Good DIY aluminium profile sim rig instructions?

[Bez]

are there any go to/tried and tested instructions for DIY projects using aluminium profile, I've found a couple but wondered if there was a definitive design people use.

Edit: or a good premade aluminium profile rig on sale?

 

[DuRiN]

hi there!!! late but have good news. I have made an order to motedis with mechanized profiles to see if can do in that way and here the first shipment (not all, to check if works...and it works!)...look at the unions...this way is very strong union

next step is an order with the rest to finish the cockpit

 

[RaceWasGood]

Hi guys, hope it's not too late to crash the party

I'm in the process of designing/planning for a rig based on Motedis 40x40 profile. The seat i'm going to use is a Playseat Alcantara with seat sliders. I'm curious if anyone has come up with a working solution on how to raise and lower the seat with some kind of quick release/slide mechanism. I'm pretty sure Motedis has the parts required, but as i'm not at all familiar with their products, i'm having a hard time deciding what parts would actually do the job.

EDIT: To be a bit more specific; i wouldn't mind getting out off the seat to adjust the height, i just don't want to use tools for a slight adjustment.

As Motedis states that "if you like or need service/communication, please buy elsewhere" i thought i'd ask here. Any help highly appreciated!

 

[DuRiN]

hi race, i have the same playseat (you can see in photos below)...i think you can use this:

http://www.motedis.es/shop/Perfil-r...nca-de-bloqueo-ranura-8-tipo-I::99999666.html

hope it helps!

 

[RaceWasGood]

Thanks DuRiN, that might work. Next i'll have to figure out how to be able to adjust the seat tilt

 

[Luke Covalt]

Hey Everyone,

First of all, thanks for all of the great info in this thread. It's all been very useful in helping me to plan my build. Special thanks to William and Kurt.

I was hoping someone could look over my idea and let me know if they think this will work. Most of my dimensions were based largely off of a combination of William's measurements and Lopsided's build: http://www.isrtv.com/forums/topic/10068-mommies-new-black-8020-rig/?page=3

Here's a list of the gear I have and what I am trying to accomplish:
Wheel: Thrustmaster TX
Pedals: Thrustmaster T3PA Pro - Inverted
Shifter: Thrustmaster TH8A
Seat: Undecided
Monitor: Currently 27" dell ultrasharp, would like to upgrade to 35" BenQ. I would also like it to be adjustable enough to accomodate 3 monitors in the future (Obviously I'll need to build new mounts)

Extrusion is 40x40mm and main column is 40x80mm. Overall frame is 52" long. Width of all the inside pieces are 20" across. I'm trying to mount the monitor on the same pedestal as the wheel. Currently, I have the main pedestal 36" high, which I believe should be enough for my wheel and monitors. My pedals are inverted, so the higher of the two pedal mounts will connect to the back of the pedal plate, while the lower will connect to the bottom of the pedals. Rear pedal mount is 12" high and front is 6", which should give me plenty of room to adjust tilt/height as needed. Finally, I have the seat elevated about 4 inches, to give me room to mount a buttkicker in the future.

I'm also open to ideas on how to mount the shifter and potential handbrake in the future. I figured it would be easy enough to mount an arm off of the main pedestal, but am open to suggestions. The total cost as pictured is $529 (Ouch!)

This image isn't final, and the exact position of each column isn't exact. I figured the design is meant to be extremely adjustable, so it shouldn't matter too much. Any thoughts and feedback would be much appreciated!

 

[Kurt Vanhee]

First of all, zhy not go for 45x45 and 45x90.
Think @William Geuze did a comparison and found out that the same rig in 45x45 was cheaper than 40x40. He can shed some light on this i think.
As for mounting that screen, my eyes are 55cm away from the screen.
The screen support is fixed with a small bracket before and after the profile.
The wheel base has big bracketsm 1 in front and the other one is mounted on the middle barm so in a angle of 90 degrees.
For inverted pedals, think William has them like that or the possibility to do.
As for other mounting solutions\suggestions you can explore the various number of sites.

 

[DuRiN]

hi luke, i think your 2 40x80 are very large....how much centimeter are? look at mine some post above...

i have the same hardware like you and have bought a sparco r100...this week arrives the last shipment...i dont use squares to join and use mecanize and the joint are very strong

 

[Luke Covalt]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies!

Kurt,
Unfortunately, 40mm was much cheaper according to May-CAD, which is the only place I've looked so far other than 8020, which was ridiculously expensive. I would prefer 45mm, but I couldn't justify the cost difference. This stuff is so expensive in the US. As for the main mount, do you see any issues with mounting the monitor on the same pedestal as the wheel? Again, mainly to save on costs, but also just to simplify the design and keep a clean look.

