Love how you have reinforced the frame. My only concern would be added weight and thus stress on the H series motors. This is why I’m considering the more expensive P series motors which can handle more stress and have a greater cycle life. My concern is the motors wear prematurely with the added weight and thus stress on them and incurring a greater cost after replacing them as opposed to going with a higher cost upfront but getting much better motor life and reliability with the P series. Just my two cents. Great work sir, and in my opinion very necessary for the level of immersion we seek with this type of setup, ie motion and VR.
Where's the guarantee that the P series motors will eradicate the weight limitation issue? I was having trouble with finding a comparison review that looks into both types of motors...
I would never talk anyone out of buying the more durable version of something. But if you ask me if after a year of usage and following the DOF groups if I think it's worth it, I would say no. Lots of people have modded their units, both H and P, and while issues arise, there's never been any concern of weak or failing H motors. In fact, the general consensus when a potential buyer asks the question, because we all did, they always say to save the money and go with the H. I run mine about 4+ hours a night, 6 nights a week, and I've never once thought about longevity. Even with the additional weight of profiles, I'm easily under the weight limit, and you really can't overload the front because you need to properly balance the rig for it to work smoothly. So any added weight will be evenly distributed front to back. That said, it's just my opinion, and if investing in the P makes you feel more secure in your investment, by all means do it. Either way you'll have a blast in it, and that's all that matters. :)
Well done and thank you! I'm going to add one of those bst1's asap. Direct drive is in my future too. I appreciate the ideas you are putting out there for the upgrading the h-3
How wide is the front base? The pictures on their website the rear looks wider. The max space I have for the front base is 28”, or 711 mm. Rear isn’t a problem for me.
Thanks. I did shift some things around a little, but it turned out that I actually had too much rear weight bias before the mod. Didn't know that was what was causing a forward stutter I was dealing with. So this actually fixed my weight balance, but it was purely luck.
Topshelf147, your engineering design and efforts resulted in a solid and quality built full motion simulator platform. Great explanation and an easy to follow video. With the 80/20 components designed using triangulation principles, is there a possibility your enhanced DOF Reality H3 could support the three monitors without exceeding the recommended weight limit? Congratulations on a project well done. I can see you enjoying many hours on the simulator, which you fully deserve. Thank you for sharing your work and your time. All the best to you. Aloha! K Inouye Honolulu, Hawaii
Thank you! And yes, depending on driver weight and profile design, it's totally doable. Without verifying, I believe max weight as listed as 300lbs. I'm a lightweight at only 165lbs, so have plenty of headroom left. Also if you don't plan on installing inverted pedals, you don't even need the rear triangles, just the uprights. So I'm sure a modified plan would easily fall into the weight limits. I've seen a few guys do it using other methods, and it it's very cool! :)
I just got my P3 and love it but I've used the provided dampeners (the same black ones, it looks like) - love the o-ring idea, rather! That being said, are they 17mm OD or ID? It also looks like you've switched out the Allen bolts for ones with a broader head to hold the o-ring snug to the shock, or is it just me? Assuming you did switch them out, what size bolt did you use?
17mm OD , 12mm ID. These are the ones I used. uxcell Fluorine Rubber O-Rings 17mm OD 12mm ID 2.5mm Width, Metric FKM Sealing Gasket, Pack of 20 smile.amazon.com/dp/B082S39BQF/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_P4K3SHE463DN1RFBNEGP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 And same bolts, I just added some washers I had picked up from Home Depot.
This looks great! My H3 arrives in about a week from now, the wheel base is my only concern? I'm thinking I might have to build 2 struts from beneath the footplate going forward, up and bolted to the underside of the wheelbase? Hope that'll do it.
I can't picture exactly what you have planned, but anything that creates a triangle should help. Just be aware that the pedal plate is thin metal, so doesn't offer a great deal of structural stability to build off of. The main frame beam under the pedal plate only extends about 8 inches or so. Could grab a measurement if needed. But I'm sure it will be easier to figure out once it arrives. And congrats, you'll love it! :)
Hey J D. Sure thing. We just added a 17mm o-ring to each side of the tie rod balls. Whatever the correct term is. Just make sure they're locked in with large enough washers to prevent pinching. It sounds silly, but it helps tighten up the movement without adding stress to the motors or slowing them down like the dampers do. Here's what I used. smile.amazon.com/dp/B082S39BQF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_09oEFb07MG803
How much extra weight is your custom wheel bass?? Do you not think all the extra weight will damage the motors?? Love the design and effort you have put in top job had my dof h3 for almost 2 years love the motion. Need to get some O rings lol
Thank you! There's another option I'm seeing now where you can make a small modification and bolt the profile directly to the Y braces which is probably the cleaner route, but I'm very happy with the outcome here. I believe there's about 20-25 pounds of profile there, but I rebalanced the rig and moved some weight rearward to offset it. Honestly, after balancing and running smc3 tests, it's the best it's been. Motors are cool to the touch after 4 hour sessions, so I have no concerns about extra stress to them. 2 years is a long time. Done any cool mods?
