DIY Aluminum Race Sim Cockpit Setup for FANATEC 2/4 (Driving Position)
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I summarized how I made the racing simulator with an aluminum frame. This article is about the pre-design stage.
The concept is
・Reasonable cost
・Nice Rigidity
This is based on my Japanese article
My design experience with aluminum frames
・ I have a mechanical engineering degree and I like design.
・ About 10 years ago, when I was a student, I designed and assembling the aluminum frame for experimental equipment.
・ I don’t use CAD at work now.
The Confirmation of Driving Position
Firstly, I ordered the seat below. I got a used seat that is about $200 (The shipping cost was pressured).
After I got this, I tried to play iRacing with this funny setup.
My Fanatec controllers (at this time)
What I Realized with this SIM Setup
・ If the pedals were too close, I had to bend my ankles at a steep angle, which was very difficult.
・ If I stepped the brake pedal strongly, the pedal would shift forward. Therefore, I put the pedal forward so that the pedal contacts wall. And inevitably, the seat also had to be set fowards. This set up made the steering closer, the arm becomes very bent, and the handling operation became awkward. 0
・On the other hand, if I put the pedals backward (near me) from the wall, I had to put the seat back, and the steering wheel became far away from me, which also made it difficult to operate.
・ Because the seat was just put on the toolbox, the seat easily moved when riding on or riding off the seat, whichrequired me to adjust the seat often.
What to Consider for the SIM Cockpit Design
When we designed the SIM Cockpit, maybe 3 factors below should be thought deeply.
1. Seat Height, Angle
2. Pedal Angle
3. Position of the Steering Wheel
1. Seat Height, Angle
I imagined the driving position of the SIM cockpit by checking the SIM cockpits of Japanese famous racing drivers and Japanese e-racers.
Finally, I confirmed the rough driving position by using actual items like the below. (If you have a racing car or sports car, please measure yours.) Now, as I don’t have the car and I’m not an expert in human engineering, I decided that the height of the seat, stirring wheel, and pedals of the cockpit can be changed.
To know a rough placement, I measured the distance after adjusting the items. I think below is a similar position to MX-5, which is my ex-car. (The silver item under the seat is just an amazon basement for a laptop.)
2. Pedal Angle
I decided that I can change the pedal angle.
3. Position of the Steering wheel
I couldn’t decide the accurate position till the frames were delivered. So I designed a SIM Cockpit so that it can be adjusted flexibly.
I found a Japanese website that wrote how to build a correct racing simulator in pursuit of realism.
1. Sit deeply so that there is no gap between the hips and the seat.
2. Slide the seat to a position where you can bent your knees a little, with the brake pedal depressed to the end with your right foot,
3. Put your back on the seat back and adjust the reclining angle of the seat, so that your elbows do not extend when you put your hands on the top of the steering wheel.
Design and Expose to Twitter
On paper or on the 3D CAD (I used “Shapr3D free version for iPad”), I tried to arrange a person’s eyes, handles, seats, pedals, monitors, etc. What you select is your choice.
Below is a rough layout design. Items in the air imitate eyes, steering wheels, and legs.
The result of exposing this layout to the Twitter
What my followers advised:
・Instead of placing it on the frame, many people use the display arm to place the monitor in the air. (It is said that the vibration from the wheelbase is not good for the monitor’s electronic substrates)
・Make the distance between the display and the steering wheel to be close, such as 10cm or less.
・The standard length of the base frame is 140cm. (My rough picture above is 120cm) Even a 160cm-tall (small) person said that he needs 140cm when considering getting on and off easily. And he recommended me to use the seat rail if available.
・The tilted arms, which support the wheelbase basement, will be enough rigid when using the angle bracket. (He said I can feel relieved.)
After applying the above advice
・The monitor is separated from the frame and fixed separately.
・I don’t need a 140cm base frame because I don’t use seat rails. So I set the base of 130cm.
・ Increase the seat height. (At this time, personal circumstances that there is no side stay)
-The vertical 40x80 side members have been made as short as possible so as not to interfere with the monitor. (All dimensions are posted on the next page)
Reflections on my Experience after Assembling the Cockpit
・When I bought a bucket seat, I bought a second-hand item, so I lost a lot of time because the seat didn’t include mounting brackets to fix it. (I am satisfied with the contents of the product and purchased it, and the seller had no-fault.) Firstly, I thought I would find suitable mounting brackets in the hardware store, but it took a lot of time because:
・ I needed to check the screw hole diameter of the bucket seat and the distance between the holes.
・ Check the dimensions of the full bucket seat
・ Needed to consider how to adjust the height of the bucket seat?
Since I was worried about selecting the mounting brackets and wasted a lot of time, I strongly recommended to buy a seat with suitable mounting brackets instead of buying the seat without brackets. In the end, I got an almost new adoptable side-stay bracket for around $30 at the flea market webshop. (I asked him to decrease the price.) The below picture is the brucket.
If you want to keep the leshy and make it even cheaper, a used normal car seat or kart seat will be cheaper on flea market webshop. (Kart sheat will hurt your back considerably because there is no cushion.)
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