Show us your Rig / Cockpit

Oh wow that looks complicated
It *was* simpler to start with, but I just kept haphazardly slapping on more wood when I found it shifting under hard braking! :D. I'm sure it could be made a lot simpler with the same degree of strength, especially doing proper joints rather than just screwing two struts together. It was bit cold in the garage, so after two evenings of messing around, I decided to put on the drink holder to make it usable :)

I just sat in my seat and measured from there where I wanted my stuff to be, then I sketched this, but the measurements changed throughout the building process.
I did do a rough plan in CAD too, but that was just to make it clear in my head how things would fit together. In the end I did the same as you and just re-measured stuff as I went along. I have not tweaked the position for a week now, so I think I'm fairly close, although the throttle control on the left might need moving as I keep missing it in VR.
 
Last edited:
I have an interested buyer in my Simucube 2. But until I hear whether that's going down or not, I decided to finish building my DimSim Racing R1 button plate.


NKK EB2011 switches for the buttons, 13mm x 4 mm neodymium magnet shifters, some cheap EC11 encoders on SC2 wireless button module.

Rubberized grip means no need for gloves. Enclosure is 3D printed but I have solid aluminum 10mm thick spacers that slot the M5 bolts. So it's solid aluminum all the way from the hub to the wheel plate. No flex even at full 25 Nm of torque.

Mounted my T16000m for Star Wars Squadrons. I've already tested the wheel and it doesn't interfere with wheel rotation. Since I'll give the hotas to my nephew after beating Squadrons, this mounting solution is fine for me.

For those interested in the inverted HE pedals, I'm using 120x40 aluminum profile for brake and clutch, the length is the width of my cockpit in between uprights and length profiles. I have a 40 cm long 40x40 profile with two pivoting joints, one on each side. This attaches to my vertical uprights and two 20 cm long pedal 40x40 uprights at the front of the cockpit. This allows me to adjust their height and angle. I should've gone with 30cm for the pivoting arms and 30 cm height for the pedal uprights.
 
Last edited:
Looking clean!

Question: Are you using vr or your tv a bit far away? Also the pedal are very low (digging thru the asphalt :)) what is the thinking behind it?

Cheers!
Good observations!

The TV is 4k 55'' but it's indeed too far away.
I am doing research for a pc monitor to be mounted on the rig but I am quite lost between the options and desperate with the prices:cool:

The driving position is completely unorthodox.
The idea was to elevate the seat in order to achieve a smaller leg angle and give less stress to my knees cause I face some problems currently.
I also have to completely avoid using my left foot and this the reason I have to do some easy right foot braking for a certain period of time.
But, while initially seemed good, after two or three driving sessions I realized how uncomfortable this seat position was.
My back also started to complain(age problems;)).

So I lowered the seat by 8cm and moved the pedals more forward.
And the first impressions are very good with painless comfortable driving.

I will eventually need some fine tuning in order to find the sweet spot that will permit me to have my legs as extended I can without having knee pain.
Using some bucket seat risers in order to give some inclination to the seat could also be an option.

This is the rig now:

1610990100913.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Good observations!

The TV is 4k 55'' but it's indeed too far away.
I am doing research for a pc monitor to be mounted on the rig but I am quite lost between the options and desperate from the prices:cool:

The driving position is completely unorthodox.
The idea was to elevate the seat in order to achieve a smaller leg angle and give less stress to my knees cause I face some problems currently.
I also have to completely avoid using my left foot and this the reason I have to do some easy right foot braking for a certain period of time.
But, while initially seemed good, after two or three driving sessions I realized how uncomfortable this seat position was.
My back also started to complain(age problems;)).

So I lowered the seat by 8cm and moved the pedals more forward.
And the first impressions are very good with painless comfortable driving.

I will eventually need some fine tuning in order to find the sweet spot that will permit me to have my legs as extended I can without having knee pain.
Using some bucket seat risers in order to give some inclination to the seat could also be an option.

This is the rig now:

View attachment 437485
Makes sense thanks !
 
Rebuilds eh, the first is never usually perfect.

Tip: if you go to build your own rig, be prepared to get carried away with things.

Almost 60 meters of chrome/steel tubing has now gone into this chassis/base frame section.
Build 2 sporting triple and dual tiers, being much stronger than single tubing.

Work continues...

 
Last edited:
@Fastard

If your knee problems are arthrosis ( as mine are) the twisting to get to the pedals is part of the problem.

