Hi Bob, I purchased SimworX Pro GT 3.1 pedals used off of the iRacing forums back in December 2023. Original owner took great care of them and was very friendly. I did my due diligence too and watched all of SRG's review, researched "pneumatics", and came to the conclusion that there must be no liquid in them. Which was the biggest reason I bought them.View attachment 705379
The cylinder used on the throttle is pneumatic, you can see the bolts with the vents at top and bottom of the cylinder.
The cylinder on the brake has a vented bolt at the top of the cylinder and a sealed bolt at the bottom so I would assume the cylinder is now holding a fluid of some type.
You have keen eyes. The throttle would get stuck for a fraction of a second time-to-time, and the cause was Windows 11. They sent a firmware upgrade and that fixed it for me. They were helpful with that issue, not so much with this one.Sorry to read about the unfortunate situation with your set of SimworX pedals.
You are right about the use of a fluid in the brake cylinder being something that is not readily mentioned in any reviews or the instructions that come with the pedals. I watched three quite detailed reviews (two with English subtitles) and no mention was made.
I also choose the pedals for the same reasons that you did, but after receiving them I came across a unofficial Facebook group for SimworX products and a couple of guys on there had commented on the brake cylinder seals failing and releasing a green fluid. Unfortunately the Facebook group is now closed.
From the comments posted SimworX came to the rescue sent out replacement cylinders and that was all that was said.
Hopefully you will get some assistance from them and directions on how to dismantle replace the seals and fluid instead of having a new cylinder shipped over from Australia.
What was the software issue that you had? I noticed with the new v3.2 pedals they have released a proprietary piece of control/setup software and have been meaning to see if it’s compatible with the v3.1s and what functionality it offers. With the v3.1s I was advised to use DiView to help calibrate the pedals.
Definitely in the "cruel and unusual punishment" categoryI had to spend my free time on Saturday reading a book, the horror!
This is particularly galling for people like yourself who didn't actually want hydraulics and did the homework to satisfy themselves that they weren't buying them...For anyone considering hydraulics… be warned.
I was talking with my grandfather, who spent most of his life as a mechanic, about how I thought pneumatic's would be great. The pro's of hydraulics without the con's! no leaks!(It's also the main reason I wouldn't touch hydraulics. As I have mentioned above, I don't even understand the concept of pneumatic pedals.)
Air leaks is one reason why I don't understand pneumatic pedals. The main other one (discussed a wee bit more above) is that air is compressible and heats up as you compress it, meaning it's not the perfect spring you might hope it would be (even when not leaking).Then he reminded me that air can leak just like fluid, the only pro there would be there is no mess. I think all methods (elastomer, spring, pneumatics, hydraulics) have their fallbacks. Elastomers change with time, leaks happen, etc.
I'm really curious to hear how you get on. I can't figure out what the stealth hydraulics are actually meant to accomplish on your pedal...I was able to drain all the fluid I could out of my brake cylinder and plan to re-attach it, and continue using it. The load cell is still there. The spring is still there. so... it may feel different, but it will work. And be a lot cheaper than shipping a new one from Australia to USA.
Well hopefully I remember to let you know! Got it fully set up again this evening and gave the brake a few compressions, now it feels just like a spring, and then a hard stop… which isn’t much different than before. I do remember hearing the sound of hydraulic pressure happening, like you hear compressing a real car’s brake pedal. I do not hear that anymore.I'm really curious to hear how you get on. I can't figure out what the stealth hydraulics are actually meant to accomplish on your pedal...