The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

  • Thread starter TomN
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JohnBodin
Replacement switches with significantly longer life cycles will soon be available from Basherboards and Bodin Solutions.
Click to expand...

Have you guys had time to analyze the switches and their related mechanisms in new 458 rim? Someone at ISR posted that they do not appear to be built with longevity in mind.

I am asking because I now know of 3 instances posted (including myself) where one paddle shifter does not appear to function as well as the other.
 
I got another message that the fan is in stock and they will process the order after posting proof of purchase now so it seems to go quite smoothly actually.
 
JogoAsobi
Have you guys had time to analyze the switches and their related mechanisms in new 458 rim? Someone at ISR posted that they do not appear to be built with longevity in mind.

I am asking because I now know of 3 instances posted (including myself) where one paddle shifter does not appear to function as well as the other.
Click to expand...

I've been away on vacation for the past week and a half, so I haven't even had a chance yet to unbox and test my 458 rim. :guilty:

I know Jonathan has done some disassembly of his 458 rim, but I don't know if he's dug into the shifters yet either.

Rest assured that's on our agenda, though, because we'd like to be able to offer replacement switches for all the various T500 rim options.

:cool:
 
Looking back at my email history, "Thrustmaster Team" is usually generic responses indicating an auto reply. "Alex" has been my humanoid ultra AI bot that has answered specific questions. I have always replied to the same email that has the same case number in the subject line, instead of going through the site.
 
JohnBodin
I've been away on vacation for the past week and a half, so I haven't even had a chance yet to unbox and test my 458 rim. :guilty:

I know Jonathan has done some disassembly of his 458 rim, but I don't know if he's dug into the shifters yet either.

Rest assured that's on our agenda, though, because we'd like to be able to offer replacement switches for all the various T500 rim options.

:cool:
Click to expand...

I'd like to replace the two on my base. (Static paddles)

Will be looming forward to release of these.
 
So guys, I finally got a video of the fan:



I hope some of you in here, can tell whether or not it's "qualified for an exchange". Sorry for the bad quality, too :P.
 
Dean J
So guys, I finally got a video of the fan:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVriAud-Aaw">YouTube Link</a>

I hope some of you in here, can tell whether or not it's "qualified for an exchange". Sorry for the bad quality, too :P.
Click to expand...

My fan sounded like that and got worse over time. They use cheap fans. Even the new replacement fan is cheap. That should qualify for a replacement fan. :)
 
Per Thrustmaster only every other screw on the F458 wheel is used to secure the rim to it's base. Starting from the bottom and going clockwise the bottom screw and every other screw is used to secure it. The other screws are cosmetic.
Screws_GTE20Wheel_GB_zps5f923efb.jpg
 
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Dean,

That is not the normal sound. Normal is basically the sound of air moving and a little bit of motor sound.

Mine goes between the "horrible sound" after it's been running for about 30 minutes and what I would call normal, which basically just sounds like a computer fan running.

I'll post a video so you can hear what mind sounds like when it's bad lol. I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.
 
I'm getting a bit confused by now... It honestly doesn't sound like it did, when I got the wheel, - that, in a worse direction. I'll try getting in touch with Thrustmaster soon, and see if they'll do anything about it :boggled:.
 
Dean J
I'm getting a bit confused by now... It honestly doesn't sound like it did, when I got the wheel, - that, in a worse direction. I'll try getting in touch with Thrustmaster soon, and see if they'll do anything about it :boggled:.
Click to expand...

Apparently it´s normal for it to go south in a week or two... Most are relatively fine first and then they get the fan is broken sound ;)
 
Here's a little something I whipped up this evening. This is a fake Momo I purchased off ebay for $55. It's 345mm diameter, 70mm mounting holes. The rim is actually pretty nice for a knock off, though I don't think I'd use it in a real car. However, on a sim wheel, it's great. The suede feels nice.

GTE_Adapter2.jpg


The adapter is CNC machined from a piece of HDPE I had laying around. It mounts nice and snug despite being a piece of plastic and having been a simple prototype:
GTE_Adapter1.jpg


So still some more room for improvement. This was just a proof of concept. I raced with it for a little while and being seated in F1 position the rim is a bit on the large side... The paddles are also a bit of a reach with a rim this large.

