| In the history of go karting the very first of go karts | | | | be generated to develop braking forces, some thought |
| were wood go karts. Made in principle with the basic | | | | needs to go into how the axels and the brake system |
| carriage design it was simple though effective. | | | | are mounted to the frame work. |
| With the cost of materials sky rocketing and the funds | | | | Steering System |
| coming in plummeting, the "real" go karts are becoming | | | | Typically the wood go kart has a very simple "carriage |
| more and more difficult to get your hands on or | | | | style" or "wagon style" steering system that if not |
| fabricate, especially if you don't have more than $100. | | | | designed properly can become very unstable on |
| Using of sound building practices (i.e. joining methods, | | | | various fronts: steering stability and roll over risk. The |
| strength of materials... etc) a relatively cheap go kart | | | | steering system can be designed stable depending on |
| can be made that has a steering wheel and brakes. | | | | the design you are going with. |
| The key to making a wood go kart is: | | | | So the trick becomes again: |
| - drive line layout, | | | | - How am I going to mount all this stuff onto the go |
| - braking system | | | | kart? |
| - steering design. | | | | - What size of boards do I need? |
| Drive Line Layout | | | | - Where is my strength coming from? |
| The drive line has be to able to not "rip" off or out of | | | | - Where can I add strength? |
| the go kart structure and the steering system must be | | | | - Do I need to steel? |
| stable and reliable, yet simple to keep the costs down. | | | | - If so, how much and where? |
| In the wood go karts that I put together, I try to keep | | | | As with all go karts they are dangerous because they |
| the weight down so that things are not getting way | | | | are moving, so design for stability, safety and |
| heavy. If you are not careful you can make a wood | | | | functionality is key. For example the center of gravity |
| go kart that weighs even more than a comparably | | | | still needs to be considered as well as the cornering |
| sized steel framed go kart. | | | | characteristics that the go kart will exhibit. |
| Braking System | | | | Bottom line is that Wood Go Karts will become more |
| One of the biggest challenges to wood go kart is the | | | | and more popular and are really cost effective route |
| braking system. Because of the forces that need to | | | | (when designed properly) if you have limited funds. |