Golf cart rentals

[1derfultigger]

I'm reading on a site that golf cart rentals are $43 a day. Does that price go down, per day, if renting for a longer period such as a week?

Do most people rent golf carts or are they really not needed? We've stayed at campgrounds before that were so vast you almost had to rent one to get around. Just curious if that's the case at FW or not?

 

[campingcorgi]

Yes, you get a discount if you rent for a week or longer. It isn't a large discount, but every little bit helps!

FW has very good internal bus transportation. You will do some walking to get to a bus stop, but then the buses will take you all around the campground. However, I do find the golf carts to be quite a lot of fun and they make it easier to hit the playgrounds, trading posts, beach and other areas. You can also park it by the bus stops and the marina area so that makes out-of-FW transport easier.

Basically what I'm saying is that the golf carts are fun and helpful, but not vital.

 

[rwenzel2]

I agree that the golf carts are not vital, but I can honestly say that the golf cart we rented over Christmas was my favorite ride at WDW (ok - maybe Soarin was as good!).

I know it can be quite a bit of money to rent one (we did it for 11 days this tirp), but for me, it was just part of the trip cost and I budgeted accordingly.

I will definitely rent one again when we have the chance to go back!

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Our first stay was in July of '06 and we were there for just 4 days and didn't rent one. BUT, we felt, like others have said, that it would have been nice to have one so, since we plan on going to FW allot now that we have a camper, we decided to buy one when we returned home. We took it with us to MNSSHP and really felt like we had made a good decision. It made going to the pool, the trading post, the Haunted Hayride, the movie, the external bus stop, and riding around looking at the RV Halloween decorations so much nicer and more relaxing that we are really glad we had one.

Now I don't think it is absolutely necessary to have one, but it is nice. And I certainly don't think it is a great deal to buy one if you can't use it elsewhere or if you don't go to FW often, but for us it made sense.

 

[Lesia]

we camp at FW, so we always have our bikes. BUT, even without bikes, we can't see justifying the cost, since the golf cart will sit for most parts for the day while you are at the parks. Yeah, a few times each week, you think "gee, that cart would be nice", but overall, we don't see the cost being money well spent. If we don't bike, we just walk or use the buses.

 

[stacktester]

I think the carts work for different people. Most of us who have campers can bring bikes and the people who stay in a cabin probably cannot bring em. I plan on buying one soon so we can choose which one we want.

 

[1derfultigger]

Our first stay was in July of '06 and we were there for just 4 days and didn't rent one. BUT, we felt, like others have said, that it would have been nice to have one so, since we plan on going to FW allot now that we have a camper, we decided to buy one when we returned home. We took it with us to MNSSHP and really felt like we had made a good decision. It made going to the pool, the trading post, the Haunted Hayride, the movie, the external bus stop, and riding around looking at the RV Halloween decorations so much nicer and more relaxing that we are really glad we had one.

Now I don't think it is absolutely necessary to have one, but it is nice. And I certainly don't think it is a great deal to buy one if you can't use it elsewhere or if you don't go to FW often, but for us it made sense.

We actually have a golf cart. We didn't buy it for camping rather most people in our neighborhood have them and we use them to cruise around in. However, it's gas-powered and doesn't have brakelights. And, I don't know that I want to haul it all the way to FL either. I've already read a post that brakelights are required at FW and I'm guessing they don't allow gas carts either as most campgrounds do not.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

We actually have a golf cart. We didn't buy it for camping rather most people in our neighborhood have them and we use them to cruise around in. However, it's gas-powered and doesn't have brakelights. And, I don't know that I want to haul it all the way to FL either. I've already read a post that brakelights are required at FW and I'm guessing they don't allow gas carts either as most campgrounds do not.

Gasoline powered golf carts are allowed. The addition of the brake lights might be cheaper than renting if you have a way to transport. Mine fits in the bed of my F-250 tow vehicle.

