Murray 60101x92 buggy help!

[petercollinscona]

Hi guys, I am new to the forum and hope everyone is doing fine.

I recently bought a Murray kart GT60101 (my first one!) and when driving the kart, it refuses to go straight. Instead it keeps wanting to go to the left side if I let go of the steering wheel.

I noticed there was considerable play on both bolts on each side (spindles?) so I took one side apart to analyze the worn out components and realized the spindles only have the main bolt and a top and bottom washer. In other words, no bushings, bearings or any other part I could replace. I then found the diagram for this kart online to make sure any parts could be missing, but the diagram shows exactly what I found when I took it apart.

The only bearings I could find were the wheel bearings which seem to be still in good shape. This leads me to the conclusion I have very little options to make the steering more precise such as adding more washers or maybe trying to improvise some type of bushing (unless there is some type of steering upgrade part available to fix this type of issue). Even if I am not able to remove this play, is there anything else I can do to at least have my kart go straight without having to hold to the steering wheel to force it to go straight?

I'd also like to add when I apply the brakes, the kart really tends to turn to the left side (not sure this is related to the steering or some type of adjustment of the brakes). If anyone can shed some light on this issue for me, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks and have a great Sunday!