CHEAP Cockpit Alternatives ONLY

  • Thread starter mnarciso
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$20 dollars!? Maybe I can afford a Fanatec GT3 RS wheel now. Mind telling me the dimensions of the wood you have used? I wish the blogger gave more information.

I basically went more or less with his dimensions (i.e. "4 meters of chunky wood"), but I'll have to measure to give you the exact dimensions. I live in the States, so 45mm x 45mm was 2" x 2", 45mm x 18mm I used 1"x2", etc. I also put a second brace at the rear of the shelf, and I use some L brackets in places to strengthen it a bit (the G25 is pretty hefty).

When I get more exact measurements I'll post them, but it is a great alternative for those of us who can't drop the money/don't have the room for a more expensive stand.
 
Well I have been thinking about it and I decided I will design my own. I plan on designing my wheel stand to fit in a corner where there is less than two feet of room in length and in depth. Cost will be very little on screws since I know my dad has a ton of them. There is some wood my dad owns that I could use also.

EDIT: It's not a matter of going through my dad, it's a matter of going through my mom now. I will try my best to Convince my mom to let me buy a wheel and build a wheel stand.
 
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Mind telling me the dimensions of the wood you have used? I wish the blogger gave more information.

I measured, as promised. The base is 3' on the outside. The piece connecting them is 17.5." The height depends on what you are doing. I use mine on the sofa, so the long piece is ~35", and piece that supports it is ~21". The shelf is 24"x9". The shelf is offset by about 4" to leave room for the shifter on the right. You can find templates online for drilling holes for the G25, and possibly other wheels as well.

Good luck with getting the wheel project started. Only a month and a few weeks to get ready for GT5 :sly:
 
The wood I had from my failed tree house attempt. The seat was $140 off of CL. Misc parts were $20. So the total cost was about $160. If I had purchased the wood it would have been well over $200. I forget what type of wood it is but its really nice.

Anyways picks
-Album link

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The wood I had from my failed tree house attempt. The seat was $140 off of CL. Misc parts were $20. So the total cost was about $160. If I had purchased the wood it would have been well over $200. I forget what type of wood it is but its really nice.

That's fantastic! Can you give dimensions/ a blueprint/ layout? I'd love to try and build it, your cockpit is by far one of the best i've seen on the forum. Just put some paint on it and it'll look great!
 
I plan on making a wheelstand based on this design(click image to go to creator's post).


My father has plenty of 2x2 and 2x3 wood laying around. My wheelstand will be designed for use with a recliner and fit a 2 foot by 2 foot space for storage. So once I get my GT RS wheel in the mail on Thursday, I will start building it.
 
Hi All .. just completed my first DIY project called SpeeDee .. its a gaming cockpit that I designed and built .. it costed me AUD $240 .. its a far better and cheaper alternative for most of the expensive commercial cockpits out there .. let me know what you think .. and feel free to contact if you need any help.

Next I will be replacing the standard G27 steering wheel to a 350mm MOMO wheel, and replacing the flappy paddle shifters to a 35omm to match the steering wheel size. I will post pictures of these mods once done.



































 
IKEA sell this as a laptop stand. No idea how stable it would be but definitely fits the 'cheap' solution bracket!
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00120818

I used this and it is not at all stable .. the issue is with the weight .. when you month the steering wheel the table falls over .. I had to put some bricks at the back to stabilise it but still the table wobbles .. not a suitable option

I made a custom cockpit with a few pieces of wood .. feel free to checkout my post in this forum topic.

Happy gaming
 
Ikea chair + some pine & mounting hardware

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Older picture before I got the G27 and added the shifter mount but you can better see how its set up

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Can you post more pictures of your rig? I was planning on doing something like yours. Does that swivel around too? It looks like it could. Thanks.
 
Just built my rig with dad and it looks awesome for materials under $20, though since my dad had all of the supplies, cost was $0 for me. Wheel is a different story though. I built off of the inspiration of this stand. Small, stable(from what I can tell so far), and cheap! Click the pictures for larger images and more information.






 
Seeing how others procure whatever they have on hand to create their cockpit is surprisingly entertaining. I was ready and willing to build/buy a cheap cockpit before digging my workbench out of my basement to test the wheel with and finding that it's more than adequate.

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I can even adjust it forward/backwards for players with shorter or longer arms.
 
Well I did some testing and the stand takes the FF like it's nothing but if you corner hard it will shake a little(sometimes it can lift if you corner too hard). The only thing I wish I could of done is make the shelf a bit lower or tilt the wheel towards me. I have to sit up from a relaxed position to see my entire TV. Which is not so bad.
 
Heres my cockpit. Only spent about 50 dollars "USD" to make it from steel. Its still unfinished but very comfortable to sit in. Though i'll spend more on it to finish it off when I hang a body on it. When its finished it'll look like the front half of a MP4/8 :)
Still the frame can be built for 50 or under depending on the materials used and your knowlege of fabrication.
hey im new here i joined yestyerday and im gonna be starting on my cockpit soon after i finish pre-ordering gt5 collectors (hopefully tomarrow) but i was wondering where u got the steel farmework pieces for your cockpit???

thnx in advance ........ p.s. im also a part of The Hunter's Lair n i decided to join cause ive been in love with the gt series since the first one came out.... :D
 
I tried to duplicate the ergonomics of my Audi with my stand using an Ikea Poag chair for the seat. I've had to tweak it a bit since I made it. Now that all the controls are where I want them, I'll give it another coat of paint. A G25/27 will be next, with a mount for the shifter.