 

[sandshaker]

We like to rent one just for a day or two, usually the first couple of days. It's an easier way to get around and give them the "lay of the land"

 

[1derfultigger]

Gasoline powered golf carts are allowed. The addition of the brake lights might be cheaper than renting if you have a way to transport. Mine fits in the bed of my F-250 tow vehicle.

Might be worth it as you say. Do you or anyone reading this know what the requirements are exactly? I have a Club Car that's lifted with knobby tires and a rear passenger seat. It has headlights but no horn or brakelights.

I have a Dodge pickup tow vehicle with a 6 foot bed and I have a folding stainless steel ramp I use for a 4-wheeler. Do you have to remove your tailgate to get it in there? Seems the carts are a little longer than 6 feet. Also, any idea of what a golf cart weighs and what impact that might have on my tongue weight rating?

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Might be worth it as you say. Do you or anyone reading this know what the requirements are exactly? I have a Club Car that's lifted with knobby tires and a rear passenger seat. It has headlights but no horn or brakelights.

I have a Dodge pickup tow vehicle with a 6 foot bed and I have a folding stainless steel ramp I use for a 4-wheeler. Do you have to remove your tailgate to get it in there? Seems the carts are a little longer than 6 feet. Also, any idea of what a golf cart weighs and what impact that might have on my tongue weight rating?

Sorry, I have been away from the boards for a while. An electric golf cart comes in at approximately 1,000 pounds. A gas cart should be about the same or a little less. The batteries are heavy, but I don't know how much the gas engine weighs. It should be considerably less than the batteries.

My cart has a rear facing seat with a fold up rear foot rest. I bought is special for the purpose of transporting my golf cart in my short bed. My 2003 E-Z-Go is a couple of inches longer than the length of the bed so I can't close the tail gate with the cart in it. What I do is lift the tail gate part of the way and loop the tail gate support cables over the tail gate latch post and that keeps the tail gate up enough that it clears the gas bottles in normal turns but doesn't push against the rear of the cart or rear foot rest. It also ensures that the cart doesn't roll out of the truck backwards. Sorry, I don't have a photo handy. I'll try to get one and post if that will make it easier to understand.

 

[1derfultigger]

Don't go through all that trouble - I follow you. I agree a gas cart should be a little lighter because of the weight of the batteries. Even still, that's quite a bit of weight over the rear axle before even hooking up the trailer. Any concerns there? You have a F250 right, so it's probably not as much a concern for you as it would be for me on my 1500 . I'm just wondering if it's safe, from a load perspective, for me to put 1000 lbs in the bed of my truck and then hook the trailer up. I do use a distribution hitch but I am not sure how all that weight will be distributed and how to calculate it against the recommendations for my tow package and the tongue weight of my camper. I think I'm safe as far as overall weight - just not sure about the tongue weight vs./+ cargo bed weight. I guess I could call the RV dealer and ask...

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

The weight of cargo (the cart) affect 2 things, your gross combined weight and the gross vehicle weight of the tow vehicle (your truck)
You will need to know the weight of your trailer ready to travel (loaded)
here is an example using round numbers.


weight of truck 5,000#
weight of trailer 2000#
weight of cargo (cart, fuel, people, tongue weight of trailer) 1200#

your GVWR for your truck would have to be over 6200#
your GVCWR would have to be over 8200#

All of the weight ratings for your truck should be on the door placard or in your owners manual. If you cant find them there check with your dealer.

Hope that helps.

Scott

 

[1derfultigger]

The weight of cargo (the cart) affect 2 things, your gross combined weight and the gross vehicle weight of the tow vehicle (your truck)
You will need to know the weight of your trailer ready to travel (loaded)
here is an example using round numbers.


weight of truck 5,000#
weight of trailer 2000#
weight of cargo (cart, fuel, people, tongue weight of trailer) 1200#

your GVWR for your truck would have to be over 6200#
your GVCWR would have to be over 8200#

All of the weight ratings for your truck should be on the door placard or in your owners manual. If you cant find them there check with your dealer.

