CHEAP Cockpit Alternatives ONLY

[Big Nate]

It was in the Tools depertment. It's called a Ridgid Flip-top. One of the Home Depots in my area carries them; the other doesn't. Call and ask for it by name, and if they don't carry it, try another store.

There's a similar product that seems to be made by more of a specialty shop; I can try to find that for you. Also, Northern Tool & Hydraulic has a similar thing ($19) with a roller that could be removed if you could make a mounting plate for the wheel.

Duke, is this stand pretty solid? It doesn't look like it from the pictures, but I would assume since it is a workbench that it would be pretty well stable. I'm going to see if my local HD has this today.

 

[dl1030]

I must be the last one to post, but here is mine. Everything is adjustable with wingnuts and built on square tubing. $40 in material. zip ties are being replaced with velcrow tonight.

 

[Duke]

Duke, is this stand pretty solid? It doesn't look like it from the pictures, but I would assume since it is a workbench that it would be pretty well stable. I'm going to see if my local HD has this today.

Yes, it is pretty darn stable. It's made to pick up the end of long materials as you send them through a table saw or similar bench tool. The top is designed to flop around a bit to help the material slide over it. Here's what I had to do to stabilize it:

First, it wouldn't quite go low enough because the center post hits the ground when the legs are spread. I cut 2-1/2" off the center post so it would go all the way down until the cross tee hit the tube it slides through. If your chair is higher you may or may not need to do this. HOWEVER, note that it won't go any lower than about 25" above the floor even with the shortened post.

Second, I took the bolts out that the top mounts on, and added washers to remove the side-to-side play. Then I tightened these bolts down so that there was resistance to tilting instead of being floppy as originally designed. There's a pin you can put in to lock it either flat or at a fixed tilt, but it's not supposed to really hold the table rigidly because that's not what it's designed for.

Third, after I found the ideal tilt angle by driving a bit, I drilled a small hole in the plastic flange it rotates on (there was an existing hole for a pin in the metal part already) and bolted that down securely to lock it in place. Now it's tight as a drum.

If you need a detail picture I can take one. I'm going to replace the 2x4 with a piece of scrap 2x6 because I want the pedals to tilt up higher, but other than that it works great.

 

[Big Nate]

Yes, it is pretty darn stable. It's made to pick up the end of long materials as you send them through a table saw or similar bench tool. The top is designed to flop around a bit to help the material slide over it. Here's what I had to do to stabilize it:

First, it wouldn't quite go low enough because the center post hits the ground when the legs are spread. I cut 2-1/2" off the center post so it would go all the way down until the cross tee hit the tube it slides through. If your chair is higher you may or may not need to do this. HOWEVER, note that it won't go any lower than about 25" above the floor even with the shortened post.

Second, I took the bolts out that the top mounts on, and added washers to remove the side-to-side play. Then I tightened these bolts down so that there was resistance to tilting instead of being floppy as originally designed. There's a pin you can put in to lock it either flat or at a fixed tilt, but it's not supposed to really hold the table rigidly because that's not what it's designed for.

Third, after I found the ideal tilt angle by driving a bit, I drilled a small hole in the plastic flange it rotates on (there was an existing hole for a pin in the metal part already) and bolted that down securely to lock it in place. Now it's tight as a drum.

If you need a detail picture I can take one. I'm going to replace the 2x4 with a piece of scrap 2x6 because I want the pedals to tilt up higher, but other than that it works great.

Thanks man, sounds fairly easy to me. I was actually planning on getting an AK Rocker chair to use, so this stand may be too tall, but it sounds like it will work fine while sitting on my couch (like I'm playing now, using a tv tray that flops around like crazy when driving hard).

 

[Duke]

Thanks man, sounds fairly easy to me. I was actually planning on getting an AK Rocker chair to use, so this stand may be too tall, but it sounds like it will work fine while sitting on my couch (like I'm playing now, using a tv tray that flops around like crazy when driving hard).

If you're using the couch, look into that black tubing stand from the guy on eBay - it looks great and I've heard great things about it. The reason I suggest it is that I tuck on half of the legs of my table back under the chair a fair amount. If you're sitting on a couch the wheel may be too far away for you.

NOTE: the stand I'm talking about is in post #345 on the previous page. It's about $80 shipped and he will customize the dimensions for you if necessary. I almost bought one but the arms didn't come to a good place on the arms of my chair.

Duke,

That is the EXACT same setup as mine, all the way down to the Poang chair from Ikea.

