Shopping for tires and wheels for your golf cart can be overwhelming considering the amount of different types of tires there are on the market.
Here are 4 things you need to consider in determining what type of wheels you are going to need for your cart.
1.Terrain:
What kind of terrain are you going to be driving on. Golf courses only allow turf / low profile tires so the tires do not chew up the golf course. If you use mud or all terrain tires, these tires will destroy the ground of the golf course and you probably won't be invited back to the golf course you were driving on. If you want street ready tires, look for the term "DOT". And of course, if you are going to be driving through rough terrain, the all-terrain or mud tires will be required for your cart to navigate to your destination. On the down side, the all-terrain tires generally have a tread that shake and are rough when you drive on a normal road. If you are looking for a smooth ride, you may want to look at DOT or low profile.
2.Lifted? Non-lifted?
Is your golf cart lifted or non-lifted. If you do not have a lifted cart, then you will probably need to use low terrain or dot tires. The larger the tires, the more likely you will need to install a lift kit on your golf cart. The bigger the tire, the higher the lift kit. On the down side to lifted carts with heavy duty mud tires, you may need an extra step to be able to jump into your cart due to the height of the cart.
3. Check the load capacity.
Do you want to carry a lot of people or heavy load? If so, you may need to choose a quality tire with a heavy load capacity made from durable materials that can withstand the wear and tear of regular use with a heavy load.
4. Look for quality tires.
Sometimes you get what you pay for. If you do not want to worry about replacing your tires, or the safety and longevity of your golf cart, high quality tires made from durable goods may be best for your cart to avoid the cost and hassle of replacing them frequently.
So how do you read the tire size?
For example, what does 23x10-14 mean? Overall height x width - size of wheel
23 is the approximate tire height. 23 inch tires require lift kits to fit on a cart. The second number 10 is the width of the tire and the final number is the size of the wheel.
What if the tire uses the metric system?
215/35-12 = width in millimeter / aspect ration - diameter of the wheel.
215 is the width in millimeters, 35 is the aspect ratio or how tall the sidewall of your tire is, and the final number is the diameter of the wheel.
Does my cart need a lift kit?
Club Car (These are estimates)
20" tire requires 3" lift kit
22" tire requires 4" lift kit
23" tire requires 5" lift kit
Yamaha (These are estimates)
20" tire requires 3" lift kit
22" tire needs at least 4", maybe 5" lift kit depending on tire
23"+ require 6" lift kit
E-Z-Go (These are estimates)
22" tire requires at least 3" lift kit, some may require 4"
23" requires at least 5" lift kit, some may require 6"
