So, in fear of getting ahead of myself, I was not going to post here until I was done. But excitement is getting the best of me and I cannot keep quiet.
I am building my own sim racing rig!
I have been really getting into racing this year. I got a nice wheel a month or so ago, but the biggest obstacle so far has been getting the wheel into position to race, and then move it after so I can work / play other games. Also, the pedals keep sliding on the floor, and my wheelie chair is just the worst. So I decided to build my own rig.
At first it was going to be a timber rig, then found some PVC pipe ideas, but finally found T-slot aluminium. It looked expensive until I discovered a local company extruding their own and selling it relatively cheap, even compared to international companies.
The trick was to find the right design. There are a few cool designs at Open Sim Racing:
But I did not want to spend money on the design. So the Google-fu continued. Eventually I came across May-Cad, a free piece of software that lets you design any T-slot contraption and it works out the bill of quantities. The wheels then moved quickly! (see what I did there?)
I went through a lot of design concepts and decided on a GT style rig, inspired by this rig sold in Europe:
And with some kit installed (NOT MINE, I WISH!):
The F1 style feels like lying down too much!
I decided to ask for quotes from the local T-slot company. The guys was very helpful and even invited me to a trade show in Durban last week. I went! The aluminium is much stronger and more rigid than what I could have imagined! I decided to down spec my rig to smaller (and cheaper) profiles. So my final design looks like this:
The great part about this is that it is modular. I can easily add a gear lever later, or handbrake, or control panel. And the rig should be sturdy enough for the heaviest and strongest wheels out there.
I took the plunge and ordered the aluminium profiles yesterday. It should be here later this week. I also got them to supply an aluminium plate to mount the wheel on.
As for a chair, I found some pretty low quality seats from Autostyle, but they only sell them in pairs! The single ones cannot recline and to be honest, my fat butt does not fit into them. I then found a guy in Durban who wants to sell a Golf 7 R leather seat from a wrecked car! Its perfect! Now I need to get to practice my "Durban Negotiating Skills"©. This is what they look like new:
I will keep you guys informed on the progress. Who knows, maybe I can start selling these?
That said, if you’re looking at sim-racing as a serious hobby, you’re still comfortably within a reasonable budget. If you splash out for racing boots, a racing suit and a helmet though…, then you might have a problem, and we might need to call an intervention.
