Showroom My 3DOF Traction Loss Simulator

Hello Fellow Enthusiasts,
I just want to say thanks to all the members who invested there time in posting and advising valuable ideas to the public. For I would of not been able to finish my project on my 3dof traction loss simulator without your postings. I scoured pages and pages of all the awesome builds on your rigs. Gathered valuable information and draw my conclusions on what I wanted to build.
I started with Triple Screens TV's a few years ago, built a PC just to play a few racing games. Well the rest is history. With a angle desk, office chair and steering wheel in center, simvibe and 4 butkickers, I was captured with the desire to build a rig. And I got to say when I ran the simvibe for the first time I was mesmerized on how well it worked. Fast forward a few years later, saving up for first purchase. I contacted Simxperience and purchased there 2DOF SCN6 150mm Simxperience SX4000 DIY kit. With that purchase I ordered the Stage 3 upgrade kit which includes a SCN5 150mm and all the necessary hardware for the traction loss platform. Now I know it may seem expensive but the returns on time saving and durability are well worth beating the winter months welding outdoors.
With Simxperience's design in mind I wanted to create not just a seat mover but an entire motion rig which including movement of the steering wheel and peddles. My next purchase came from DOF Reality. I contacted them, explained my intention, and they were gracious as to allow me to purchase the 2DOF Chassis alone. When I received the the package and inspected the parts the workmanship was superb. Dealings with DOF Reality was 5 star and they build quality chassis.
Now the fun begins. I picked up a Flux Core Welder for a hundred bucks and converted to a full DCEN welder with a rectifier and capacitor. I never welded before and is not easy. It comes with a lot of practice and patience but it's something everyone needs to learn on this forum.
The next step was to make my concept a reality. Through my design mock-up, I welded a chassis for the DOF reality chassis to mount on to. Using 3/16 rolled rectangular steel for frame rails and 1/16 rectangular for chassis support the rig started to take shape. Make all the necessary threaded holed for the hardware to mount to, including holes for the rear rollers. Simxperience hardware from the stage 3 would mount to this chassis as well.
Next was to create the housing and design mounting method for the SCN6 actuator. This is was most crucial part of the build. The idea is to make it so that it takes some of the punch out of the actuator reflex. Sought of like a shock absorber. With the right angle mounted, an I can't stress enough how important this is to the design and longevity of the actuators. I then installed counter weights that will offset and balance the rig for lighter driver or the opposite for heaver driver.
To make the rig comfortable for all height of drivers I used the sliders for the seat and relocated to the peddles making the peddles adjustable since the seat need to say fixed for balancing purposes.
The final touches came when constructing the triple monitor screen tower out of Kindoff. All of that plus wiring and a few more holes for balancing. Finally two months later my finished rig, and what ride it is.
Now for anyone who is thinking of building such a rig, just do it. I cant explain how much more you get out of the game when you include Visual, Sound Effect, Tactical Vibration and Motion Cues. They just all work together to complete the full experience.

Hello Fellow Enthusiasts,
Just an update. I felt like doing some drifting so I added a hydraulic handbrake. Like always I found useful articles to aid me in making my decisions. Prices had dropped significantly so I splurged for a total of a 200 bucks. The handbrake is lightweight aluminum, well build, with a master cylinder. Add the slave cylinder, reservoir, t-fittings, brake-line and 500 psi transducer. Then used energy suspension bushing to simulate brake load. I manage to use my old Logitech Wingman 3D Pro flight sticks electronic to except signal from transducer. Wired to the twist pot on the stick. Calibrated the software to the transducer. The base of the stick allows me to add two more inputs in the future as well. Nothing like re-purposing an old useless joystick because to old resistor pots give up when they get worn out. Exceptionally realistic pressure sensitive.

Update on the actuators fulcrum joints. My first design was not well throughout but now it is surely heavy duty. The bushings are preloaded against the square tubing with threaded rod a quarter into rubber bushing from stationary structure. The pivot joint rocks so slightly to absorbed any destructive impact from actuators. Naturally, always trying to use the materials on hand to keep costs down. This design is thoroughly tested.

Decided to go all the way with total immersion using blackout fabric specially design for theater application. I dug up some aluminum T-rod and use 1/4 inch threaded rod, bending them to create L-hooks. Cheap but effective, and I got to say, this was a big improvement to the simulator. The blackout keeps you eyes immersed into the sim, prevent eye drifting that will cause motion sickness due to peripheral inclusion of stationary objects in the room.

Hello All,
Going forward more then a year later, I decided to upgrade my rig with flight sim gear. I finally did it; the moment had come, and I made the purchase from Virpil https://virpil-controls.eu/ , a company that builds flights simulator gear base out of a city in Lithuania. The delivery made its far journey, taking about a week to get to my door step. I present the VPC MongoosT-50CM Grip https://virpil-controls.eu/vpc-mongoost-50cm-grip.html
WOW. This company makes a beautiful, well made grip with superior crafted parts at a reasonable price. Believe me, I've done my research, and there's a lot of garbage for sale. Now keeping in mind with college tuition looming near, I had to save some coin. My next purchase was the Thrustmaster TWCS Throttle.
Yes, I wanted one of those real feel throttle, but given the price point, I decided to go with this choice. Also a big factor in the decision was the weight distribution of the rig. This plastic throttle feels very comfortable, and the buttons are strategically placed nicely. Finally, the last device I needed was rudder control. This was a cumbersome task trying to maintain versatility, not having to swap equipment every time I wanted to play a different sim. Then, it dawned on me one day. Glad I didn't rush this decision. I already have pedals from the racing sim, why not integrate them somehow into the system? Well, I had to make this work... I thought of everything but couldn't come up with a solution without molesting the pedals I have now. Until I realized, simplicity is key to make this happen. Who knew a piece of nylon string and two swivel eye pulleys would solve the problem. Costing about $2 each, it was one of the wisest purchase of all time. I mounted each pulley just beneath the clutch and gas pedal connecting them using the string and VOILA. Works just like the real thing. As far as programing, the game only needs to bind one pedal to the rudder axis. Now with all the hardware mounted, I was ready to swim deep into the abyss of SIMTOOLS. And I'm glad I did. Understanding the complexity of simtools was difficult until read sberms Tutorial for Simtools Settings for Simxperience Motion NoLimits 2 Example https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...-simxperience-motion-nolimits-2-example.9080/. Thanks sberns for your tutorial especially on how to figure out actuator designation. All that being said, I always wanted to travel the solar systems, so I bought Elite Dangerous then installed SilentChill plugin. What an amazing ride. Thanks for your effort SilentChill. Could only imagine the test and tuning that went in your plugin programing. I now understand how the movement sometimes needs to be subtle in coordination with visual attributes. Now all I need is heave. Maybe if I hit lotto one day, then I can and further my endeavor.