GO KART STEERING SYSTEM: PARTS, DESIGN & BUILD

Go Kart Steering Kit Parts Breakdown

3/8 inch x 8″ tie rod with tie rod ends

3/8 inch x 18″ tie rod with tie rod ends

(2x) 3″ tall spindle brackets with 1/2″ kingpin holes

RH & LH (right and left hand) spindles

Kill switch (it mounts to the steering hoop)

The parts of the steering system assembly are part of the free go kart steering plans that I offer at KartFab.com.  The go kart steering components that I had to buy at a hardware store, or design, cut, and build are as follows:

Steering Hoop: Cut out and weld the steering hoop on a flat surface. The angles were cut on  51° read from a protractor (reads as 39° from an abrasive chop saw). You should also cut out and drill holes for the kill switch plate. Weld the kill switch plate onto the steering hoop. When tacking the steering hoop to the frame, you should shoot for about a 55° slant. 

Steering Shaft: Drill holes in the steering wheel hub, and weld it flush with the steering shaft (make sure you have the steering wheel symmetrical on this step). Slide the two spacers onto the shaft, drill a 3/4″ hole in the lower bracket that will be welded to the kart. Weld the angle iron (steering stop) and pitman arm (with 3/8″ hole) onto the shaft as well. The lower bracket should have just enough play between the spacer and steering stop to spin freely on the steering shaft without binding.

Weld Shaft to Hoop: Once the hoop and column are complete, it is time to permanently attach them to the kart. Again, the hoop should be about at a 55 degree angle from the horizontal frame. Make sure the 3/4″ID spacer on the steering shaft has some wiggle room, then tack it. If it is a tight fit, welding will make it warp and bind to the shaft. I ground down part of the steering column so it would have enough wiggle room before welding.

Weld the Lower Bracket to the Frame: Tack weld the lower bracket first, then check the steering angle. Make sure that the pitman arm travel is limited so that the go karts steering angle turns no more than 45 in either direction from straight up. ‘Straight up’ is when the pitman arm points straight up, and the wheels are both pointing forward. I used my angle finder to determine how high to tack the lower bracket that holds the steering column.  The angle iron should contact the frame and prevent you from over steering.

Weld Spindle Brackets to the Front Axle: The spindle brackets that came in the go kart parts kit should be tack welded near 90°,  roughly centered on the go kart’s front axle. There is minimal room for error here, so please attach the tie rods and spindles just to make sure they (the tie rods) don’t contact the bumper before you fully weld the spindle brackets to the axle.

Attach Tie Rods, Spindles, and Steering Wheel: The tie rods in the above picture and spindles should be bolted onto the kart. Tighten the kingpin bolts (the bolts that hold on the spindles) just tight enough that they don’t bind to the spindles.