CHEAP Cockpit Alternatives ONLY

[viper-GTP2007]

I was thinking of using one of my old karting seats comfatable great driving position and it's basicly free! YIPPE

 

[River01]

Here is my cheapo gaming/racing chair - a simple mod of my old Ikea 'Poang' armchair.

All parts except bolts and nuts are from Ikea including the shelf and brackets.

Hey Daz... I have an old Poang chair I'm trying to convert into a seat for my G25. I love how your attachment is removable. It looks killer!

Where can I find that shelf and bracket on the Ikea site? I've been looking for it with no success as of yet. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[ericleroi]

Here's some more pictures of my WIP cockpit which is nearing completion for phase 1 ....

 

[CAMikaze]

So far, VERY good.:tup:

And what building materials did you use for your build ericleroi?

 

[ericleroi]

Hi CAMikaze,

It's mainly MDF; 18mm for the seat base and 12mm for the front section. There is a large portion of overlapping MDF on the front so it's effectively 24mm in thickness in places which makes it nice and sturdy. It's been primed with MDF primer, painted with blackboard paint and finished with polyurethane varnish (2 coats of each, all water based, with sanding down between coats for the primer and blackboard paint). I'm intending to fit some carpet into the footwell also. The main thing is that it is nice and comfy and adjustable. The seat can move forwards and back relative to the wheel and the pedals fit into slots on the inside of the front section. I am going to make a cushioned plinth for this to rest on and I will be adding a number of Buttkicker mini LFE units to this and also a 5.1 sound system when I get the funds. The whole thing has been designed to be split up so it can be stored in the garage.

 

[CAMikaze]

It's mainly MDF; 18mm for the seat base and 12mm for the front section. There is a large portion of overlapping MDF on the front so it's effectively 24mm in thickness in places which makes it nice and sturdy. It's been primed with MDF primer, painted with blackboard paint and finished with polyurethane varnish (2 coats of each, all water based, with sanding down between coats for the primer and blackboard paint).

Sorry to say that I'm not too savvy with all the building materials that are in your local home improvement/hardware stores, but for the benefit of myself and those who are interested can you tell us what MDF is?

 

[Teh_Loserer]

Sorry to say that I'm not too savvy with all the building materials that are in your local home improvement/hardware stores, but for the benefit of myself and those who are interested can you tell us what MDF is?

Medium Density Fiberboard
It's relatively cheap and strong.

 

[Daz555]

Hey Daz... I have an old Poang chair I'm trying to convert into a seat for my G25. I love how your attachment is removable. It looks killer!

Where can I find that shelf and bracket on the Ikea site? I've been looking for it with no success as of yet. Any help would be much appreciated!

No idea about online but I just popped into my local store and found them in the section with the rest of their shelving stuff.

 

[River01]

No idea about online but I just popped into my local store and found them in the section with the rest of their shelving stuff.

Yeah I ended up finding it on their site, only to find out its only available in store which is super beat because the nearest Ikea is about an hour away. Some may say scratch that idea and figure out a new way to make a poang compatible stand, but I lack that innovative skill set, so an hour drive it is haha.

Seriously though, my compliments again on a fine design. Any suggestions for mounting the G25 shifter? Looking for something closer and lower than the wheel, off to my right...

 

[ddldave]

I saw this setup:

In this thread:
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=granturismo&message.id=50359&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

There are more photos in this thread, as well as the following explanation:

"Yeah, I got the Rocker from BestBuy. It doesnt move at all during driving, and its very comfy. It was the costliest part of the whole rig, at $75. The rest of the materials included: PVC pipe, fittings, cement, plastic primer, black plastic gloss paint (3 cans), 24"x24" plexiglass sheet (cosmetic hood), (2) U-bolts for scrap wood & some black velcro to affix the pedals to the crossbar. I had a 10ft USB extension cable already, that I wasnt using. So, in all I spent about $150.(excluding the wheel, which was another $150)"

I think it looks cool! 👍

dude you look freaking gangster, i'm trying to get that look by growing out my mustache and goatee until they connect.

