🏎️ Steering Go-Kart: step-by-step build

Turn the steering wheel and the front wheels really turn — just like a real car.

Until now our cars could only go straight. Boring! This go-kart has real steering. Turn the steering wheel and a tiny gear rolls along a toothed rack. The rack slides sideways, pulls the tie rod, and both front wheels swing together. Real cars use exactly the same trick. You will build the steering as its own module first, then bolt it on the front.

Level 3 of 5 (medium)
About 30 minutes
25 steps, 67 parts
Powered by: Push
Series: Starter Builds

What you will learn

Steering: Turning the front wheels makes a car follow a curve.
Rack & Pinion Steering: A gear rolling on a straight rack slides it sideways.
Pins: Grippy or Smooth: Pins join beams together — some hold tight, some let things swing.
Bushes & Spacers: Bushes stop things sliding off an axle.

Build these first

🛒 Push Buggy: A sturdy buggy with a push bar held up by super-strong triangles. (level 2 of 5, about 15 minutes, 12 steps)
🧪 Gear Speed Lab: Two cranks, two gear pairs: one makes things FAST, one makes things STRONG. (level 2 of 5, about 20 minutes, 13 steps)

Parts you need

2 × Beam 15
1 × Axle 12
7 × Bush
3 × Double cross block
2 × Axle 5
1 × Axle 7
4 × Yellow-hub wheel
16 × Black pin (grippy)
4 × L-beam 3×5
2 × Cross block
1 × Open frame 5×7
2 × Long pin-axle block
2 × Beam 9
4 × Grey pin (smooth)
2 × Steering arm
2 × Axle 3
1 × Gear rack
6 × Red axle-pin
1 × Beam 5
2 × Half bush
1 × Tiny gear (8 teeth)
1 × Medium gear (24 teeth)

Steps

Stand a 15-hole beam on its edge — the left side of the kart.
Push a 12-long axle through the 13th hole. This will be the back axle.
Slide the second 15-hole beam onto the back axle, and push a bush onto the axle just outside each beam.
Hold a double cross block in the middle under holes 10–12 with a bush on each side of it, then push a 5-axle through hole 10: beam, bush, block, bush, beam. The bushes keep the beams from sliding in.
Push a 7-axle through hole 12 — through both beams and the block. Then slide a second bush onto each side of the back axle.
Push the two back wheels on.
Push two black pins into the inside of each beam, holes 7 and 8.
Snap an L-beam onto each pair of pins. Together they make the seat!
Slide a cross block onto each end of the 7-axle, with the pin hole on top.
Stand the 5×7 frame across the kart just in front of the cross blocks, then push a black pin through each bottom corner hole into the cross block — the roll cage.
Front socket: push black pins into the 1st and 3rd holes of the left beam (outside) and press a long pin-axle block onto both. Its middle cross hole points up and down.
The same socket on the right beam.
Steering module: lay a 9-hole beam flat.
Push a grey pin up through each end hole and put a steering arm on it.
Slide a short axle into each steering arm and push on the front wheels.
Push grey pins into the arm ends and lay the red tie rod on top.
Lay the toothed rack on the tie rod, teeth facing up.
Slide the steering module in under the front of the kart until the 2nd hole from each end of the axle beam sits right under a socket block. From below, push a red axle-pin up through each of those holes into the block's cross hole.
Left post: push black pins into holes 4 and 6 of the left beam (outside) and press an L-beam onto them — short leg along the beam, long leg straight up.
Right post: the same on the right beam.
Push red axle-pins into the 3rd and 5th holes of the left post (inside) and press a double cross block onto both, standing up.
The same on the right post: two red axle-pins and a double cross block.
Push a black pin into the middle hole of each double cross block, pointing forward, and press the red 5-hole dashboard beam onto both pins.
Hold the tiny pinion gear on the rack with a half bush on each side of it. Push the 5-axle steering column in from the front: through a half bush, the pinion, the other half bush and the dashboard.
Push the steering wheel onto the column right behind the dashboard, and lock it with a bush.

Play time

Steer the kart around a cushion. Turn the wheel a little, then a lot — which makes a tighter circle?

Build next

🛻 Bouncy Monster Truck: Four big wheels on four springy shock absorbers. Boing, boing! (level 4 of 5, about 45 minutes, 29 steps)
🏆 RC Racer: A real remote-control car: motor drive, differential, servo steering and headlights. (level 5 of 5, about 75 minutes, 38 steps)
🏎️ Ackermann Soapbox: Real car steering: the inside front wheel turns more than the outside one, so the tyres never scrub! (level 3 of 5, about 35 minutes, 20 steps)
🚀 Launch-Lock Racer: Wind it up, and a little catch holds the spring tight until YOU press the launch button! (level 3 of 5, about 40 minutes, 21 steps)
🌀 Pull-back Diff Racer: A spring racer with a real differential, so it zooms round curves without skidding. (level 3 of 5, about 40 minutes, 23 steps)
🎛️ One Motor, Knob Steering: The motor drives, YOU steer — turn the knob as you walk beside it. (level 3 of 5, about 40 minutes, 21 steps)
🎮 First RC Car (Servo): Your first remote-control car: one dial drives, the other dial steers. (level 4 of 5, about 50 minutes, 27 steps)
🛠️ Ratchet Car Jack: Crank the handle — click, click, click — and lift a toy car. Let go and it stays up! (level 3 of 5, about 35 minutes, 15 steps)
🛗 Scissor Lift: Turn the crank and the platform climbs straight up on criss-cross legs. (level 3 of 5, about 45 minutes, 29 steps)