A go-kart is a small vehicle with simple design and small body build, with four wheels, brake and an automotive engine. Go-kart is also known as kart, go-cart, gearbox/shifter kart, and off-road buggy.

As simple as it looks, a go-kart is somewhat easy to build on your own. It will be a very interesting project for you and your family and friends. You will spend lots of bonding time while building something useful together.

But before you follow the step-by-step guide below, you must pay serious attention to this warning: building a go-kart requires time, special tools, dedication, and money.

1. Front A-arms assembly
2. Main frame assembly
3. Steering system assembly
4. Drive axle assembly

1. Always measure the steel materials twice to make sure that the specified length is correct. Never use welded pieces for the main supporting parts.
2. Use a pattern, a template, or a guide to make sure that the shape of the A-Arm is accurate and equal all over.
3. Weld all joints and pieces well together. Use steel clips to keep these pieces from moving while welding.
4. Use the right size of nuts to lock bolts. Do not forget to put washer in between of each nut and bolt, and joining ends of steel tubes to avoid warp and wear.

1. Lay down the pipe steel on a clean part of your concrete floor. Be sure to measure the length and width before welding each piece.
2. Use proper support to get proper height and clearance of parts to be welded.
3. The body and roofing frame need bending to create round edges. Use a pattern, to be sure that all curves are equally measured.
4. Arrange the bucket seats on their designated places to see how big the body size of your go-kart should be.

1. Find a lawnmower differential with 13-teeth sprocket and 9-teeth axle.
2. Link them by a type (or size) 50 chain so that the speed will get higher than what the lawnmower originally could give.
3. Install a chain guard to keep chain from falling off while go-kart is running.
4. Choose the appropriate sizes of bearings and tires to insure good running condition.

1. Secure the steering part on the frame with use of steel clips pushed into bored holes on pipe steel.
2. Use nuts and bolts where needed securing.
3. The steering rack used in this go-kart is converted from a 1986 Hyundai Excell (models from 1985 to 1989 will also work).

Essential Parts of a Go-Kart:

1. engine
2. frame
3. suspension
4. steering
5. tires and wheels
6. brakes
7. seats
8. seat belts
9. centrifugal clutch
10. torque converter

If you're one of those people who really love to assemble things, go ahead and build your own go-kart from scratch. Buy every spare part after hunting for the best price.

You don't have to buy the tools because your alternative is to have an automotive shop fix the parts as needed. It might be costly but a real time-saver. You don't clean the mess and you won't make noises that often annoy neighbors.

You will need a special place for your build-a-go-kart project. That place should be dry, roomy, with good lighting and has concrete floor; so a part of your garage is the obvious choice because it can also safely keep all the stuff for the next 3 to 6 months.

Are you really ready to build your own go-kart? Yes. Now, let's start and gather the spare parts you will need.

2 Types of Engine for Go-Karts:

1. air-cooled engines - cooling is provided by wind when moving.
2. water-cooled engines - cooling is provided by fluid that runs to a radiator.

Air-cooled engines are smaller and simpler; so they will do better for your go-kart. But air-cooled engines are not made to run in one place for a long time.

Water-cooled engines are heavy-duty because it can keep running without risk of overheating. But the water system of this type of engine should be properly set-up, or your engine will get in trouble.

1. Motorcycle engines - are the most adaptable and flexible engines for a go-kart. Whether a 2-stroke or a 4-stroke, a motorcycle engine of any size is very easy to fit into a go-kart.
2. Lawnmower engines - are low-priced, always available, and have enough although a little bit slow. These engines can produce more torque which could set your go-kart in motion.
3. Leaf-blower engines - and other small machines with similar type of engines. These are less complicated and can be bought in stores. They are not cheap though and you need to install a clutch.
4. Snow-mobile engines - are quite inexpensive and easy to come by in some places. They have a lot of torque but they cannot perform better during hot weather.
5. Car engines - are too heavy, too pricey, too big, and produced too much torque. It is possible to build a go-kart that uses a small car engine but you need to set up the original transmission, clutch and other essential parts to make it run smoothly.
6. Variety of engine sources; such as: chain-saw, generator, moped, water pump, rotavator, and old go-karts.

The average horsepower for go-kart engine is 8 HP; but the desirable is 10HP. With the 10HP engine you have, you can create a larger gear ratio; and therefore, have more torque your go-kart will need to be able to climb higher with minimum hassle.

You bring all tasks that need professional attention to a reputable auto mechanic shop. Do not attempt to do something that you do not understand fully. Engine parts that need to be fitted and steel frames to be cut, drilled into, or welded together should be done with some expertise. You just have to make sure that everything is done according to your specifications.

If you have a welding machine, a steel-cutting machine or other types of machine-and you would like to try your hand on them while building your go-kart, be sure to wear protective clothing and gadgets; such as, welding helmet and face mask. You also need to work in a comfortable and well-ventilated area.

2 Types of Steel for the Go-Kart Frame:

1. Pipe (round) - Pipe steel on a go-kart looks neat but it is harder to manipulate and weld together.
2. Square (angular) - Square steel is cheaper and easier to bend or join, but not so good to look at.

1. You can combine pipe and square steels to create the frame for your go-kart.
2. Weld all the pieces of the frame properly and accurately. Put supports where needed.
3. Make sure the welded joints are tough and strong, so that they can take abuse during rough rides.
4. After each test ride, carefully inspect the welded points of the go-kart to make sure that it is built to last long.

