CHEAP Cockpit Alternatives ONLY

  • Thread starter mnarciso
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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:

258.jpg

273.jpg


P.S. If anyone really cares there are a to n more pictures in the same directory on that server.
 
mu5a5hi, that looks really nice. I especially like the adjustable pedals lengths (via the slots on the sides). The pedal look a bit too vertical to me from the second photo.
 
mu5a5hi
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:

258.jpg

273.jpg


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


i sent u a pm
 
You could try what I'm doing....I'm going to use some PVC pipe to make a simple design, and add in a car seat. I'm going to spray it black, also. Just make sure the PVC is a good thick size, or else it'll be really light and fragile.
 
See I drive a truck all day so im thinking that I might want to be more up right.

since the game is almost here and i dont have much time with work, school, and baseball

My dad and I are modifying an old school desk it has a pretty good angle already we just need to modify a piece of wood to angle pedals



this is a closeup of the 2 notches we cut so the clamps won't interfere with the lid closing

 
In preparation for GT4, I had to upgrade from my "Target beanbag recliner + throw pillow on lap + DPF ontop of that pillow" to something a whole lot more stable.

After a trip to the local Goodwill store to see what I could find, I came across an old disabled shower chair for $12.99, and actually... works very very well!

It's all metal tubing, and the seats are still in good condition, plus all 4 legs are independently height adjustable (a big plus)

After a thorough, THOUROUGH, cleaning, I unscrewed the chair portion, which came right off, and adjusted the height of the chair legs accordingly. I took the DFP, and latched it right on, hold firm and secure, and I have a place for food and drinks if i need it! The beanbag chair just needs a little height to have it feel right, but a couch pillow fixes that.

In addition, the chair portion I put behind my beanbag chair for a more stable seating position, a unintenional plus!

All it needs is some height to the pedals, and a few coats of black spraypaint, and this thing will be 100% complete, but for now, it's rigid as heck, i'm sitting comfortably, and I was able to nail license B-8 in under 2 hours with the DFP in the same setup. It also doesn't rattle, and can handle 900 degrees no problem.

If anyone has any of these sitting in their garage, or in their grandparents garage, check it out before looking into a racebase, or the walmart rockerchair system or anything expensive.. it works that well!

Total Cost:
Beanbag chair (gift from roomates) : FREE otherwise $19.99
Throw Pillow (free came from couch): FREE
Shower Chair: $12.99
DFP: $44.99 due to a Game Crazy worker mistagging it thinking it was the original GT force wheel. otherwise $149.99

Supposed cost setup: $182.97
Actual cost setup: $57.98

Bring on GT4!

Attached images:
 
im in the prosses of making a cockpit out of metal with some real padals (including clutch for computer) and sequential shifter and i might be interested in making some more, anyone interested?
 
I made this setup using a seat from a spare parts car I had.

Nothing to it really.

You take a Chair
Weld a 1 foot 2 1/4 pipe accross the front
Then Straight pipe about 20 INches
Bend in pipe at about 45Degrees and go another 17 inches
Then bend another 45 so now the pipe is straight up 15inches
Then bend 90 backwords and go back towards the seat
Then another 45 degree bend down so it gives the angle for the wheel
You can leave it straight but then the driving position is awkword.

I paid a guy at the local Muffler shop $30 to make me these pipes and weld them to the chair.

THne I got a $5 12x24 plywood from Home Depot and cut it in 1/2
Got 1 3Inch UBend from Home depot
Drilleda hole in the Plywood so the Ubend would go through it
Bolted the plywood to the 45degree angle of the pipe using some wrenches so its nice and tight.

These specs you can do based on your height and the lenght of your legs. You don't have to follow my measurements. Its pretty simple.

However do use a good thick pipe otherwise the structure would not be stable. Good Luck

chair.jpg
 
This is my Setup, Its unbelievably cumfortable! I love it! God bless Monster Component Cables!









The best part is that its reinforced on almost every angle, so there is ZERO flex in the design, Plus its got very easy to store :) 👍

Edit:

Notice my Awsomely Skinned Gamecube :) Re4 👍
 
thats cool bro, i like the FF stand-up thingy 👍

i bought some cheap picture frames and started hanging GT4 photomode pics i printed out on glossy photo paper, there will be around 20 when im done ;)

 
I really like those pics on the wall...looking good....I will have to do the same.
One question, how long did it take to print one???
 
isamu
see the race frame I refer to in my sig. Perfect for GT4 :)
Click to expand...