Anyhow, pretty cool :)
 
eKretz
Looks good! What's the weird pattern on the face of the HDPE? Chatter?
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No, not chatter, not on HDPE. ;) The bit was an old one I just grabbed. It's only 1/8" and my stepover was 70% so it would cut quicker. That leaves a little feather on the edge of the cut because the bit isn't razor sharp anymore.

It's actually just a visual thing for the most part, you can't actually feel it.
 
Is there a wheel out there that can be machined to accept the T500 button housing. Say like a 13.5" wheel. Flat and enough material to machine all button and D-pad spots? Bolt pattern not important. I can fill those in and redrill.
 
OwensRacing
Is there a wheel out there that can be machined to accept the T500 button housing. Say like a 13.5" wheel. Flat and enough material to machine all button and D-pad spots? Bolt pattern not important. I can fill those in and redrill.
Click to expand...

I would almost bet that a real Momo would work -- not sure if there's enough material to drill out for the D-pad, but I bet it would fit the shifters and buttons better.

Once I unbox my 458 wheel, I may have to take the Momo Mod 27d off my Sam Maxwell wheel to see how it fits over the 458 hub assembly.
 
OwensRacing
Is there a wheel out there that can be machined to accept the T500 button housing. Say like a 13.5" wheel. Flat and enough material to machine all button and D-pad spots? Bolt pattern not important. I can fill those in and redrill.
Click to expand...

Im not sure, but couldn't you just switch the d-pad out for something more along the lines of what Fanatec uses? Could solve the space issue. I don't know anything about the wiring of these switches, but I wouldn't think it would be different. Plus I think the Fanatec switch is much better than the normal d-pad switch used on the other wheels. Just an idea.
 
Fanatec's switch is exactly like this one. It's 4 small tactile switches arranged in a "plus sign" configuration. There really isn't a simple way to remove them though you could easily solder on to them. That said, I personally don't like making things that require others to solder, cut, etc.

I am not necessarily intending to sell this... I mostly just wanted to see what it would feel like to have a larger wheel and well, to tinker. :) I have other plans for this GTE hub anyhow.

When I have some time I will dig into this some more. For now, I just wanted to show it could be done.

Owens,

You can purchase all (edit:most) of the Momo wheels without any drilling at all having been done to them. Take a look at the ones here: http://www.momo88.com/store_main.asp?int_category_id=3&int_subcategory_id=12 I think any number of those may be perfect as they are totally flat. Just cut out the spots for the buttons, the 58mm hole pattern on the GTE hub and you're good to go :) You will notice however that MANY of them are sub-300mm which is why a few of us kept stating that the smaller GTE rim wasn't necessarily "odd"
 
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OwensRacing
Is there a wheel out there that can be machined to accept the T500 button housing. Say like a 13.5" wheel. Flat and enough material to machine all button and D-pad spots? Bolt pattern not important. I can fill those in and redrill.
Click to expand...

If you run on PC you can put a SRW-S1 on it. Then you get led lights as well which is just a gods given.

Console racers are not really button pushers by nature so I am fine with my two static paddles, shifter and gamepad on the side for my 320 mm rim :)
 
mrbasher
No, not chatter, not on HDPE. ;) The bit was an old one I just grabbed. It's only 1/8" and my stepover was 70% so it would cut quicker. That leaves a little feather on the edge of the cut because the bit isn't razor sharp anymore.

It's actually just a visual thing for the most part, you can't actually feel it.
Click to expand...

Lol, you'd think not, but I've known guys who could do it! (Get chatter on things you'd think would be impossible). Thanks for the explanation. I usually use a 'broad-nosing' tool when machining plastics. Saves a lot of time...you need to run a feedrate that is slightly less than the width of the nose of the tool you're using. I normally use a custom ground HSS tool with about a 1/4" flat lapped to a mirror knife edge with a chip breaker/curler and run about 3/16" feed per rev. The nice thing about this approach is you can run lower speeds to keep temp down (so you don't need to worry about thermal dimensional stability) and still get done quick as well as keeping tool life up. I usually use a shop-vac to suck up the chip as it cuts, since they come off as a continuous string. If you are running CNC you can also program quick dwells to break the chips as you go. Sorry if this is TMI!
 

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