The probable role of suspension to your go-kart is to make the ride less bumpy during long travels. Some go-karts have shocks installed. But since you're not driving your go-kart to a very large distance, you might want to skip the installation of any suspension.

Eliminating suspension will also save you much money. If you really want a ‘softer' ride, you have the option to put in big tires instead.

Second to the engine, steering can give you some complexities while setting it up on your go-kart. The main role of steering is to keep all, rear and front, wheels aligned-and not pushed away or toward each other. A durable construction of steering wheel is absolutely important because it gives direction to your go-kart. Steering calls for some expert handling so have it assembled by your dependable mechanic. Or find and buy a new steering set-up from major parts stores.

1. Steering shaft - which begins with steering wheel and ends at the bottom with pitman arm.
2. Spindles - are also known as axles when in the front of go-kart. The spindle is the steering connection to the axle.
3. Tie rod - connects the pitman arm and the spindles. The tie rod dictates the amount of ‘toe in' for your go-kart to turn corners well.
4. Pitman arm - is found at the bottom of the steering shaft. When you turn the steering wheel, the steering shaft also turns and the pitman arm attaches to tie rods to push them towards the desired direction.

Most go-karts use large tires at the rear. You can find different sizes of wheels that fit the 4.10x3.50 from major auto parts suppliers.

Standard sizes for bearings are 5/8" and ¾". Take note that the size 5/8" has axle bolts that fits perfectly on 1-inch tubing.

Best choices:

1. Ribbed tires are more resistant to traction and to wear than the knobby type.
2. Tubeless tires require tubeless rims.
3. High-speed bearings are also high-priced but they have better performance than the low-speed and cheaper standard bearings.

4 Types of Brake for Go-Karts:

1. Scrub brake - have metal paddles that are pressed against both rear tires when the brake pedal is pressed. This brake pedal can be transformed into a hand brake but can put much pressure to tires.
2. Band brake - are simple to fix and relatively cheaper but won't work well when wet. A band brake uses a metal band to squeeze around the outside of brake drum to stop motion of wheels.
3. Drum brake - swells inside the brake drum to restrain movement, rather than controlling from the outside. Drum brakes are better and more durable than band brakes because they don't get wet often.
4. Disc brake - is the best because it provides superior stopping ability; but also really expensive. You may use the drive sprocket as substitute to the brake disc, but it needs to be cleaned often to work properly.

Any old or new seats can be used, as long as they fit into the go-kart and protect the riders. Most go-karts have bucket seats, made of durable plastic or fiber-glass.

You can use old car upholstered seats but they collect dirt and are more difficult to clean.

Seat belts are compulsory protective contraptions in every vehicle, even on a small and simple go-kart.

2 Types of Seatbelt:

1. 3-point harness - are cheaper and commonly used.
2. 5-point racing seatbelt (or 4-point racing harness) - are more appropriate for go-karts. 3-year old racing belts are lower prices because they cannot be used by professional racers anymore.

A chain and sprocket are popular for the drive assembly because they perform better than the pulley system. They are also simple to set-up and a lot cheaper. For go-kart applications, the following chain sizes are good performers: #35, 40, 41, 420 pitch sprockets.

Large sprockets (or drive sprockets) have better low-end power; while small sprockets (or engine sprockets) give higher top-end speed.

Small sprockets tend to weaken the low-end torque of a go-kart. To help improve its poor performance, you might want to add torque converters.

The centrifugal clutch is the very simple mechanism that transmits the engine's power to the drive wheel.

Your other option, which could be more efficient, is the torque converter.

Torque converters get more power from the engine to be used while running the go-kart. At low speed, the torque converter automatically shifts to low gear; therefore creating more torque and power. Lower gear ratio means your go-kart can run faster and can climb higher.

You might want to consider using a low-cost torque converter to help boost up a low-horsepower engine, rather than buying a much costlier 10-HP engine.

Go-karts with the single-wheel drive are common choices for the do-it-yourself enthusiasts. It is easier to put in because one-wheel drive assemblies are sold in many car parts stores. The rear wheel, sprocket, and brake are put together as one part. It costs less and saves time.

The single-wheel drive (also known as fixed axle) runs better on hard-packed dirt and asphalt roads. It runs a chain from engine clutch directly to the drive wheel, where a sprocket was set up; so the other rear wheel spins freely and the axle unmoving.

Drive wheel assemblies are available in sizes 4", 5", and 6".

Two-wheel drive go-karts are also popular, especially to those who drive their go-karts off-road.

2 Ways to Upgrade Go-Kart into a 2-Wheel Drive:

1. Live axle - The two wheels are fixed straight to the axle; so the axle spins. Since both wheels have the same power at the same time, driving a go-kart on sand and loose dirt is easy. Although on-road driving and turning are more difficult because both rear wheels are running with same speed.
2. Differential - can be added to solve this shortcoming of the live axle. Setting up a differential will power both wheels to allow taking corners without slipping or skidding even when driving on-road. These differential systems can be bought from parts stores.

Kart racing is now often considered as a learning arena for young racers. Karting provides first-hand education of motor racing to these new drivers. Go-karts provide practice and experience for racing enthusiasts who aspire to become professional racers someday. Many Formula One racers and NASCAR drivers started their motor racing careers in kart racing.

Who knows? You or one of your family and friends who helped building your own go-kart might be a born racer...