My Easy to Make Handbrake + Reverse Lever - No soldiering/electonics work needed.

[Cougar23]

Hey everone,
The other day my dad and I were thinking how we could intergrate a handbrake into my cockpit. We had a real handbrake out of a old ford but didn't have the faintest clue how to soldier it to a controller. So we thought some more. And came up with this. A Easy to make handbrake with no soldiering or electonics work needed. Links to pics below.

General Shot

Close-Up Picture-Handbrake closed

Close-Up Picture-Handbrake Open

Controller Bracket​

Basically all it is is a lever which pushes down on the R1 button (button assigned for the handbrake/e-brake).
We used a piece of stainless tube stuck on the end of a snapped off motorbike brake lever. The lever acted as the pivot point and the piece that pushed on the R1 button (we thought of other ways to do it but this was the easiest). The controller is held down by a simple metal strap bracket thing. lol
The blue bracket you see in the photo's is what the lever rests on and it also stops the lever from flogging out side to side. Spring is for bringng the lever back to resting position and adding resistance. The spring I chose was the best medium between the two. Don't forget to add a stop as well as the R1 button will soon get flogged out if you don't. The whole thing is atteched to a piece of 5-10mm thick sheet of wood which is attached to some RHS which is bolted to the chair rails. That's about it. Oh and I added a knurled end piece on the end of the lever for looks. Any questions please ask and I will try to answer them to my best ability. And any suggestions as to how I should make it better are very welcome as well.
Thanks, Cougar23.

Update(1/11/2009):

Ok, yesterday I finally got around to making my reverse lever to match my handbrake. I was sick of trying to find the buttons on the DFGT when in a tricky situation where I needed reverse. I made the reverse lever the same way as the handbrake (Snapped motorbike lever and stainless tube on the end.) The only difference with this one is I had to use a wooden block because the brackets I found were not long enough. I am going to eventually make another one with longer brackets to match the handbrake. I also didn't put a spring on the reverse lever so it can stay up-pressing the reverse button in allowing you to reverse with two hands. Link to Picture below:

Pic showing Reverse lever in comparison to handbrake

Any suggestions as to how I should refine/fix this one are welcome, and I will gladly take them on board when I make the final one.
Thanks, Cougar23

Update(1/11/2009):

Ok, yesterday I finally got around to making my reverse lever to match my handbrake. I was sick of trying to find the buttons on the DFGT when in a tricky situation where I needed reverse. I made the reverse lever the same way as the handbrake (Snapped motorbike lever and stainless tube on the end.) The only difference with this one is I had to use a wooden block because the brackets I found were not long enough. I am going to eventually make another one with longer brackets to match the handbrake. I also didn't put a spring on the reverse lever so it can stay up-pressing the reverse button in allowing you to reverse with two hands. Link to Picture below:

Pic showing Reverse lever in comparison to handbrake

Any suggestions as to how I should refine/fix this one are welcome, and I will gladly take them on board when I make the final one.
Thanks, Cougar23

 

[LR-Oversteer]

Damn man, thats prety inovative. I changed upshift on my driving force GT to the E-brake so i dont have to use the circle button, im sure thats nothing new though. What wheel do you use?

 

[Cougar23]

Thanks. I use a DFGT as well. It's a good wheel for the price I paid for it. ($129 AUD)

 

[Rusty*]

I don't think I would be bothered to go t such lengths to get a manual handbrake....
but I admire you for your inovation, very impressive.:tup:
I hope it works good for you mate.
R*

 

[Cougar23]

Thanks but I wouldn't really call it 'such lengths' as it only took me probably half a day all up to make it excluding waiting for the paint to dry. And as I said I had no Idea how to rig up a real handbrake so this was the other option. It works good enough for me. You probably can't pull on it as hard as a real one but it has taken a fair flogging in the week since I made it.

 

[Cougar23]

Sorry about the Double Post but I really need to know if anybody has any experience with 'Panther' steering wheels or the like. The reason I want to know is because they come with a seperate shifter with intergrated handbrake. I love the handbrake I've made but I am prepared to sacrifice it to have a seperate shifter. Does anybody know what the shifter is like? I've seen somewhere else (on this site) that someone has used a Panther wheel plugged into Controller slot 1 and a DFP in USB Slot 1 and been able to use their DFP with the panther shifter. That is what I want to achieve with my DFGT and a panther wheel. ANy help would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks, Cougar23

 

[atteiros]

Sorry about the Double Post but I really need to know if anybody has any experience with 'Panther' steering wheels or the like. The reason I want to know is because they come with a seperate shifter with intergrated handbrake. I love the handbrake I've made but I am prepared to sacrifice it to have a seperate shifter. Does anybody know what the shifter is like? I've seen somewhere else (on this site) that someone has used a Panther wheel plugged into Controller slot 1 and a DFP in USB Slot 1 and been able to use their DFP with the panther shifter. That is what I want to achieve with my DFGT and a panther wheel. ANy help would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks, Cougar23

Hey there. I'm the guy using the Panther for a handbrake on Controller port 1. The problem with it is that the shifter will need to be rewired to work properly with GT4. I can't remember what buttons it's wired to by default, but I remember that those are not configurable as shifters on GT4, so may need to solder. Sorry, I'm a bit sketchy on the details. I've traded it in for a G25, so I don't have it with me anymore.

 

[Cougar23]

Thanks for your reply. Do you roughly remember how difficult it was to get it to work. If It is only basic electronics work I may be able to attempt it myself or take it to someone (we have a place where I live that repairs PS2's etc. so they may be able to do it for me.). Was the shifter and handbrake that good but? Is it better than the DFP/DFGT one?
I can get the wheel for about $15-$20 AUD so it's going to be pretty cheap but I don't want to waste my money if it's not going to be work it. Many Thanks for your reply again. Cougar23.

 

[atteiros]

It's fairly easy. You just need to solder to the contact points of whichever button you want to reassign the handbrake/shifters. But the build quality is not that good. It'll last, but it's really cheap plastic. It's just the simplest way to get a handbrake and shifters to the side without going nuts on yoiur DFP.

Here's my best thought on the subject...

If it was 3 years ago (roughly when I made the project) and GT4, Enthusia etc. and the PS2 is your only system to use it on, I'd say yes, it will be worth it. I've had a lot of good times using the mod. So you might still enjoy it for a few years until you finish your games on the PS2.

 

[Cougar23]

Thanks for the info, I bidded on a panther lord wheel yesterday but it blew out to around $40!!! plus $20 postage!!

I'm not going to pay that much for a 'cheap' crap quality wheel!! I've decide to ditch the idea and save up for a G25 soon. My DFGT is doing just fine but I hate where the shifter is placed and that is the main reason I want a G25. I know many of the features wont work on GT4 but I will be hopefully getting a PS3 soon too. Thanks for your replies atteiros.

 

[Cougar23]

*OP Updated with Reverse Lever info*
EDIT: oops...double post.

 

[Hasido]

Great idea man. I like the reverse lever too. You just need to buid a box to cover up the controller and it will look even cooler.

 

[Robbks]

I like the out of the box thinking.

I have modified an original PSX controller as with some of the other threads but i've use an old CB Radio microphone as it has a nice strong microswitch (Push To Talk button) and return spring in it, and i've added an extension lever to make a vertically mounted rally-style handbrake.
I'll also be doing the same for a reverse lever aswell.

here's the microphone, will add pics of the rig later