Hope that helps.

Scott

Scott, thanks for the info. I'm aware of what my vehicle can tow in addition to its own weight plus passengers. I can add in the weight of the golf cart and I'm still comfortably below that max rating. What I'm concerned with is tongue weight and if/how the weight of the golf cart has any impact on that.

Tongue weight, as I understand it, is the actual weight that is pushing down on the hitch itself and compressing the rear suspension. It is part of the weight of the trailer but does not get added back into the weight of the trailer for any reason. My tow package is rated for 2 different weights - tongue weight and total weight. For example, my tongue weight rating might be 550 pounds and my total weight rating might be 10,000 pounds. However, if my truck is only rated to tow 8200 pounds, that number supercedes the 10,000 pound max hitch rating.

I'm no engineer but it seems logical to me that having 1000 pounds in the bed of a pickup over the rear axle and suspension is bound to have some bearing on the tongue weight.

I think it's time to call my RV dealer and get the official word...

Thanks for all the responses...

 

[ftwildernessguy]

It's not so much the tongue weight, which is independent of what you have in the bed of your truck, but the weight transferred to the rear axle. A weight distribution hitch will transfer a certain amount of weight to the rear axle, this combined with your cargo load on that axle could put you over your vehicle's limit. There should be a rating for your vehicle for the rear axle as well as towing capacities and tongue weight allowances. As you can see, weight determination is much more complicated than just the weight of the trailer and the towing capacity rating of the vehicle.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

The tongue weight is not changed by the load in or on the truck bed. Tongue weight is tongue weight, however tongue weight is part of the "cargo" weight on your truck. If you have a 500# tongue weight and your cart weighs 1000# you are essentialy carrying 1500# of cargo for those 2 items.
So if you have a truck with a 6000# GVWR
your truck weighs 4000# dry
your tongue weight is 500#
your cart weighs 1000#
You then have 5500# counted towards your GVWR, meaning you only have 500# for fuel and passengers.

As far as your weight distributing hitch goes you may have to adjust it when carrying the cart in the truck. The goal is to get the trailer and tow vehicle as close to level as possible. If normally you pull your trailer without much cargo in the bed you will have to adjust your weight/trunnion bars a little tighter to keep the rig level when hauling your cart.

What size and weight is your trailer ?
I have a 2500HD Duramax Chevy and tow a 27ft bunkhouse that weighs in around 6400# loaded.
If you have a F250 you should have enough GVWR to carry the cart.

Hope that helps.

Scott

 

[Minnie's Mate]

The tongue weight is not changed by the load in or on the truck bed. Tongue weight is tongue weight, however tongue weight is part of the "cargo" weight on your truck. If you have a 500# tongue weight and your cart weighs 1000# you are essentialy carrying 1500# of cargo for those 2 items.
So if you have a truck with a 6000# GVWR
your truck weighs 4000# dry
your tongue weight is 500#
your cart weighs 1000#
You then have 5500# counted towards your GVWR, meaning you only have 500# for fuel and passengers.

As far as your weight distributing hitch goes you may have to adjust it when carrying the cart in the truck. The goal is to get the trailer and tow vehicle as close to level as possible. If normally you pull your trailer without much cargo in the bed you will have to adjust your weight/trunnion bars a little tighter to keep the rig level when hauling your cart.

What size and weight is your trailer ?
I have a 2500HD Duramax Chevy and tow a 27ft bunkhouse that weighs in around 6400# loaded.
If you have a F250 you should have enough GVWR to carry the cart.

Hope that helps.

Scott

I am relatively new to towing. I have towed our trailer about 5,000 miles so far since we got it last year, so I am certainly no expert, but Scott is exactly correct. What I do is adjust my hitch to distribute more of the tongue weight to the front axle of my F-250. I have the tow/haul package on my truck which gives me sway bars on the front axle and rear axle. This extra weight shifted to the front axle levels the rig and maintains comfortable handling. Our trailer fully loaded weighs about 8,000 lbs. and has a tongue weight of about 850 lbs.

