1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

I figured I would start a thread the chronicle the progress of my new-to-me cart. I recently bought a house on 5 acres with a 1/4 mile long driveway. The wife and I talked about needing a way to take the trash to the end of the driveway, get the mail, take the kids to the bus stop, etc. I'm an engineer by trade, so I was looking for a 'project' of sorts that I could get cheap and turn it into what I want. I found a 91 36V marathon on Craigslist and picked it up. It does everything it should, but the batteries are getting near end of life and it needs some serious cosmetic help. Whoever had it last did some serious hack job work to it :thumbdown: Here is a list of the plans/goals...

- 4" lift
- New wheels and tires
- LED lightbar
- Tail lights for brakes and turn signals
- Alltrax controller with supporting solenoid/HD P&R
- 7 cell Leaf Lithium pack
- New motor (shooting for 25-30mph)
- Stereo
- Rear flip seat
- Raptor liner the body
- POR15 the frame

I'm sure there is stuff that I am forgetting and that will get added along the way, but it's a start.

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

Since I am waiting for winter to do the complete tear down, I am doing minor upgrades and accumulating parts. I want to keep the cart functional until its teardown time. I mounted a light bar for night driving. The install is somewhat temporary until teardown, but it works perfect. I currently just have it running off of 2 of the 6v batteries. I know that it's not the right way, but the batteries are on their way out and being replaced, so it will work until I get and install the DC/DC converter. Yes, my garage is a mess, we literally just moved in :oops:

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

Up next...lift, wheels/tires and new shocks. All of the parts arrived yesterday so I started working on it last night. I was running into problems at every turn!

New Monroe shocks were hitting the lift/leaf plates. I ground the corner down and it gave me the clearance I needed, no major deal.

1 of the lug nuts that came with my wheels didn't have threads cut in it...just a hole :shock:

Then I ran into an issue with the passenger side wheel rubbing on the steering arm welded to the spindle. I think I have a plan to fix it. It's detailed in another thread in the troubleshooting section.

I plan to finish up the lift/wheel install this weekend

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

Lookin good so far....like those wheels and tires! :thumbup:

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

Lift and wheels complete. I ran into some issues with the new rear shocks. The top mounts on the cart didn't match the monroe 31125 mentioned in other threads... Because I forgot the rear suspension is different between gas and electric. I had to reuse the old ones with the lift kit spacers until I can figure out how to make them work. Also going to need to tweak the front end a bit to stretch the wheel base a couple inches. I have some rubbing on the fenders when I make a sharp turn with bumps. I've seen people swap to TXT front leafs to accomplish this
Other than those minor issues, it's pretty awesome. Also picked up 2mph in top speed.. Up to 14 now, lol. Once I do the lithium, controller and motor swap it will be a beast!

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

one step back...multiple steps forward. Wife was driving the cart the other day and when she went to pull it into the garage, no go. Looks like the primary coil on the solenoid crapped the bed. So I did what any normal, completely sane, rational person would do...I ordered parts to fix it:

7 lithium leaf cell packs
BMS with bluetooth control
New charger
Project box, relays, diodes and connectors for Sergios LV/HV cutoff
Alltrax SR48400 controller
MJZ400A solenoid
HD FnR switch
LED tail lights
Brake light switch
and I'm sure a couple things I'm forgetting. :lol:

Seems reasonable...right? :lhmo:

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

Yep looks pretty much the right thing to do to fix it!:lhmo::thumbup:

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

Sounds like some one is having fun. 😁 welcome to the black hole. Lol. One thing to remember is, these builds are never done. Always something to fix, upgrade, or just change. But they are a ball to mess with. I built mine and 10 years later, I am still driving it with occational repairs from high usage. So have fun and be sure to post up pics of all that you do.

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

If you use TXT springs it will move the axle forward about two inches but the axle will sit at a different angle and mess with the geometry. What i did when doing this conversion, is to put them in a press and take out the bend at the front end, this made the axle sit at a much better angle.

Looking at the front shot of your cart, it looks like there might be a slight bend in the axle on the passengers side, If so, it will not help with the tires rubbing the arches.

Re: 1991 EZGO Marathon Build
 

You nailed it with the second paragraph. I noticed the same thing and pulled the front axle and threw it on the bench for inspection. It is definitely all sorts of bent. :shock: Both sides are bent, but the passenger side is significantly worse. It's bent both back and upwards. I think when I tear it down, I am going to make a whole new front axle. I was poking around in my barn and the previous owner left behind a bunch of stuff, which included raw steel materials. I found stock that looks to be exactly what the frame/axles are made of :lol: I believe is is 1x2 with 1/8" wall thickness. I figure I will cut a piece to same length and cut off/reweld one piece at a time to build a new front axle.

Edit: I checked my camera on the front porch and I can see some of my packages sitting there. :mrgreen: