Rear or drive axles are a common problem on Golf Buggies for failures, as this is where all the load and shock from surfaces is absorbed.
All imports have a 12mm axle which connects to the main gear of the gearbox via a 4mm roll pin. Over time on rough surfaces the hole in which the rollpin is situated starts to wear and can result in the axle snapping through the roll pin hole.
They also machine a 3-4 mm groove at the end of the shaft for the mechanism for the removable wheels, now the axle is reduced to 8mm and with a steel quick release inserts inside the rear wheel it causes 2 problems;
- Shear points for axle
- Squeeky metal on metal sound
From common sense and customer experience EMG know that this set up and design creates a shear point as the quick release wheel that runs on the shaft is steel on steel.
We have tried and tested 12mm axles and after a couple of games the end of the axles bend where the wheels locate. At EMG we use 15mm bright bar material for our axle. (Never Broken 1).
The drive bearings are Needle roller clutch bearingsthat connect through a hexagon drivenut that drives the wheels when the motor is turned to on. This setup works the same as a differential in a car, turn left to right each bearing will disengage to make manourabilty easy.
From previous reading you would have read that we use an imported gearbox/motor assembly.
It has a 12mm hole through the main gear. We have an alignment jig that we place the gears into on a lathe, to re-drill them out to 15mm so that we can insert the 15mm axle.
Wheel bearings are an important factor for longevity of a motorised golf buggy. EMG’s rear wheels are supplied with needle roller clutch bearings in each wheel, that helps turning mobility.
When the buggy is not turned on it can free-wheel forward and backwards with ease. How this system works is once the motor is engaged via the On/Off switch the needle roller bearings engage onto the axle, giving you drive through both wheels for traction up steep hills and slippery surfaces.
If you need to turn the buggy left to right the clutch bearings will disengage for optimum turning ability.
Bearings in the front wheel of the EMG buggies have spacers between the bearings to ensure that no matter how much torque is applied, the mounting bolt and bearings will never operate outside there torque parameters.
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