Yerf Dog 3206 Go Kart "Pre-Flight"

I decided that there were some things that I wanted to do to our 3206 go kart before the engine was ever started.  It was very tempting to try to rush into driving this new go kart, but I resisted the urge and decided to invest some effort into making the go kart better, safer, and hopefully more reliable in the long run.

1)  One of the first things that I did was to purchase some Grade 8 bolts to replace some of the weaker Grade 5 bolts.  In areas related to safety or other structurally critical joints, I used the Grade 8 bolts for an extra measure of strength.  Areas like the 6 front suspension mounting bolts received 5/16" Grade 8 bolts.  Critical go kart brush guard attachments not only received Grade 8 bolts, but I also squeezed in slightly oversized 3/8" Grade 8 bolts into some of the critical attachment points of the large 1.5" diameter go karts brush guard/rear rack assembly.  Seat belt attachment points received upgraded bolts where possible.  The extra strength in some of these safety related areas may never be needed.  In the event of a very bad accident - such as one involving a bad roll over down a embankment - I felt that it would be best to increase the factor of safety wherever possible.  Bolts are cheap... especially when you consider the potential consequences of a failure during a bad accident and the value of human life!  Grade 8 bolts can be purchased at some hardware stores.  The local Home Depot around here has a select number of them.  Some auto part stores and also industrial supply shops will often carry Grade 8 fasteners.  A Grade 8 fastener is around 25% stronger than a Grade 5 fastener of the same size.  Superior material properties of the steel alloy used in Grade 8 fasteners give them their additional strength.

2)  I also decided that I didn't like the go karts single element paper air filter setup.  The areas where I often drive are very dusty.  The dust is very fine and quickly clogs air filters, and I didn't want to risk having fine particles working past the single paper element.  I thought about pitching the stock go kart air box entirely and going with a K&N style fabric filter with a foam pre-filter sleeve.  This would give good protection as well as excellent air flow capabilities.  However, I decided against this because an open element filter would be exposed to the elements more and would probably clog us faster - as well as be exposed to rain, mud, slush, & snow.  I finally decided to keep the stock go kart air box and just add an extra line of defense.  I did some research on air filter foam and purchased some polyurethane filter foam sheeting.  I chose 100ppi (pores per inch)  polyurethane foam sheeting in 1/8" thickness.  100ppi is very fine for an air filter element, but because it was only 1/8" thick I decided that restriction to air flow should be minimal.  I chose 1/8" thick (even though other thicknesses were available) because I wanted something that would easily sandwich in between the go karts two air box halves.  I purchased this 100ppi polyurethane foam sheeting through McMaster-Carr industrial supply, and the part number was 9803K2 . 

Here are some pictures showing what I did...  I simply cut out a piece that is a little larger than the profile of the go kart air box halves.  I cut out some extra pre-filters to have around for quick changes.  I then applied spray can foam air filter oil that I purchased from a local motorcycle supply shop.  The pre-filters can be easily washed for re-use or disposed of when they get old.  The sheet I purchased should make plenty of extra pre-filters for years of driving!  The first time I did this I used the stock air box screws and simply allowed them to push their way through the foam.  The next time, I decided to just hold the go karts air box halves together with some large zip ties.  I already stripped out the plastic in one of the screw holes and knew that the others would also not last under repeated long term use (loosening and re-tightening screws in cheap plastic).  Here is a picture of a pre-filter sheet after around 5 hours use.... this is the "clean side" that faces the paper filter element...

GO KART FOAM PRE-FILTER SHEET - CLEAN SIDE

Obviously, it's dirty where it extends out past the air box perimeter.  You can see a small spot of dirt toward the bottom of the sheet.  This was from dirt entering the "clean side" of the air box through a water drain passage molded into the air box.  When I saw this, I simply plugged this drain hole with some silicone adhesive and then drilled a couple water drain holes on the outboard air box half so that it was on the "dirty side" of the pre-filter.  CLICK HERE TO SEE A PICTURE OF THE DIRTY SIDE OF THE GO KART PRE-FILTER AFTER AROUND 5 HOURS RUN TIME. 

This was a relatively simple and effective way to trap a lot of garbage before it has a chance of reaching the go karts paper filter element.  In addition, this should protect the engine better because the fine 100ppi oiled foam should capture most of the very fine particles that could even work their way through a typical dry paper element.   PLEASE NOTE:  Apparently, some other people who tried this idea thought it was inconvenient and didn't like the hassles.  Worked just fine for me, but may not be good for everyone.  Also keep in mind that this foam is thin and only intended to serve as a pre-filter.  It does NOT replace the stock go kart air filter.

