I recently purchased a 2001 GEM cart. At initial takeoff I notice the front end seems real “clunky” it seems like bushings are worn or something? Is this something others are experiencing?
You need to replace the bumper between the motor coupler and the input shaft. The link below will get you there. The shipping is high but he combines items so get a few of them because they need changed fairly frequently.
It’s a quick job to change it, just pull the 3 bolts off the motor and it slides off. I don’t even unhook the wires, just turn the master voltage switch off. Be sure to grease the splines before reassembling. Don’t over-grease with globs or you could actually cause the fit to be too tight and take out the bearing on the motor. Just good and coated is all you need. Spline lube is ideal but I’ve used regular grease and been fine. Also inspect the splines as they can wear and add to the clunking. If you find the shaft to be worn, contact @Old_Houseboater, he can get you dialed on that.
I’ve bought from this guy below and he is a legitimate seller and ships fast. I just bought 5 of them a couple weeks ago to keep around. They don’t last long and generally need replaced at least every couple years from my experience.
I found on our 2002 that in addition to the bumper Mr. Vern mentions, changing the differential fluid and filling it up to the plug made a tremendous difference in front end noise. There are a couple of posts here on how to do and what gear lube to use.
@Reddevil did it reduce the clunking or the overall gear noise? I know the early models are notoriously loud due to the straight tooth gears. Mine whine like there’s no tomorrow. Been tempted to try the cork trick.
Mr. Vern, it reduced both the gear whine as well as much of the clunky sounds with acceleration and deacceleration. Frankly I was amazed at how much quieter it became just from changing and topping off the gear lube.
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