I had pedal to the metal, was moving along nicely when suddenly I started rolling to a stop. The engine was running fine, but there was no go. It was then that I tried to remember a conversation from my brain that I had some 10 to 13 years prior with Bob. It was his old Yamaha Golf Car and I just could not remember what or where he said he did some welding.

Bob was not available, so I decided to tear into a repair of the cart myself. I was sure that eventually I would find Bob’s repair work somewhere along the trail. I began by removing the engine cover that also serves as the seat and a top. Then I raised the rear of the cart, and placed it firmly on two stands. Before I removed the left side wheel, I found that by spinning it, or the transaxle there was no connection between them. The right side fared no better.

After removing the wheel and brake drum, I was able to spin the axle easily and I noticed a grinding noise. Was the noise coming from the bearing or was the axle broken? My answer came after loosening four bolts that held a plate-brake drum combination to the axle housing. Once loose the whole assembly just fell off into my hands. Alas, the axle was broken, Bob’s repair was visible, and I was thankful that the transaxle was not the culprit.

I found a replacement axle, housing, and brake assembly at an online auction and now I could begin my repair. I decided not to use the old axle housing, as the spot where the bearing fit was a bit rough. It was not a race in a true sense as the axle bearing is a sealed unit that fits into the housing cutout. I then removed the old housing, installed the replacement housing, and then installed the brake assembly and axle.

I did have to loosen the tensioner near the brake pedal to have enough cable to hook up to the replacement brake assembly. I was now able to re-install the tire, lower the cart, and re-install the top cover seat assembly. It was time for a test drive!