@@topshelf147 nah not made any mods had a hard enough time putting the rig together 😂😂 the only thing I have added is a rally harness with bunge cord attached to the rig base crossed over at the back. then the buckle attached solid at seat then the side straps attached to base just gives that bit off authentic seat belt tightening. Apart from that rig is standard. Defo yours looks the business👍👍 if I upgrade to direct drive wheel then some sort of upgrade will be required the rig can just about handle a csl elite at the moment lol only grumble. Well that and the motors can be noisy thank god for noise cancelling headphones lol.
Oh yeah, forgot all about the initial assembly. That was certainly a fun time. lol. Good call on the harness. It's really required and makes the experience so much better. If you do decide to upgrade to DD, the profile makes a massive improvement. Might even be worth it now. ;)
My DSD boxes are actually CSW version, so they are designed to bolt directly to that wheelbase. After switching to the SW12C though, I just drilled some holes and have it mounted to the direct drive mounting frame. You'll definitely want them secure.
Thank you for the very informative video. I have two questions for reference. Is your aluminum profile 20mm or 30mm? I also want to know the size of the rubber ring added to the motor.
Sure thing. The aluminum profile is 15 series, which is actually equivalent to 40mm. Not sure I'd want to go much smaller than that. Maybe 30mm would be ok though. Here's the size info on the o-rings I used. 17mm OD - 12mm ID - 2.5mm thickness. The only other thing I noticed is that you'll want slightly larger washers to capture the o-rings if you try them. The ones for the tie-rods is just a tiny bit too small, and immediately pinched a section of one o-ring off. I switched to some ⅝" washers that I had and they were perfect.
@@topshelf147 Thank you very much for answering. The tips on rubber rings are also very helpful. I haven't bought Dofreality's product yet, but I'm planning to buy it soon and build a rig with aluminum profiles. I'm going to use an aluminum profile of 20mm. I'm worried about stiffness and shaking, but I'm going to try it out. Unless it's broken, I'll upload a video too. Maybe a month later. :)
You said you used 40mm equivalent aluminum profiles for reinforcement, with your experience, do you think 30mm would suffice and lower overall weight surplus?
I think you'll be ok with 30mm. Depending on how you design and secure your additional support of course. If you don't mind a bar between your legs, I saw one guy just add a thick wheelbase plate and use a length of threaded rod from it to the main beam in front of the seat. Didn't cost/weigh much at all and was extremely stable. So design is really key.
Thanks. I actually built a wooden wall mounted shelf that stores the pc components and the monitor arms. So i just added an extension off of that for the keyboard/mouse. Tried a few rig mounted ideas but always sent things flying. lol
So - I'm having an issue with my P3 in that the "slop" (movement that you can make happen by shifting your weight around when the rig is off or on but not moving) seems to be prevalent even with the rig on. In particular when swerving around cars on a straight, it seems the rig just "wanders" around. Do you have this issue? If so, were you able to get around it? Maybe the o-rings?
Hey, so my guess is that you don't have enough weight on the front of the rig. If while sitting in the seat you can make it lift the front just by moving, you need more forward weight bias. Also make sure you're transmission arms are set correctly, about 20 degrees above level. I would think that should resolve the issue, but if you're still struggling, it might be worth looking into the dampers.
@@topshelf147 Thanks for the help! I'll try adding weight to the front. You are the second person to mention that. He said you might have the rig "too" balanced. He had his slightly front heavy as well and he said it keeps the thing from rocking back and forth. I had a broken motor for a bit and had the system leaning slightly forward during that time and couldn't move it one bit so I think you might be onto something with the front heavy feeling. Thanks again.
Well, H3 is up and running! It's great! Now to workout motion compensation?!? On a seperate note, could you please tell me if you use the Sim Racing Studio software as default? I hear simtools also works for this platform.
Awesome!! Glad to hear you got it all sorted out. I do use the SRS software. I've heard about simtools, but SRS is extremely active in the community and constantly updating the software, so I'm very pleased with it. For motion compensation, I use this. www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/openvr-motioncompensation.14576/ Works great, though I'm still sorting out an issue with lost tracking. Just ordered a second base station, think that should solve everything.
@@topshelf147 Thanks for all of these tips!! would be perfect if you could make a video about motion compensation when everything will be solved And by the way, You are the first one that I've seen to attach the seat belt to the base on a DOF Reality rig. Really good idea!! Does that work well ?