DuRiN,
Thanks for the suggestion on the seat, I will definitely check it out. As for the 80x40mm columns, they are 36 inches or 914.4mm tall right now. I'm still not completely certain how tall they will actually need to be to have room for my wheel and a 35" monitor someday. I looked over your design and liked it, but I didn't see a monitor mount.

 

[DuRiN]

oh sorry, didnt see that uses that column for wheel and monitor...didnt say nothing ;-)

 

[Luke Covalt]

Yeah, I'm not completely against attaching a second column for the monitors if needed, but I'd like to try to use the same one for cost/simplicity. Thanks again for the feedback!

 

[Kurt Vanhee]

Ok, USA that makes everything more clear, regarding prices
For once we have something that is cheaper in Europe than the States

As for the wheel and monitor mount i do not see a problem.
Center screen is above my motor, and i see you will be able to adjust the wheel base.
As for movement, no way, well yes abit 0,001%

http://sim-racing-engineering.com/Rigs.html

 

[William Geuze]

Looking good @Luke
I'd make the pedal mount profiles equal in length, making it less of a hassle to switch from normal to inverted pedals. This way you can also strengthen the pedal section by connecting all 4 of them to the main posts for an even more sturdy solution, when using HE-Ultimates for example.

About a shifter and handbrake, hmm. You can built two stepped platforms connecting to the main posts and bolt those on. The problem with those things however is this I think. It's never going to be in terms of reach how you drew it up. My best guess would be to order additional materials, mockup the positions, and build it around what you think feels good.

 

[Luke Covalt]

Thanks William, I plan on buy 8-12 feet or so of extra profile and some extra fasteners so I can cut to length/add on as necessary. I made some adjustments based on your feedback. Is this what you were thinking for the pedal mounts? I don't forsee me wanting to switch to normal, I like inverted too much, but it would be nice to future flexibility. That brings the total to $624 with the end caps and extra gussets. Still need to design a monitor mount too, so I'm probably looking at $700-$800 or so =/ I need a cheap hobby.

 

[William Geuze]

Exactly what I had in mind!

Mounting the monitors won't be a hard thing to do I reckon. Have a look over at www.sim-lab.eu for some examples or take a look at Kurt's rig. Also, on the first page @c0rn has posted a picture of his rig including triple sceens.

 

[Luke Covalt]

Here's a more final version of what I'm planning. I added casters, pedal mount points, and changed the orientation of the monitor column to support the vesa mounts from sim-lab.eu. I also swapped out the chunky gussets for smaller ones for the monitor mount. Saved about $40 and I'm sure there will be no issues support the weight of a 35" monitor.

I have two questions regarding the casters. First, does anyone know of casters that mount in the t-slot? The only casters I can find either require 80x80mm plate, or the threaded post is fabricated into the aluminum, which is what I have pictured. I don't have a major issue with them being fabricated into the aluminum, but I am trying to avoid anything permanent. I'd like the ability to add, remove, re-adjust all parts as needed. Second, do you think 4 casters will suffice, or should I add 2 more towards the center to prevent flex?

Adding the casters, fasteners for the pedals, end caps, and additional gussets brings the total to $989. I haven't inquired about shipping. I'll likely order 3 VESA mounts from sim-lab.eu for $63, bringing the total to around $1052. Looks like I was a little off with my $700-$800 estimate... And I still need a seat =/

 

[Kurt Vanhee]

3 vesa mounts, i suspect that is for future upgrading to a triple monitor setup?
As for the casters, the length of my rig is 160cm and i have 6 casters. 2 @front and 2 @END to fix the rig, and 2 in the middle. If you go for 4 you can always put them @around 20cm from the end of the profiles.
As for flex, dunno really, for me it was a choice of being more certain, not to worry about flex.
Dunno if you have a programm to do a stresstest or something?

My casters are Set of Rollers 75 single bolt hole.

 

[Lorimer]

Hey Luke, I can easily see some over engineering in the last photo.
You can easily do without at least 8 corner gussets. If you upload the original maycad file I will show you what I mean. I will try to have a photo tomorrow of my 4 casters which I bought from Lidl for 8 €.

 

[Luke Covalt]

Kurt, yes I would be ordering 3 at once to save on shipping costs, since shipping to the US is more than the item. I'm still looking for another mount, but if I can't find a better one from a US dealer, my plan is to order all three at once. Thanks for the info on the casters, I'll consider moving them in from the end to reduce flex.

Hi Larimer, thanks for the feedback. I originally didn't have so many gussets and I understand they aren't needed. I plan on adding two 8 foot pieces of 40x40 profile to my order for other projects/future upgrades, so I'll definitely use the extra gussets elsewhere.

 

[Kurt Vanhee]

Some xtra parts are always useful It is always nice on pics and paper but live is sometimes a different matter.

 

[sgspenceley]

Hi, it's been a long time since I last posted...

I thought it was time share some pictures of my 8020 sim rig designs and hope to inspire another Sim Racer to undertake a 8020 build.