3)  Another area where I wanted to also improve the engine protection was in the area of oil filtration.  Fortunately, the HOWHIT GY6 based go kart engine in the 3206 & 3209 has a filter screen, but it's fairly coarse and would not capture smaller particles.  Frequent oil changes would help with this, but I wanted to at least try to capture some of the hard iron particles which could cause damage in the engine if allowed to circulate around.  This was especially a concern of mine because a new engine can dump a large amount of metal material into the oil in a short period of time during initial engine break in.  What I decided to do was to purchase some very powerful rare earth magnets and strategically place them in the engine.  I wanted to do this before I even fired up the engine so that the magnets could catch all the iron particles that were in the oil during engine break in of my go kart.  I also purchased these from McMaster-Carr.  I selected the very powerful Neodymium-Iron-Boron Grade 37 Magnets ( part number 58605K31 ) which are 0.25" diameter x 0.100" thick.  I chose the nickel plated magnets - which are the ones that match that part number.  These tiny magnets have a rated pull of around 1.49lbs force.  These are very powerful magnets.  If you get them stuck onto a piece of smooth piece of steel, they hold on with surprising strength - especially considering how small they are!  I decided to fix these magnets in 3 different places in my go karts engine.  I used JB Weld epoxy to secure them in place.  I decided to place them on the 2 drain plugs (one engine and the other gear box) and then 1 more in the screw out, die cast filter screen cup.  The one I epoxied into the filter cup ended up pushing into the filter screen element slightly but does not cause any problems since the screen just bent away and there is still plenty of surface area of screen to pass oil through.  This particular one is in a great location because all the oil that is pumped through the engine must pass by this magnet.  After the first oil change at around 5 hours run time, I found quite a bit of junk stuck to the magnet.  IMPORTANT:  It was necessary for me to grind down the end of one of the go karts drain plugs (can't remember for sure which one now - but think it was gear box drain) in order to make sure that the protruding of the magnet did not interfere with anything inside the engine.  I simply stuck in a screw driver into each oil drain hole and found where it hit something and then used this measurement to determine how short the drain plug with magnet needed to be.  The one hole had something nearby so I ground that drain plug down an appropriate amount before epoxying the magnet to that plug.  You do not want the magnetic interfering with anything inside the engine or else you will do more harm than good!  REMEMBER:  Doing stuff like this (modifying your engine - even if it's simple) can void your factory warranty.  Do this (and any other modifications) at your own risk.  If you screw something up, then don't try to blame someone else, and don't expect Yerf Dog or anyone else to pay for your mistakes!  Here is a picture showing the magnetic "filters" epoxied in place...

GO KART MAGNETIC OIL "FILTERS"

4)  Another decision I made was to remove the brand new chain and replace it with a high quality, o-ring chain.  Some would say: "Why not just wait until you wear out the original go kart chain and then replace it?".  Well, it's not quite that simple....  When a cheap chain wears out, it will usually stretch and take the sprockets with it.  Sprocket teeth can bend as a cheap chain stretches and then the sprockets are ruined and need to be replaced when a new chain is added.  So, to save on the expense of replacing the sprockets (and to save on the trouble of having a cheap chain fail), I just decided to install a high quality chain right away.  I did some research and determined that I would search for an o-ring chain because of the superior life and strength.  O-ring chains have small o-rings that seal out grit and grime from the roller pin areas.  The o-rings also seal in the lubricating grease which is factory installed.  This sealed chain setup provides much longer chain life - especially in dirty applications like off road go karts.  I quickly discovered that RK produces some of the best quality chains in the world.  I ended up purchasing an RK 530 XSO chain.  It came in a 120 link length which was perfect for making into 2 chains for my kart.  The 3206 go kart chain length is 60 links (including the connecting link).  I purchased an extra connecting link so I now have 2 complete chains for my go kart.  By the way, there are 2 different links available for the RK XSO chain... a clip type link and a rivet type connecting link.  The rivet type link is supposed to be stronger, but I didn't want to have to buy the expensive tool needed for installing this type of rivet link, so I chose the clip type connecting links.  I thought that this would be something that would easily install by hand, but it turns out that it wasn't so easy!  IMPORTANT:  Even the clip type link is a press fit and requires some sort of press fit tool to install.  There's a reason for this... anyone that has had a cheap chain break knows that quite often the connecting link is the weak link that causes the failure.  Because of the very high quality and high strength of the RK chains, they make the side plate a precision press fit on the connecting link to give it extra strength.  Cheap chains have a loose fitting side plate (which makes production easier as well as installation).  Problem is that the sloppy fitting side plate can allow the pins on the connecting links to flex apart and fatigue the material which can lead to premature failure.  I didn't have an official press fit tool, but I managed to get the link on with very persistent, hard work with a C clamp and some plates to use on either side of the link.  I also used a nut for spacer around the pins.  I didn't want to have the C clamp press directly on the connecting link itself, so that's why I used the plates and nut.  It is hard to believe it would be so hard to do, but it probably took me around 1 hour of intermittent effort to get that connecting link properly pressed together and assembled!  In the end it worked out just fine, and thankfully the chain should last a LONG time so I shouldn't need to do this again anytime soon!  However, it would definitely be worth trying to borrow the proper tool for this or to trailer the kart to a motorcycle shop that has the proper tools to do this.  You might just have them install a rivet type connecting link which is supposed to be even stronger. 

