[Silly Little Cars] requesting advise

Fri Sep 9 03:54:49 PDT 2016

My personal opinion, but you didn't say what year Truckster you are considering buying, or whether it's motor is gas, diesel, or electric -

Cushman Trucksters like mine are not designed for long runs at 30-35 mph, which is their max engine rpm. They are also considerably under powered. They do fine on an estate or large commercial property, but running them at full throttle for extended periods brings on frequent major engine problems. Cushman Trucksters, even the newest that were actually made by Cushman, are getting quite old at 20+ years, and this is considered the dark ages for motor technology (this does not refer to the EZGO version with the Cushman name on them). I rebuilt my 1987 Cushman Truckster almost from the ground up, and it's still a bit of a maintenance nightmare. I now have three OMC 22 hp engines, so I can use two of them for parts to keep the engine that's in my Truckster running, but at this moment it is "not running", and I'm all out of the parts that I need to fix it. 

I broke a valve. again (not the first time this has happened). This time it's in the left cylinder. Valves by themselves are not very expensive and are easy to find, but finding someone who can, and is willing to, install and lap a valve that's up inside of a one piece cylinder/head has been fruitless, so I'm forced to buy a complete cylinder with the valves already installed for $300 plus another $50 for the new gaskets, etc. and then spend about six hours of my time taking the engine out of the Truckster, pulling it apart to put the new cylinder on it and then putting it back together and back into the Truckster. Fortunately, these cylinders are still available NOS, but they are becoming very hard to find, and for how much longer can they still be found when needed? 

Do you do your own vehicle repair work? 
Many shops are unwilling to work on Cushman Trucksters. Here, the local forklift repair shop is willing to do some work for me, but not all of it. They have also found me some parts that I could not find elsewhere. Trucksters that are a few years newer than my 1987, that have the 3 cylinder water cooled Daihatsu engines may go a little faster, but parts for these engines seem to be even harder to find than for my OMC engine. I think the ones with the Kubota Diesel engines are also getting hard to find parts for.

You would be much better off buying a newer GO-4 Interceptor II or III in good condition, if you plan to drive it on the highways. They have more power and can easly go 30-60 mph speeds for extended periods, if their governor is defeated or adjusted. My Truckster cannot go more than 35 mph.  I've driven it almost 20 miles from home a few times. It was a long, rough ride and two times I needed a towing service to get it back home again. When I get the engine back together this time, my Truckster will no longer be used on the highways, except for maybe a short run to the nearest gas station, which is about 1 mile away, or to the nearest Lowes, which is about 2 miles away. I'll just keep it on my 3 acres and use it for yard work. 

Charley   

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Daphne Vega via Silly_little_cars 
  To: silly_little_cars at lists.sillylittlecars.com 
  Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2016 8:59 PM
  Subject: [Silly Little Cars] requesting advise

  Hi- I am looking at a Cushman Truckster that is for sale and would love some advise. I really need to be able to travel between SF and the East Bay. I am fine with figuring out all surface street routes but I would need to take it across the bridge. If anyone out there would be willing to chat with me about their experience with upgrading or mods, and whether or not it can me made legal for highways (I think the bridge is considered a highway?) I would greatly appreciate it.

  I have been wanting one of these for a while now and I know I could go the way more practical route and just get a truck- but I just love these silly little cars!

  Please email me directly and I can share my number.

  daphnevega1 at gmail.com

  Thanks
  Daphne

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