How to Build Your Own Go Kart

Art Ingels, an unassuming, small time race car builder in Southern California, would never have imagined that the sort of unsophisticated, open wheel car he built in 1956, will be so widely popular all over the world, as it has become today. Today, it has come to be known as a go kart, and today, go kart racing has become quite popular, especially in Europe. Now if you really want to experience that surge of blood while enjoying a go karting experience, then you can design your own go kart, to start off with. This will ensure that you don't crash away your savings. Build your own go kart and flaunt it.

Here are the steps to build your own go kart. There are various areas to be worked upon, while doing this - the frame, the steering system and drive axle set up assembly, etc. First things first, you need to know the material required for building a go kart. You can build a go kart by using the junk material from a worn out lawn mover or a tractor! If you thought I was kidding, I am not! A go kart can be easily built using these things, supplemented by some pipes, some nut bolts, some bucket seats, a few steel clips and so on. The essentials of a go kart, are the engine, frame, suspension, steering, tires and wheels, brakes, seats, seat belts, centrifugal clutch and a torque converter.

Building Your Own Go Kart

Basic Frame
To begin with, you need to construct the front A-arm assembly. It is the base of the vehicle. For that, metal pipes or rods are the primary equipment. These are the main supporting parts, so the measurements have to be absolutely precise. To ensure a correct measurement and the shape of the A-Arm, a pattern or a template could be useful. Normally, the width of this frame, is about one third to two-thirds of the size of the frame at the wheel base, which fits two riders. Then the joints have to be welded and while doing that, steel clips can be used to hold the joints together. Make sure that you use the correct size of nut bolts and join the ends of steel tubes for preventing the wear and tear.

Main Frame Assembly
Angular steel pipes are needed for the square shaped body and roofing frame. After you assemble the pipes for that, they again have to be welded together. Here too, using a pattern comes to your rescue, to make sure that the curves of the pipes are accurate. After that, you can take a low down of the set up of the bucket seats and check out if they fit in the designated area. If they don't fit well, perhaps you may have to alter the frame a little bit.

Axle Set Up
Then comes a significant part, that is assembling the axle. Now the lawn mover come in the picture. Get a hold of a 13-teeth sprocket and a 9-teeth axle lawn mover. Now you will have to join or link the sprocket and the axle with (ideally) a chain. This will facilitate better speeds for the go kart, much better than what the lawn mover originally had. Consequently a chain guard will be required to hold the chain, to prevent the chain from getting dislodged, while the go kart is in motion. Now the only thing left to do, is to choose proper tires which will fit well, resulting into a good working condition. The engine comes next in the list of things to do. After this set up, don't forget the engine people!

Steering System Set Up
Last but not the least, secure the steering parts on the main frame by using steel clips, which are fixed with the help of the holes on the pipe. Keep the nuts and bolts handy, for giving strength to the joined parts.

There you are, you have made your own go kart! The process is complicated and needs time as well as money, but much less money than it would cost to go and buy one. Amongst the intangibles, the project needs to be handled by someone who is responsible as there is a lot to learn from this project. It needs unhindered attention and perseverance, which is a great quality to cultivate, even otherwise.

So go ahead make your own go kart and zip around in style!