I wasn't worried about strength because the RK 530 XSO chain is rated to 9,200psi tensile strength.  That's 50% more than a standard 530 chain.  The RK 530XSO chain is rated for motorcycles up to: 1,000cc ON ROAD & 750cc OFF ROAD.  This chain is used on Superbikes that crank out 100+HP.  The maybe 10HP of the 150cc HOWHIT go kart engine should be no match for this super chain!  What this means is that this chain should never break from stress.  The unique "X" style o-rings on the RK XSO chain also provides even longer life than a standard "O" cross section o-ring.  The RK XSO chain is rated for 750% longer life than a standard non o-ring chain!  That's a BIG difference!!   RK chains can be purchased from most motorcycle dealers.  They are not "cheap".  Expect to pay anywhere from $90-$120 for an RK 530XSO x 120 link chain - which is good for TWO 3206 go kart chains.  CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PACKAGING OF THE RK 530 XSO 120 LINK CHAIN USED ON MY GO KART.  

If you consider that very long life - along with the fact that you should not have to replace sprockets on your go kart as frequently - you can quickly see that this more expensive route can actually be a "BARGAIN".  In the long run, if you drive your go kart a lot, this should save a LOT of money and hassles over dealing with cheap chains that break and wear out quickly (and ruin the sprockets along with them).   And that's not to mention the risk of a broken chain potentially stranding you somewhere in the middle of nowhere (if you don't carry a spare chain)!  Personally, I plan to take along the factory original chain as an emergency backup on long drives.  However, I don't expect that this will probably ever be necessary with this RK chain in place!

5)  Another thing I did before ever driving it was to attach an hourmeter / tachometer gauge.  I wanted to have an accurate measure of driving time for the purpose of more consistent maintenance.  I also wanted to be able to keep an eye on my go karts engine speeds.   I did some research and settled on the ENM PT141 programmable tach and hourmeter.  I custom ordered this directly from ENM with a 9 foot long wire length.  The longer wire length is necessary in order to fit the gauge in the cockpit and still be able to run the wires along the frame and back to the engine.  ENM created a special part number for this gauge with the 9 foot wire length.   The ENM part number is PT141310 .  This can be ordered directly from ENM.  I mounted the gauge using high strength double sided tape normally used to attach trim on automobiles.  I also used 2 zip ties that I heated with a heat gun so that they were softer and more able to conform to sharp corners.  The zip ties along with the strong double sided tape make for a very secure mounting of the gauge.  I positioned the gauge where the "Hearing Protection Required" sticker used to be - on the horizontal tube where the steering column clamps on to the go kart.   Below is a picture of the gauge mounted on my go kart.

ENM Programmable Tach/Hourmeter Mounted on Go Kart

I also did many other small things to my go kart before ever driving it for the first time.  I highlighted some of the most important ones above.  I did other things like disassembled the front suspension of the go kart and lubed the pivot points with chain lube that is designed to not attract dirt.  I also lubed the rear suspension pivot points with the same.  I lubed throttle and brake pedal linkages where appropriate.... and on and on....  I spent quite a bit of time just going through the go kart making sure everything was done right.

I am a bit of a NUT when it comes to stuff like this!  I enjoy tinkering and doing stuff like this.  Most people do NOT do these sort of things.  They just run their go karts stock and have a lot of fun as is!         

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