I actually added a piece of wood to the surface of the Home Depot stand so that I could extend the wheel closer to me while having my back all the way against the chair (rather than having to sit up).

I did a double-take when I saw your pic.

Hey, that's really funny! I don't know about you, but I can sit back in the chair and comfortably reach the wheel. It could stand to be maybe an inch closer, but not enough to make it worth adding another piece. I may slot a small piece of 1x under the lid to give it a square edge to grip.

I also went by the cutout bin at good ol' Home Depot and bought a 4' chunk of busted 2x6 for $0.50 to replace the upright on my foot stand. I can floor the pedals as is but it would be easier with more rake.

 

[TwinTurboJay]

Yup, bought the Ridgid Flip Top table from my local Home Depot, ( was on sale too ) 49.99 canadian....works beautifully !

 

[Puschkin]

hello! I`ve have got just one pool for you. Please, give me advice: PLAYSEAT OR NOT PLAYSEAT? www.playseats.com
has anyone got this thing? I have read on one web site that this is a great thing, very sturdy and durable, but to expensive. What fo you think?

 

[Fragmatic]

Folding table from argos

It's a little wobbly, but it'll do until I can knock something decent up.



View from the seat -

 

[Drifty_McDrift]

Seats: free from '91 240SX I was junking
All other materials: ~$38 from Home Depot
Time: ~8hrs. total
Help: 1 friend

👍

*edit*- Don't know why thunbnails won't show, but the links still work if you click them

 

[nurburgring]

That is what I did with a 30.00$ miata seat and 2 hours of welding:
It is working great, and no backache after 3 hours of driving and sliding...
...I'm doing and other one for my best friend!
Imagine 2 PS2 with 2 TVs with one I-Link...

 

[motomanjd]

It was in the Tools depertment. It's called a Ridgid Flip-top. One of the Home Depots in my area carries them; the other doesn't. Call and ask for it by name, and if they don't carry it, try another store.

There's a similar product that seems to be made by more of a specialty shop; I can try to find that for you. Also, Northern Tool & Hydraulic has a similar thing ($19) with a roller that could be removed if you could make a mounting plate for the wheel.

Duke,
Thanks for the info. The local Home Depot didn't have em so I went to the one in the next town today at lunch and they had a whole shelf full. Will hook it up tonight and make a pedal mount later.
Thanks again.

Jim

 

[vortexblue]

I must be the last one to post, but here is mine. Everything is adjustable with wingnuts and built on square tubing. $40 in material. zip ties are being replaced with velcrow tonight.

great minds think alike.

see my post above for the others.

Yours looks nice painted, I think I'll do mine this weekend. 👍

 

[aflac]

bump for help/write up/parts list so i can make my own PVC cockpit that will be using a honda seat.

 

[reynman]

Here's my initial set-up. I see a Racebase R6MKIII in my future. This is getting to be like my headphone/heaphone amp obsession. My wallet cringes.

Anyway, thanks to slydog (and others) for the RIDGID fliptop stand recommendation. Its stable, adjustable, well constructed, and cheap. I found it at Home Depot for $30.

 

[TingBoy]

My setup

I need something better. I'm sorta forced to use one of those "movie director" chairs, but that gives me a back ache. Looks like I need to save up again...

 

[}{yBr!D^]

this has been my cockpit since GT1 lol

 

[cobra427]

my setup .... gotta get a DFP or atleast a DF .... someone stepped on my controller today and broke the right stick .... and im so used to use'n a larger PS2 controller i cant use my old one ..... and i know those speakers look small bu theres a 10"-12" sub inside them boxes dont remember

 

[Big Nate]

If you're using the couch, look into that black tubing stand from the guy on eBay - it looks great and I've heard great things about it. The reason I suggest it is that I tuck on half of the legs of my table back under the chair a fair amount. If you're sitting on a couch the wheel may be too far away for you.

NOTE: the stand I'm talking about is in post #345 on the previous page. It's about $80 shipped and he will customize the dimensions for you if necessary. I almost bought one but the arms didn't come to a good place on the arms of my chair.

Hey, that's really funny! I don't know about you, but I can sit back in the chair and comfortably reach the wheel. It could stand to be maybe an inch closer, but not enough to make it worth adding another piece. I may slot a small piece of 1x under the lid to give it a square edge to grip.

I also went by the cutout bin at good ol' Home Depot and bought a 4' chunk of busted 2x6 for $0.50 to replace the upright on my foot stand. I can floor the pedals as is but it would be easier with more rake.