My F-250 has a maximum payload (in the bed) of 3,000 lbs. and a maximum towing capacity of 12,500 lbs. So with both the cart and fully loaded trailer, I am no where near the maximums. I have an Equal-I-Zer brand hitch that is a little different than most weight distribution hitches, but the principles are the same. When I add the golf cart to the mix I adjust the brackets that hold the spring bars. A conventional weight distribution hitch would require adjustment to the number of links in the snap-up chains on the spring bars. With this slight adjustment, which takes less than five minutes on my hitch, I can maintain the same comfortable handling with the cart in the bed as without.

Since I am so new to towing, I would recommend contacting your RV dealer with questions about the ability of your 1/2 truck to handle the golf cart with your particular trailer. The place that I got the most knowledgeable help was not the RV dealer, but from a local utility trailer dealer. You might also check with horse/livestock trailer dealers in your area if you have one and if they carry your brand of hitch. For some reason they seem to have more experience with a wider variety of hitches and towing scenarios.

 

[1derfultigger]

I have a Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 shortbed quad cab with optional Hemi engine and factory tow package. I know the tow package includes the receiver hitch, obviously, a transmission cooler, and a "tow gear" - I do not know that it includes any sort of extra sway bars, etc. The hemi gives me more towing capacity but does not increase the cargo capacity. I also have the equalizer hitch but have no idea how to make proper adjustments to it.

We typically put things in the truck bed when we go camping. Usually a grill, a huge cooler filled with ice, 3 or 4 bikes, and several other misc. things all amounting to a couple hundred lbs at least.

I believe my tow capacity is somewhere around 8200 lbs and my tongue weight capacity is 550 - 600 lbs - somewhere in there. I have a 30 foot bunkhouse but it's an ultra-lite Jayco that weighs less than 5800 lbs dry.

With our normal load, the truck sits about level or maybe a smidge lower than level when the trailer is hooked up. I have to believe a golf cart will push it down lower - probably too low. Not sure if there is any adjustments that can be made to counter-act that.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I have a Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 shortbed quad cab with optional Hemi engine and factory tow package. I know the tow package includes the receiver hitch, obviously, a transmission cooler, and a "tow gear" - I do not know that it includes any sort of extra sway bars, etc. The hemi gives me more towing capacity but does not increase the cargo capacity. I also have the equalizer hitch but have no idea how to make proper adjustments to it.

We typically put things in the truck bed when we go camping. Usually a grill, a huge cooler filled with ice, 3 or 4 bikes, and several other misc. things all amounting to a couple hundred lbs at least.

I believe my tow capacity is somewhere around 8200 lbs and my tongue weight capacity is 550 - 600 lbs - somewhere in there. I have a 30 foot bunkhouse but it's an ultra-lite Jayco that weighs less than 5800 lbs dry.

Typically any sway bars referred to in towing are the ones on the hitch.
You would definetly be pushing it to carry a cart with that truck. I would wager you trailer weighs well over 6000# with all your stuff in it (mine has a dry weight of only 5000# but with all our stuff is around 6400#)
I used to tow with an 1/2 ton Avalanche that had the 5.3 liter, although it was rated to tow 8000# I felt it struggled on grades. That truck had several performance upgrades also.
My personal opinion would be to forget hauling the cart with a 1/2 ton. I think you would be surprised at the scale weight of that truck/trailer/cargo set up.
If you really want to consider it I would scale the trailer LOADED with all your stuff. Any time I have ever weighed anything its always as we are leaving on a trip.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

It is amazing how much loading a trailer increases the weight. If you ask for an estimate, most people will say they only take 3 or 4 hundred pounds of stuff with them. A quick trip to the scales with the trailer loaded for vacation is a real eye opener.