- 1,326
- SC
Hey everyone, I know this has been done before but I just thought I'd show you someone elses perspective on a racing setup. I finally got the elite set up and updated my original post with some new pics.
My project build factors were:
1) has be portable/moble (I'm married with children in a small townhouse w/o a garage) so it has to roll in and out of a normal sized closet. This also means it can't be too long, so the pedals will have to be freestanding.
2) Has to be cheap diy materials(again,married)
3) Has to be sturdy metal and %100 wobble free, but I don't have a welder...
4) Has to be comfortable for long periods of time
5) Needs to have places to add on externals (shifters, handbrakes, cupholders, buttkicker gamer remote, shift lights, and maybe someday even a smartphone holder)
6) Lastly, it has to look cool! (The wood ones i used to make, people laughed at)
For inspiration, i went off of Jav's massive galvanized pipe build project which I really LOVED but I don't have the room for something that big. The difference is that I will have the rig bolted to the seat, instead of the seat bolted to the rig... Huh?
My idea is a sporty but comfortable bucket seat with a small 1" galvanized pipe frame bolted directly to the seat, with casters mounted on the bottom to roll.
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From that I would mount the wheel support on the side because I cant stand having a support bracket knocking me in the knees. That was tricky to do without causing wobble, so various points of support would be necessary to keep the wheel from moving around even a little bit, (i'm a little anal about the wheel moving around even the slightest bit.) I used a heavy duty tie rod to control ANY back and forth movement.
On the vertical support arm I will have T joints to allow me to add on shifters and handbrakes, etc.
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Mounted a platform to the crossbar to bolt the CSR Elite to
From the underside
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I had a problem with my last rig being too heavy (big wooden rig) and negated a lot of the subtle tactile sensations of the buttkicker gamer, so I wanted the buttkicker bolted directly to the underside of the seat, not to the frame. To do this I used framing supports from the hardware store and made a mount that would bolt to the bottom without rattling around.
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With the buttkicker gamer 2 mounted on.
I added risers to lift the chair to a more natural seating height, and at the same time provided the buttkicker with a little more ground clearance to really move up and down unhindered. I might sometime figure out a way to make the seat adjustable height, but for now, its comfortable for me. I'm done with the basic frame and seat, all thats left is to add the extender arm for the Clubsport shifter, whenever they come out, that will be my next purchase, along with a new GT and Formula rim for the Elite...
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complete with princess castle and elmo on the potty chair, didn't I say this was the family man's sim rig or what! haha
For now, I'm having a lot of fun with the Elite, i'm testing it with Forza 4 and F1 2011 until I can get a new computer and switch to PC Racing (Posibly Iracing or Rfactor2, Proj Cars???) This chair is just what I wanted when I initially drew it up, small, portable, stylish, but most importantly its TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT! The buttkicker transfers subtle vibrations beautifully through the Honda S2000 seat. Although i would like to add more tactille transducers to it further down the road, maybe some aura pros, or mini LFE's...Cant wait to get it all put together, but for right now its a complete joy and when I'm not able to use it, it rolls neatly into my stair closet out of the way. Its still got a long way to go, like I said its a work in progress, but I'm having a lot of fun learning from GT planet members! I'd love to know people impressions, as this is only my first go with metal framing, i'm better at wood working!
My project build factors were:
1) has be portable/moble (I'm married with children in a small townhouse w/o a garage) so it has to roll in and out of a normal sized closet. This also means it can't be too long, so the pedals will have to be freestanding.
2) Has to be cheap diy materials(again,married)
3) Has to be sturdy metal and %100 wobble free, but I don't have a welder...
4) Has to be comfortable for long periods of time
5) Needs to have places to add on externals (shifters, handbrakes, cupholders, buttkicker gamer remote, shift lights, and maybe someday even a smartphone holder)
6) Lastly, it has to look cool! (The wood ones i used to make, people laughed at)
For inspiration, i went off of Jav's massive galvanized pipe build project which I really LOVED but I don't have the room for something that big. The difference is that I will have the rig bolted to the seat, instead of the seat bolted to the rig... Huh?
My idea is a sporty but comfortable bucket seat with a small 1" galvanized pipe frame bolted directly to the seat, with casters mounted on the bottom to roll.
From that I would mount the wheel support on the side because I cant stand having a support bracket knocking me in the knees. That was tricky to do without causing wobble, so various points of support would be necessary to keep the wheel from moving around even a little bit, (i'm a little anal about the wheel moving around even the slightest bit.) I used a heavy duty tie rod to control ANY back and forth movement.
On the vertical support arm I will have T joints to allow me to add on shifters and handbrakes, etc.
Mounted a platform to the crossbar to bolt the CSR Elite to
From the underside
I had a problem with my last rig being too heavy (big wooden rig) and negated a lot of the subtle tactile sensations of the buttkicker gamer, so I wanted the buttkicker bolted directly to the underside of the seat, not to the frame. To do this I used framing supports from the hardware store and made a mount that would bolt to the bottom without rattling around.
With the buttkicker gamer 2 mounted on.
I added risers to lift the chair to a more natural seating height, and at the same time provided the buttkicker with a little more ground clearance to really move up and down unhindered. I might sometime figure out a way to make the seat adjustable height, but for now, its comfortable for me. I'm done with the basic frame and seat, all thats left is to add the extender arm for the Clubsport shifter, whenever they come out, that will be my next purchase, along with a new GT and Formula rim for the Elite...
complete with princess castle and elmo on the potty chair, didn't I say this was the family man's sim rig or what! haha
For now, I'm having a lot of fun with the Elite, i'm testing it with Forza 4 and F1 2011 until I can get a new computer and switch to PC Racing (Posibly Iracing or Rfactor2, Proj Cars???) This chair is just what I wanted when I initially drew it up, small, portable, stylish, but most importantly its TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT! The buttkicker transfers subtle vibrations beautifully through the Honda S2000 seat. Although i would like to add more tactille transducers to it further down the road, maybe some aura pros, or mini LFE's...Cant wait to get it all put together, but for right now its a complete joy and when I'm not able to use it, it rolls neatly into my stair closet out of the way. Its still got a long way to go, like I said its a work in progress, but I'm having a lot of fun learning from GT planet members! I'd love to know people impressions, as this is only my first go with metal framing, i'm better at wood working!
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Oh yeah, i guess i should've included an expense report with my "cheap" diy build. Let me preface that by saying there are many things that I could've done to cut costs here like not buying a nice leather seat, or if you know someone with a pipe bender it could save money on a few less fittings. But my thought was that some of the nicer racing sim chairs are in the $300-$500 range so if I could build one the way I wanted and spend less than that, I would be happy. Even though i would gladly take a Humanracing chair or playseat Evo in a heartbeat, my wife would divorce me and I'd have no room for it. Plus i'd still need to modify whatever I bought with casters because I don't have a dedicated gaming area. 