I actually went and bought the Rigid workbench from Home Despot yesterday, and it worked beautifully! The only problem I have now is proper setup for the gas/brakes, but I'll figure something out. As it is now, it's very drivable. Took my suped-up Camero '69 SS out for a wild spin last night and was flying around the corners!

 

[Duke]

I actually went and bought the Rigid workbench from Home Despot yesterday, and it worked beautifully! The only problem I have now is proper setup for the gas/brakes, but I'll figure something out.

Glad to hear the stand worked for you.

For the pedals I took a piece of shelving about 20"x15" or so (1/2" plywood would work too). I put 4 u-bolts through one end to mount it to the round cross bar which lets it rotate to fold. Then I screwed a piece of 2x4 across it about 6" back from the other end to tilt it up. Last night I replaced that with a 2x6 for more tilt. I used a hole saw to put a 2" hole through the 2x6 where I'll run the wires under the stand and zip tie them to the center post.

 

[osunick]

You know you can remove the flip top and spin it 90 degrees relative to the base. That way the pedals fit underneath between the legs. It works pretty well. Depending on how low you like your wheel, you may have to hacksaw the square shaft that the tabletop is mounted to for clearance. A good interim until I can get that miata seat. Anyone know of a cheap source for them?

 

[PaboHoney1]

Here is my set up, I made this in a couple hours with spare wood. It's sturdy, and heavy and takes up lots of space but it was free =)





And this is my projector. It's about 108" on FS. It runs HD but I chose to use FS 480p rather than WS 1080i most of the time. It's a(n) Hitachi CP-X880. And yes, that's a K-Mart King Size Martha Stewart white cotton sheet with 300 thread count (or some crap) that it's projecting on to. It cost me $12.

 

[DJ-CiviC]

Here's my initial set-up. I see a Racebase R6MKIII in my future. This is getting to be like my headphone/heaphone amp obsession. My wallet cringes.

Anyway, thanks to slydog (and others) for the RIDGID fliptop stand recommendation. Its stable, adjustable, well constructed, and cheap. I found it at Home Depot for $30.

How high (height) is that table ???

 

[Aurra Sing]

 

[Aurra Sing]

 

[reynman]

According to the packaging, the height can be adjusted from 27" to 45". Its currently set to 27". The bottom picture (from my original post) shows the crank that helps with the height adjustment.

 

[DJ-CiviC]

According to the packaging, the height can be adjusted from 27" to 45". Its currently set to 27". The bottom picture (from my original post) shows the crank that helps with the height adjustment.

ok, and last question, is this reaaaaally sturdy ??? I mean, does it move ???

 

[aflac]

I wonder if you could modify the RIDGID to make it sit even lower.

 

[dc612]

Mu5a5hi you have the sweetest cockpit i've seen so far i'm a new member as of 3/10/05 could or woould you be willing to give me advise on how to get an end product like yours (got the seat and force pro 2) just need to build it

my user name is dc612
i'm having trouble with sending you a pm (new to forum world also)

thanks
will be willing to leave an email just dont want to post it right off the bat

 

[dc612]

Here's my homemade cockpit. if you dont count the paint.. its under $100. (takes a LOT of coats of primer to make MDF a smoothpaintable surface)
Seat is a walmart 'video rocker' The rest is made of mdf fiber board and scrap wood.

Pedals are hooked to a boards that slides into one of several slots, to adjust dist from seat to pedals. Seat and Wheel/Pedal assembly are also on a track that moves forward and backward and is locked with a pin or a bolt (I intended pin, but right now still using a bolt) for a lot of adjustability.

Driving Force Pro wheel is ordered and should arrive next weeklwith GT4, right now I have the madcatz wheel on there because its the only one i found that would work on my PS2 *AND* XBOX, but with GT4 coming, i may forget xbox has racing games, however the madcatza wheel feels too chintzy for me. Im hoping the build quality, weight, and force feedback on the Driving Force Pro will really help me develop some skill in GT4

Pics:

P.S. If anyone really cares there are a to n more pictures in the same directory on that server.

HEY pretty sweet could you give me a hand with my setup:dc612

 

[SimRaceDriver]

Oh wow.. your in my area... How much did you purchase the seat for from there? I had no clue there was a futon shop in GMall.

Sorry for such a late response...guess that's what happens when a specific topic falls off the first page of these forums!!! LOL!

I paid about $70 for it if I recall correctly...pretty sure on the store name (Futon Shop) too as well...then again, it's not like there a TON of Futon shops located at this particular mall!