 

[RCTheriot]

Here's some more pictures of my WIP cockpit which is nearing completion for phase 1 ....

Hope you don't mind I used your cockpit design and copied it to some extent

Ignore the rest of the room....I just moved in to a new house and I haven't received most of my stuff

 

[ericleroi]

No worries about copying the design ... it looks great. Are you going to add a seat section?

I've added some graphics and some carpet to mine. I've also boughts some leather vinyl material kit the thing out further and also bought a 5.1 soundsystem which I'm going to integrate. I'm working on the design for the rear stands at the moment ... maybe this doesn't belong in the cheap cockpit alternatives section anymore, it's costing me a small fortune .....

Pics enclosed (excuse the Forza picture .....)

 

[CAMikaze]

Good choice of name for your SimRacer setup ericleroi (re: r-pod). Any chance you might get copyright protection for the name?

 

[ericleroi]

Thanks CAMikaze. I tried to choose something in keeping with the design of the pod. I still need to add some more vinyl design to the front section but I don't want to overdo it ... less is more sometimes. The next thing to make after the speaker stands is a plinth/base to rest the whole unit on (basically another shaped piece of MDF). This will have some thick foam on the base to act as an isolator for the Buttkickers I'm going to add and I'll also carpet it at the top as well. The plinth will also act as a means of keeping the necessary wiring tidy and also allow easy attachment of the rear speakers. It will also allow me to slide the whole thing around on the laminate floor so I can move it out of the way when I want to watch TV.

The r-pod logo is also on the front of the unit as well ....

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

I'm gonna have to start on a cockpit pretty soon, been meaning to for ages, but I've recently gotten into PC sims, which make a cockpit much more important.

I'm going to try to approximate the layout of a road car as much as possible, and will probably base the proportions on my AW11, as it's got the most comfortable driving position I've encountered, and the shape of the interior would be easy to replicate. I'm planning on using a USB mini-keyboard, and putting it behind the wheel, in a little compartment built to resemble a gauge cluster.

Seats, at least, are the smallest of my issues- I've got the driver's seat from my old 240SX, and a full interior from an AE86 sitting in my garage. I'll probably attach my old racing harness, as well. (It's been crashed in, which makes the material stretch and be unsafe in another crash, but it'll make a fine detail for a sim.) I might use some of the AE86's carpet in the sim, as well, if I still have it, otherwise I'll screw some old floormats in.

I defenitely need a new setup, though... here's what I'm using ATM:

(Pardon the airsoft! =P)

 

[gee 3]

Here are some pictures of my cockpit. This is the second one I did few months back for my new G25 at the time. I really like the position of everything and I really enjoy it
Until last week it was still unpaint as you can see from my first pictures.
Then I received for Christmas from my Wife and Daughter a bunch of stickers that they have sourced and have them made especially for my cockpit, what a nice surprise So I took some times from my holidays to finish evrything and here are the pictures of the final products.

your comments are welcome.

 

[godzilla_GTR]

theres no pics lol...

 

[CAMikaze]

\Then I received for Christmas from my Wife and Daughter a bunch of stickers that they have sourced and have them made especially for my cockpit, what a nice surprise So I took some times from my holidays to finish evrything and here are the pictures of the final products.

your comments are welcome.

I liked the pic of your cockpit gee. 👍

Got a question for you. Was your wife able to order some of the stickers online, or did she use some sort of graphics program and print them on some decal paper?

 

[gee 3]

Actually my daughter went on the Internet to found all those pictures in Jpeg format based on the games I had and from other ideas from my wife. She then went to a small graphical Company that does stickers for Car and commercial purpose to have them made. Previous to that she took pictures of the cockpit and measurements and made a layout for each of the stickers.
She did a great work hein

 

[CAMikaze]

Actually my daughter went on the Internet to found all those pictures in Jpeg format based on the games I had and from other ideas from my wife. She then went to a small graphical Company that does stickers for Car and commercial purpose to have them made. Previous to that she took pictures of the cockpit and measurements and made a layout for each of the stickers.
She did a great work hein

Sounds to me all the decals were on vynil(sp?) then. Pretty much commonplace on many racecars.

