So I picked up a second hand kart last year and ran a pretty long season on it with lots of practice sessions collectively putting roughly 17-20 hr on the chassis in one season as well as an 8hr endurance race the previous own had run a couple of seasons on it as well and the chassis has been very inconsistent in the corners on entry and exit other than when I had originally first got it, it was great with the Handling unit after the 8hr I’ve had it on the table twice and am wondering if it is just time to pull the plug on that chassis and get a newer one
Chassis lifespan is 5000 miles (8000km) or two weld repairs on cracks.
What class and where are you racing and how competitive are you and is this your first year driving?
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I was running a lm30 from 2021 and was running in the mid pack but later in the season was falling off pace pretty steadily and it never seemed to come back even with maintenance to the motor
And yes last year was my first year in karts
A new chassis isn’t going to help you much at this stage. Your kart has plenty of life left in it. Plenty of races are won on older karts than that. The money would be better spent on practice days for now. Your kart will last for a long time if you take care of it and run frame protectors to keep the rails from wearing.
Also ran 206 sr last year at badger kart club made the jump up to ka100 and ik some of the time left in the table is driver error in the is class but the kart is having the same problem it did in 206 with being inconsistent when it comes to the agility in the corners like I said before the kart never cornered the same after the 8hr race previous owner ran Route 66 in ka sr as well as the full club season
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There is a pretty good pinch in the frame by the motor mount as well my kart shop said it have some problems I just don’t how severe
Whenever the money is ready. Jk jk. I’d say you buy a new chassis until it cant be repaired.
What specific handling issues are you having and what have you tried tuning wise? Understeer, oversteer? Corner entry, exit? As discussed many times on this forum, plenty of big national races have been won on karts with 2-3 seasons on them. At the club level most karts will be competitive even longer.
A new kart will not help you much at this point. You likely won’t feel much difference at your experience level. Until you are driving the kart consistently at the limit, no chassis is going to handle or work as intended.
I’ve coached a lot of other drivers in your class. Investing in some coaching or just more practice time would be a far better use of your money at this moment.
For reference, I just bought a 2021 and it is the newest kart in my garage. Good maintenance and yearly table checking/weld checking and a 2021 is plenty good enough.
Jacob-
A Friday with TJ at Badger would be well worth your time and money!
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Drinking beer or driving? Because I would pay for both.
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Me too! 
So. Many. Characters.
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My kart needs to be straightened for its 4th time that I am aware of (I bought it used). When straight, it certainly seems to not be an obstacle. I find that the handling is very much related to how I attack the corner, body english, etc, so I’ve considered it very good in that regard (or at the very least, perfectly adequate). At my last race, I was 0.5s off the leaders’ 45s pace, so all signs point to keeping the 2019 chassis when it is straight since that was certainly a lot of driver. BUT, 4 times getting straightened in 12 months? I’m not an aggressive driver, but there are some idiots on track, and the track has been told several times they need to crack down on contact. This last one was a doozy - guy dove from the opposite side of the track, I jumped the curb to avoid contact, and he kept coming at me. Tires touched, my kart barrel-rolled, I landed in the mud, and the kart landed without me. When I saw the chassis was tweaked, I wasn’t exactly shocked. In fact, I’m surprised it is only bent as little as it is. Either way, the impact was so violent that I can’t just say “well, this chassis is just soft and will bend easily”. ANY chassis would be bent after getting hit that hard.
My wife, who doesn’t do our finances, thinks I need to just clean the slate and start with a new used kart altogether. Even if I were to sell my kart, I know I’d have to straighten it first anyways because no one will want a bent one. My plan is to just straighten it, see how it feels, and go from there. Where this could backfire though is if it gets bent again if it truly has gotten soft.
Surely I can say that it is not soft though if it handles reasonably well, right?
Once the kart bends once, it is likely to keep bending, so that could be why you have to keep straightening it.
I wouldn’t think the material is wearing out yet necessarily but after a frame has been wrecked multiple times it’s worth considering a replacement.
The telltale signs a kart is starting to get a bit long in the tooth is when it stops responding to setup changes and handles the same no matter what you do.
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I guess another way to look at it is that having to rejig it frequently might be a kind of nickel and diming yourself situation.
Wether you pay for someone to do it, or do it on your own time, there’s a cost of course…. Maybe if you find yourself having to adjust it more than twice a season it’s time to move on? How many times is a personal choice of course.
Something to think about.
I typically don’t play a lot with setup since it does what I ask it to do. Right now, asking it to do the wrong thing is a bigger issue, haha. Over the winter though, it would not want to turn when ambient was low (40F ish), so I made some changes, and it did respond. I was eventually able to get it to turn, and again, handling was acceptable. I can basically tell the amount of gas in the tank just by handling alone, too.
I’ve not gotten it straightened yet from this last incident, but the plan is to see how it handles and responds to changes before jumping ship. Like you said above, the cost of replacing the kart could buy a lot of tires and race fees (practice time for the year is already paid for), but the same could be said for fixing it too often as @KartingIsLife said. That’s certainly crossed my mind.
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I plan on getting lessons this year but I saved from last year so my budget could afford a new chassis as well as lessons and race fees