Yep! I do have to admit it is pretty sweet!

I currently use mine for playing GT3, Pro Race Driver, WRC & within the next 24 hours, GT4 as well! :-)

Here is my setup as of right now...

Just finished getting my Onkyo Surround System set up this past weekend and boy does it sound awesome!...
<NOTE:The system in the pics above are of my old Sony system...The Onkyo setup is MUCH better!>

Just might add a backup amp & a bass shaker or two just to increase the immersion factor...than once my wheel & shifter arrive from Frex...will my setup be fully complete! :-)
 
I've got to say there some great builds on this thread. I'm starting on mine this Saturday with some friends & we are going to build about three of them. Pics will be up soon.
 
Btw, where do you guys find all these crazy racing-style seats?

I couldn't see anyone spending over $100 (Canadian) for a chair.

I am considering one of these from eBay, which will run me just over $90 after shipping.
 
wheel.jpg


Thanks to all that have posted in this section, it's all the insperation I needed to build this from waste/recycled bits.

👍
 
can someone recommend me a alternative to the DFP thats about ~$50? i was thinking the driving force (non pro) i tried to make a thread a few days ago but i guess the mods didn't think it needed to be made. any help is welcome.
thanks
 
wayfast
can someone recommend me a alternative to the DFP thats about ~$50? i was thinking the driving force (non pro) i tried to make a thread a few days ago but i guess the mods didn't think it needed to be made. any help is welcome.
thanks
Click to expand...
Trust me on this one...go with the DFP instead of the regular DF...the feed back isn't that great compared to what you get on the DFP....plus you have a shifter and 900 degrees. That is 3 things you can't go wrong with. Good luck finding a cheap alternative. I bought my DFP at Walmart for only $96
 
wayfast
can someone recommend me a alternative to the DFP thats about ~$50? i was thinking the driving force (non pro) i tried to make a thread a few days ago but i guess the mods didn't think it needed to be made. any help is welcome.
thanks
Click to expand...

Whatever you do, do not buy the Mad Catz MC2 Universal wheel,
or any other Mad Catz products for that matter.

Refer to this thread.
 
Slurp
That thing is like a thousand dollars.

Refer to the title of this thread.
Click to expand...

Oh come on now...when was the last time you didn't see a topic/thread go a bit 'off topic' every now & then during discussion? LOL!
 
wayfast
can someone recommend me a alternative to the DFP thats about ~$50? i was thinking the driving force (non pro) i tried to make a thread a few days ago but i guess the mods didn't think it needed to be made. any help is welcome.
thanks
Click to expand...

If you really are on a ~$50 budget then the regular driving force is probably the best option to take, i golded the vast majority prologue with it and can vouch for it being a good wheel.

However i wanted the most realism i could get so an upgrade to the DFP was neccessary. More and more racing games are supporting 900 degree mode now so it's definetly a worthwile investment over the standard one.
 
joid
Trust me on this one...go with the DFP instead of the regular DF...the feed back isn't that great compared to what you get on the DFP....plus you have a shifter and 900 degrees. That is 3 things you can't go wrong with. Good luck finding a cheap alternative. I bought my DFP at Walmart for only $96
Click to expand...
thanks but thers no way i can pay $100 for a wheel... i wish but i really can't


Slurp
Whatever you do, do not buy the Mad Catz MC2 Universal wheel,
or any other Mad Catz products for that matter.

Refer to this thread.
Click to expand...
thanks for the advise cause i was really thinking about that one...

911_gt3_rs
If you really are on a ~$50 budget then the regular driving force is probably the best option to take, i golded the vast majority prologue with it and can vouch for it being a good wheel.

However i wanted the most realism i could get so an upgrade to the DFP was neccessary. More and more racing games are supporting 900 degree mode now so it's definetly a worthwile investment over the standard one.
Click to expand...
thanks for the info... ill prolly pick this one up then, i may get some money in a while (long while) then ill get the DFP or whatever is the best money can buy :)
 
Here's my setup. I still need to paint the wood and cover the padding on the leg braces, but other than that it's done. I found the seat at the junk yard for $20. Materials cost about $45. These pics were snapped before it was wired up, all wiring is now neatly zip tied to the tubing with a power strip under the foot platform. The seat is powered also, so it is fully adjustable and very comfy. Notice the bends in the tubing behind the seat, makes it very easy to slide it around on carpet! Took about 16 hours to build.

seat01.JPG


seat02.JPG


seat03.JPG
 

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