Any chance this could become a work-from-home oppurtunity if this catches on with some of your racing friends?

 

[01GTP]

These are pictures of my cheap alternative to a cockpit. I started with 2 old barbacue's, an old boat seat with an old car seat cover and some wood. The bottom rails are made from spruce 2X4's (strong and lighter), as is the foot rest, and some plywood. The steering area is made from the old frames of the barbq's attached together for strength and is attached to the frame with drywall screws (as I am a drywaller) at one end and at the other end with 1/2" copper pipe spacers (for height) with longer screws. Plenty sturdy. The platform for the steering could have a tv attached. I sit on it sometimes to watch replays. I have a handle on the back and the wheels were attached to the barbq frame so I kept them on for mobility. I used some copper pipe insulation for padding and some zip ties to clean up the wires. I purchased the dead pedal cover at Wal-Mart ($12us), 1 2X4 and some spray paint (Krylon flat black) besides the Logitech dfp. What cost were the hours put into making it. Too many, but it was fun. I like the no center post design and it lets you rest your legs against the sides, but this cockpit could be wider. I also lan race with a center post design and I see no difference really.
This is my first time posting pictures so let me know if they don't work.

 

[MasterGT]

Excellent work, there, 01gtp!

We've now seen dead barbecue stands and metal bed frames used, so I wonder what someone will think of next. Recycling is great!

{edit} I've also used a few kitchen sink cutouts, a discarded cabinet and kitchen counters for raw materials, too.

Cheers,

MasterGT

 

[01GTP]

Excellent work, there, 01gtp!Recycling is great!

Thanks MasterGT. I will be taking pictures of the lan racing setups that we use and posting them here later. They are not from anything recycled and are purpose built for racing.

 

[godzilla_GTR]

well my cockpit got choped up and used for firewood when we shifted so at the moment im just using an art desk and a table base sort of thing for stability...

 

[davejmac]

My setup (Pics Page 3 of this thread) has been slightly modded to accept its new G25 ,
I hope you like it and any suggestions are appreciated,
Dave.

 

[nobuffalo]

okay so i got anxious and had to post my setup before my brother and i finish my permanent rig. This is just a "Prototype" as i call it. although its not pretty it works really well. extra shifter can be wired either directly to the wheel, still working out some bugs, or i can also hook it up to a controller. clutch pedal works too, well not completely, it only disrupts the signal from the shifter and when it is depressed the shifter works. theres alot of adjusting that would need to be done but like i said this is just to get me by till the other one is finished. if anyone wants any dimensions or anything too bad, i just built it off the top of my head, but i could give some pointers. took about 7 or 8 hours total. only thing that cost any money were the push button switches for the shifter.

Oh and sorry if the pics are big, i've been a member since 04 yet this is my first post and i dont know the best way to do it.

 

[WJHMH]

Great to see this thread is still going strong.

 

[greg_m_burgess]

Dave

How did you add the G265 shifter to the main base

 

[geordie]

Here is a cheap wheel stand.

http://wheelstandpro.com/

Let's face it; we love gaming in front of our TV's sitting comfortably on a couch.
The problem is that with steering wheel in order to fully enjoy the experience you have to bolt it to something. In most cases we use table surface, however it is far from comfortable position because of lack of adjustments. The same goes with the pedals.
Steering wheel doesn't also look good on your dining table so you have to dismount it every time you finish the game. After a few times you really get frustated and forget about the whole deal.

What a loss.

As you already experienced playing your driving games with the wheel, going back to common controller doesn't feel good; however it is fast and comfortable.

But what if you had small handy and very stable stand for your driving wheel?

This is what WheelStandPro was designed for.

It is made out of steel giving it lifetime durability and at the same time weights only 9 pounds.
Thanks to its ingeniously simple design it is very small and fully adjustible so you can enjoy your games from comfortable place you are used to.

 

[Daz555]

http://wheelstandpro.com/

Looks nice, but I have a couple of potential issues with this one.

1. Is it stable enough for the power of a DFP or G25?
2. I don't like the pedals being flat on the floor.