I had hoped to do an extensive review of the many websites on designing and making go-karts, but I came across the following one which stitches together many different sites on kart plans into one single page in a step by step manner. It has YouTube Videos, Picture slideshows, photos and lots of other information.
It divides up the Step by Step How to Guide into four major sections:
Front A-arms assembly
Main frame assembly
Steering system assembly
Drive axle assembly
It has lots of useful information on engines, videos of engines in use on karts and much more. A picture of it can be seen below. The website address is: http://hubpages.com/hub/Build-Your-Own-Go-Kart—A-Step-by-Step-Guide Hopefully this link and website will remain active. Here is an image of the website:
When I started the first Kartbuilding website in 2001 (archive link), there was very little information available on karts and kart plans on the Internet. In the last few years however the information, videos, plans etc. has increased enormously. This is great news for anyone wanting to build a kart. If you have any good websites on building karts, feel free to drop us an email ( kartbuilding at gmail.com )
Tony Kart produces high quality racing kart chassis. A catalogue of their kart chassis can be found on their website. A particular chassis model, a Tony Kart Extreme ‘97, was modelled using SolidWorks, and is available for download. Below is an overview of the chassis, in isometric and in a plan view.
Overview of Chassis in SolidWorks
This chassis is modelled perfectly in SolidWorks, with each member as an individual part and fully in-context. With the complete assembly and part files, it would be very easy to create 2d drawings of the chassis. The chassis is full size, so no scaling would have to be carried out.
Perhaps in the future the author will complete a fully dimensioned chassis using SolidWorks. Please contact the author if you have any queries etc. regarding this.
Download SolidWorks Files
The SolidWorks assembly file can be downloaded from its original location here, along with some other CAD drawings also. A backup local copy of the SolidWorks chassis is also available.
eDrawings Download of the Chassis
In case you don’t have a copy of SolidWorks to open and measure the components, the eDrawings viewer can be used to open the chassis, measure each component, and create a section view through the chassis. The chassis opened in eDrawings can be seen below:
Hopefully the detailed professional chassis design will give you ideas on how to design and create your own chassis. An idea of the size of the chassis design can also be obtained using the eDrawing. Best of Luck!
If you have any queries or comments, please email them to the author at:
The following website (http://www.vintagekarts.com/karts.htm) has some excellent photos and articles on old vintage go-karts. These karts were made using the basic necessities, and still achieved high speeds with excellent cornering and handling. Several ideas can be taken from these vintage karts where there were “no frills” to building gokarts. Ideas which can be combed from the gallery of photos include:
There are also some excellent in-depth articles about the history of karting, right up to the current day! Some of the topics discussed include:
Karting Grand Nationals, from 1960 to 2005
Transportation of GoKarts
Women Gokart Racers
Rocket Powered Karts
McCulloch’s Entry into Karting
Hopefully this website will provide further insight and details as to how simple engine powered gokarts were and can be made. If you would like your karting website reviewed and mentioned here, or if you have any comments on this or any other article, please contact the author by email at
The following well produced video shows the stages involved in making a Go-Kart using the Dirt Devil kart plans. The stages shown in the video below are:
Welding, Cutting and making the Chassis
Obtaining parts for the Suspension
The 18hp Engine
The Rear brake Calliper
Steering Setup
Testing and Racing the Go-Kart with Suspension
A lot of parts were taken from a quad and an other working go-kart! The suspension seems to work very well, however the camber angle on the front wheels seems too much. The front wheels are splayed out sidewards. Perhaps this is the suspension, but ideally this would need to be readjusted. Read more on camber angles here.
About
This blog compliments the main www.kartbuilding.net free kart plans website, and contains regularly updated tips, information and diagrams relating to kart design, kart plans and all aspects of kart building.
There are also some excellent in-depth articles about the history of karting, right up to the current day! Some of the topics discussed include:
The following well produced video shows the stages involved in making a Go-Kart using the 