As part of the solution I started experimenting with adjustable kneepads to lean against.
This helped to keep the knee straight.
( And you do more "race car yoga" to get in and out of your rig ;-) )

Now I´m moving pedals when I change from paddle shift ( leftfoot braking) to h shift ( Heel´n´Toe and right/leftfoot braking.)
With the knee pointing straight to the most used pedal ( and adjusting the seat distance with sliders) it´s possible to find a comfortable seating
position for every usecase.

I sit quite differently for wrestling the Shelby Cobra around Glen Shiel ( high FFB) than finessing the Skippy around Silverstone.
(much lower FFB, but higher brake forces). For that I take the clutch out and move the brake completely to the left.
On a "normal" 80/20 rig it should be possible just to loosen the bolts and slide the pedals around.

So the knee is straight and I can leftfoot brake with much higher forces which helps control the "slidy" skippy.
( If your driving fu is weak you have to compensate with technology)

MFG Carsten
 
Rebuilds eh, the first is never usually perfect.

Tip: if you go to build your own rig, be prepared to get carried away with things.

Almost 60 meters of chrome/steel tubing has now gone into this chassis/base frame section.
Build 2 sporting triple and dual tiers, being much stronger than single tubing.

Work continues...

Looks shiny! Do you have a functional rig ATM or don't really sim race these days?
Cheers!
 
Finished my DIY load cell handbrake + buttonbox. The handbrake uses a single load cell from a bathroom scale, connected to an HX711 amplifier. Both the HX711 and the buttonbox are then handled by an Arduino Micro.

The buttonbox has 6 standard push buttons, 3 momentary (on)-off-(on) toggle switches, 3 rotary encoders, one potentiometer and a mode/setup push button. I can toggle the poti between either x-axis, y-axis or to adjust the sensitivity of the handbrake. The rotary encoders can be toggled between button mode and axis mode via their push button function. The handbrake also activates a button press at 70% of full axis movement for games that do not support an axis as handbrake input (can be deactivated for calibration).

The buttonbox is configured to identify as a gamepad, so that i can use it in SteamVR to open and navigate the dashboard and get to my desktop overlay without having to reach for my motion controllers or actual gamepad.

res_HB1.JPG

res_BB2.JPG

res_HB2.JPGres_BB1.JPG
 
My current homebuild. Its been through a few modifications. I cut off the structure that held the previous screen, added an extension to hold the pc (now no longer needed). removed the mounts for the 5.1 speakers. Mounted a shifter and handbrake. Just bolted on a buttkicker and cut down the keyboard tray so me hands wouldn't hit it when playing Dirt Rally .

And a few weeks ago while the wife was at work I decided to move it from the garage into our living room, It got jammed in the doorway and I had to use a handsaw to cut it smaller. She is well impressed with its current location.

racesim.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice functional rig:thumbsup:

"Wife was well impressed" hopefully means you are still married? :rolleyes:

(Just kidding, there must be one or two women who can tolerate us.)

How do you like the FFB of Dirt rally?

I just started DR2 today and loads of fun thrashing around the C-Coupe at Dirtfish.
But FFB is a small 0.1 of what could be. No load transfer at all.
is there a way to fix that?
(Haven´t tried tarmac yet, still have to finish the handbrake so I can do a rally start)



MFG Carsten
 
And a few weeks ago while the wife was at work I decided to move it from the garage into our living room, It got jammed in the doorway and I had to use a handsaw to cut it smaller. She is well impressed with its current location.
Well played! My rig is also situated in the living room.
Wife acceptance factor will increase with proper cable management or a minimized footprint for example. ;)

Maybe you could optimize the position of the seat support frame. It seems you moved more forward than originally anticipated. This could also reduce the footprint of the rig. Maybe hide the transducer under the seat (other side of the wood block)?

Overall good work there!
 
I really like your "command center"!

And you really used a pan handle as handbrake lever?
Thats in the middle between crazy and genius!!

MFG Carsten

Hehe, well spotted :)
When I threw away the frying pan it belonged to some years ago, I thought that the handle may come in handy one day. Well, that day has finally come.
Actually, apart from the electronics, the whole thing is built from stuff I had lying around anyway. The load cell, coil spring and disc springs are leftovers from my brake pedal mod, the ball bearings at the main pivot i got from a friend when he was working for an automitive supplier several years ago. They are usually used for windscreen wipers. The alu profiles were leftovers from various other projects, and the base material for the buttonbox used to be two cutting boards.
With the hardware stores closed, you have to get creative with the sources of your DIY-materials ;)
 
Last edited:

Latest News

Do you prefer licensed hardware?

  • Yes for me it is vital

  • Yes, but only if it's a manufacturer I like

  • Yes, but only if the price is right

  • No, a generic wheel is fine

  • No, I would be ok with a replica


Results are only viewable after voting.
Back
Top