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Only 34 more days to go.
 
I had my dad chop down the stand by 2 inches and change the angle of the shelf from 45 degrees(level) to 40 degrees. So now my knees have an inch of clearance from the shelf and the wheel is at lower level(does not get in the way of the TV) and at a bit more comfortable angle to use.
 
Seeing how others procure whatever they have on hand to create their cockpit is surprisingly entertaining. I was ready and willing to build/buy a cheap cockpit before digging my workbench out of my basement to test the wheel with and finding that it's more than adequate.

DSC05391-1.jpg
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I can even adjust it forward/backwards for players with shorter or longer arms.


What brand/model table is that, or where did you get it from?
 
Man, you never realize just how messy your place is until you take photos of it! This is my solution thus far for a racing cockpit...outside of the G25 itself it cost me just a little over $100 and does the job just fine.

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At its core is an AK Rocker I got years ago. I'm willing to bet you can find one for less than $60 if you shop it up. The only issue with it as a racing chair is comfort (longer periods upright tend to be an issue) and the fact that it, well, rocks. Physically.

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A spare set of dorm bed risers I had leftover from college did the trick of keeping the chair upright when it's in use. $15 for the set of 4.

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I got lucky with the table. Because the AK sits lower than a usual chair, a 24, maybe 25" high snack table was not cutting it for racing duty. Even if it was the right height, I only had about a foot of room between the table legs. It was quite uncomfortable and made working the clutch a nightmare. I lucked out and found this dual-height table at Walgreens for $20. The lower height (20.5") was absolutely perfect.

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And without copious amounts of these, the cockpit would not hold together at all. On the left is a bunch of drawer mats; the rubbery, anti-skid kind ($5 for 6sqft). Works wonders in keeping the wheel and shifter soft-mounted without slipping. On the right is a 3/4" sheet of dense foam I had leftover from a DDR dance pad, but you should be able to find something similar for under 10 bucks. You can also substitute cardboard or some other material; it serves double duty here both as a way to make the G25 mounting easier and as a shock absorber/sound deadener shoved into the top of the dorm risers.

It's not the most elegant solution in the world, and it still leaves a proper shift mount to be desired, but the cash outlay in my case was low so I'll deal with it. But of course, I had to go out and grab one last thing...

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This $50 Black and Decker mini-fridge is perfect for keeping 6 bottles (or up to 12 cans) of beer nice and cold for those longer gaming sessions. Plus, once I figure out the shift mount, it'll be my faux center console.
 
Yes the zombies attack start to gather when they see lights on so darkness is a must.
Actually since this rig is banished to the garage by the wife, Im going to have to finish the garage before it gets too cold....work...yay!
 
Here's my little DIY project for my new Logitech Driving Force GT

I call it the 'Wheel Stand Am' (amateur)

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http://cid-9d28903067ccb746.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Wheel Stand Am

Parts :

1x Music keyboard stand
1x 6mm thread, nuts & washers
Metal plate

Tools :

Spanners
Hack saw
Drill & 6mm bit
Access to welder for 10 mins :scared:

Summary :

+ Very stable left/right & forward/back
+ Paritial folding to ease storage
+ Cost £4 for thread/nuts/washers (already had stand and not using)
- Not very adjustable (yet)


Love my new F1 2010 so much more, also brought new life to grid, drit and shift :)
 
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Genius :bowdown:

I'm currently toying with the idea of getting back into the whole steering wheel business, and have been thinking about buying a playseat, but I'm also considering a homemade option... I happen to have a keyboard just like the one you have so successfully butchered, so I might have to try it :lol: For the time being, I'm eyeing up my IKEA airchair, which just happens to a convenient shape for converting into a wheelstand...
 
I've moved to a new flat, with no table yet, but just received my G27.
This kind of solution is what we, in Brazil, call "gambiarra"; the translation would be something like a rubbish or pig workaround.
See for yourselves.



It does hurt back and legs after 20/30 minutes of play, and the amplifier is there just to add some weight to the shifter module.
Sorry for the bad quality pictures, they were taken from a mobile phone.
Hope you enjoy,
 
I thought I'd share my work-in-progress wheel stand. I saw some designs that had a folding base made from MDF board (or something similar) and decided to make my own iteration of that idea. The current result is this:




The materials for the stand came out to around $30 with enough wood left over for modifications (like a dead pedal and, perhaps, an angled pedal platform). It's fairly sturdy, especially considering the main wheel platform is held in at only the two bolts on the bottom.

The seat is an old Sparco seat that I picked up from a trash pile at a friend's house which I bolted to an old office chair riser. It's fairly comfortable for the rig, but as an office chair is excruciating.
 
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