Looking for Club Car DS upgrade options

[Ger42]

Originally Posted by jamoore

I know you said you don't want to do the solid state upgrade but I just finished installing a solid state IQ upgrade from Scotty B. Mine was a total project 98' DS. Could not be happier with how it runs now. Everything is in the kit from Scotty B. Now everything in my cart is brand new. Not a single left over old wire or system. I did not go with the bigger kit and it is faster than I need it to be. Support from Scotty B when I had a question was outstanding. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Just throwing this it there.

ScottyB is great I did his IQ upgrade and you are correct not one old wire left on the cart. Went with the 10HP motor , installed a 6" lift and mounted 22" tires no need for more motor. First golf cart I've owned. I f$$d up a few times but ScottyB got me back on track.

[Claywallace]

Originally Posted by broschb

I have an '84 club car ds. Solid state upgrade to 48v is on my list at some point, but I just had my motor rebuilt by empinc and went from 10-12 mph to 18 mph on flats, I can go up slight inclines at 14-15mph now where it would barely pull6-8 previously. It was a noticeable upgrade and well worth it for me.

Do you mind if I ask what that motor rebuild cost ya? I looked on their website and I like what I see, but there were no prices listed. Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by Claywallace

Do you mind if I ask what that motor rebuild cost ya? I looked on their website and I like what I see, but there were no prices listed. Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

You’ll have to call EMP. Repeatedly. I tried for a month to get ahold of them and had no luck so I got an admiral motor instead.

[Claywallace]

Follow up post:
I contacted EMP and they basically said there wasn’t much you could do to help my old “series” type motor with the resistor controls. They suggested I upgrade to solid state control and see where that got me.
However, while looking up part numbers and wiring schematics, I noticed that the Part No for my motor was 5BC48JB764, and the “48” got me to wondering. Sure enough the stock Club Car motors, for at least my year model, could be ran on either 36 or 48 volts. So I added an additional 12v deep cycle battery and the improvement has been significant. On level pavement I went from 12 to 19 mph, and uphill went from 5ish to 12 mph. That’s all I was hoping to get out of a motor upgrade to begin with so I’m very pleased with my $110 upgrade.
On a side note, I wired it up with two disconnect switches so I can swap it back to 36v when my daughter is riding it around the farm.

[CP241]

Yes, you can run a 36v resistor cart on 48v and it makes a huge difference. You’d want to upgrade the solenoid to a 48v solenoid as well or the 36v probably won’t last long.

[LukeL]

Be careful running 48v on a resistor cart. And all five solenoids are probably only rated for 36v and may not last long. And you probably can’t really go slow at all now…

[Claywallace]

Originally Posted by LukeL

Be careful running 48v on a resistor cart. And all five solenoids are probably only rated for 36v and may not last long. And you probably can’t really go slow at all now…

If you know anything about the wiring in the carts it is very simple to maintain only 36v going to activate the solenoids. Once the 36v energizes the coil and makes the connectors inside close, the additional current/voltage is nowhere near the nominal limits of the load side connections of the solenoids. The only part at risk of burning up is the very same part that I’m keeping at 36v.

[Claywallace]

Originally Posted by LukeL

Be careful running 48v on a resistor cart. And all five solenoids are probably only rated for 36v and may not last long. And you probably can’t really go slow at all now…

Also, as I stated in my earlier post, I only switch on the 48v when I’m gonna be driving down the road, any other time I leave it switched to 36v for my daughter to drive around the farm. If I’m driving down the road I don’t have the need to go “slow”…..at all

[broschb]

Sorry I just saw this, I was about $500 with shipping, I have the same model number of motor that you listed.

They were very responsive to all my inquiries over email, never more than a day before a response.

I'm still very happy with my upgrade, the motor has been solid and a huge improvement.