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Sim Racing Frame

This has been my project the last few weeks.

I had the wheel and pedals for a few years now but I was never satisfied with clamping it to my desk. My triple monitor stand would wobble uncomfortably from the wheel’s force feedback and my office chair would roll backward when braking. I found using an old pair of shoes under the casters helps significantly but getting the chair in the right position with the shoes was always tedious. Same goes for setting up the wheel and pedals, a chore when switching from normal use to sim gaming.

I built the frame in an afternoon out of 2x4s and 2x6s, following Kame Trick’s build guide. Total cost was no more than $40.

I got the seat from the passenger side of a Mazda RX7 from a local pull a part. (Cagles) Even though the driver’s seat was still in the vehicle, I went with the passenger’s as they don’t usually see as much use. Used some upholstry cleaner on it which cleaned it up nice. Spent $35 on the seat plus a $4 entry fee for my dad and I.

I bought a Moza H-pattern shifter and handbrake from Microcenter. Unfortunately the H-pattern shifter’s hall effect sensors felt too sensitive to me and would detect the shifter position was in gear when it was supposed to be in neutral. I tried calibration mulitple times but had no luck. I’ve since returned the shifter to Microcenter and ordered a shh thorn as the online sentiment regarding shh shifters seems to be a lot better than the Moza shifter. Only downside to the shh shifter is that it comes from Europe, and they’re made to order, so I’m shifterless until the end of September.

I also installed an amp and a pair of bass transducers, one under the pedals and one under the seat. Sim racing doesn’t quite feel right to me anymore without feeling the vibrations of the engine, wheel slipping/lock, or localized (albeit front & rear stereo) suspension feedback. Not sure how much it adds to my ability as a driver but it certainly adds a lot to immersion.