive league, that’s not quite a perfect analogy. It’s like rec league baseball (yard karts) and professional cricket (race karts) maybe?
I think the general public would say “go-cart”, but the general public’s idea of “karting” would be yard karts, so maybe “go-cart” is more applicable to yard karts. Race karts have always been spelled “kart”/“karting”.
All varieties of karters are welcome, just know that there’s probably not going to be much useful information here for yard kart stuff since we don’t really know anything about it. But we get 1 or 2 guys a month coming here asking about yard kart stuff, so maybe eventually we’ll have some kind of following for it.
We’re a pretty laid back and friendly bunch around here. The (race) karting community in general is pretty nice and always excited to talk about our passion with others.
It’s Half Life. Is it ok that we’re taking about yard karts here? I don’t want to be talking cricket while we’re all hanging out playing baseball.
I mounted a crowbar to the first yard kart. It’s all finished. I’m a biomedical engineer with a masters degree and I had to build the brakes from scratch pretty much for that yard kart.
This blue yard kart has me trippin. I just need to understand bearings, rims, and tires. I’ll put race kart tires on them since I’m limited on the rear to the 58mm bolt pattern. The front wheels really have me on a level. Don’t even know where to begin.
I’ll take pictures tonight of the front axle with my caliper. I think they’re .66" in diameter which is a hair bigger than the standard 5/8. Someone will have to know something about the correct bearing size. FYI that first picture at the top of this thread is the yard kart in the state that I bought it in. They just drilled a 58mm bolt pattern on the rim of the back atv wheel that was 78mm rims. The front wheels were slapped on tractor/lawn mower/wagon tires and rims.
Correct, that first picture is the state I bought it in. The blue is me after I painted it. The tires are all trash. I think it very well could be .669 inch. I’ll send pictures tonight. The thing is, I think this yard kart only takes race kart tires. What do you know about the rear tires? They are on the 58mm bolt pattern. Are those race kart sizes? Is there anyway I could mount a ATV or standard 78mm rim on that? Otherwise, what is the biggest tire that goes on a 58mm? Also, if it is the 17mm what are the biggest rims and tires for that as well and where do I get them? Also, what bearings?