@@manueleggen8265 No problem, just sharing what I've picked up from others mostly. ;) My second base station just arrived, so will be doing some testing over the next week I'll share my findings once I have a clear answer. And yes, the seatbelt attached to the unit base works really well. Having the solid mount point adds tension to the belts under braking which adds another level of immersion. I'd definitely give it a go. Only improvement I'm looking into trying out is to mount something to the back of seat so that the belts go backwards instead of straight down. I think that should closer replicate the feeling of them secured behind you in a car. Can't just leave well enough alone I guess. Lol
hi - thats really clever bracing. I had designed a solution but yours is better bar far! Any suggestions to an alternative for the diagonal fixing point. My seat doesn't have a carcass I can reliably fix to. Also I dont suppose you have a components list of the measurements?
Thanks Marc. If I was going to do it again, I'd change it up a little bit actually. After I did this, some guys came up with a solution to completely replace the uprights with 8040, bolted directly to the upright brackets. Once that's done you can tie off of that profile and run horizontal bars on each side backwards. That can create mounting points for additional bracing, shifters or anything else you want. Hope that makes sense. There's a FB group called DofRealityBuilders. Super active and tons of great info. One guy actually has a link to the profile for the uprights with pre-drilled holes and everything. That's where I would start, then build off of that. Profile completely changes the usefulness of the rig though.
@@topshelf147 Hi Thanks for getting back. That idea of completely replacing the existing uprights with 8040 was the design I came up with. I was just a little concerned that it depended on a weak spot of fixing to the brackets. Also there is the added complication of the brackets being quite offset. Thats why I like your design. Solved with some long bolts. I tried to access the DofRealityBuilders group - but I have a pathological hatred of
No problem at all, happy to help. First off, I completely understand that hatred. lol. I only use it for a few groups myself. Second, I won't lie, I've thought the exact same thing. That upright bracket seems like the weak point to me as well, so totally get the concern. Since this video I've made a few changes with the SC2 Pro upgrade. I ended up with the same concept since I'm locked in now, but I replaced the dof uprights with 1 inch square tubing that's stronger and shorter. It now stops where it oem bars angle in. Just drilled a few holes to run the bolts. And in place of the dof bracket, I now have (3) 15 series profiles bolted together and to the profile. It's now strong af. The SC2 is very happy with the upgrade. I have an SG Racing shifter on the way, I can throw up an update video after it arrives if it's helpful.
@@topshelf147 yeah - I would like to see that. I cant quite picture it. I created a Facebook account just to join the group. Havent found the build you mentioned yet. A few people have just bolted supplementary bars on the uprights - but to me they haven't addressed a flex point where it hit the chassis
I’ve noticed the srs shakers on your seat... You obviously took it apart yourself and set it up this way intentionally... Can you tell us more about it? Why did you set it up that way and how does it changes from the original factory setup? Finally, i didn’t quite catch what the 2 items in the back bottom of your seat were. Shakers? Buttkickers? Does the fact of having 2 really gives you a kind of « stéréo » effect ?
So those are just Dayton Audio TT25-8ohm transducers. Exact same thing SRS uses in their ShakeIt products. Since I already had a second sound card installed, it was much much cheaper to just buy 6 pucks and 3 amps (2 pucks per amp), and wire it all up myself. I had them inserted into the Sparco seat pads for a while, but they work just as well on the side and are much more comfortable. I tried using the SRS Shake software since we have access to it, but prefer SimHub as it's much more customizable imo. Can really dial in what effects you want at each wheel. The two larger ones on the back are Dayton BST-1's. They're much larger/stronger bass shakers that give a different feel. I use one for engine vibration and the other for gear shifts. They vibrate the entire seat, so you could easily get away with just one, but I already had two so just put them to work. The small pucks can't replicate that kick and intensity. It all ties together nicely though and really adds to the immersion. Oh, and the profile is 15 series. 40mm would be the equivalent. And it's the lightweight version which is a good thing because it adds up surprisingly quick.
Thanks a lot for the time you spend on answering our questions and videos you make. It is quite some help for new users!!! Nice setup with the shakers! I’ve ordered the srs shake kit and plan on adding a buttkicker. Apparently, your thoughts about the srs tuning software on shakers is not the best... could you (again) tell us more about the differences you experience between the 2 softwares? These kinds of “pluses” on the rig seem to bring much more realism to the whole experience, and I’m curious to have your feedback!
No problem at all. I luckily had help getting started and know how overwhelming it is. We have a small Discord group dedicated to the rigs as well that you're welcome to join. Can get thoughts and ideas from users as well. discord.gg/5dJKzG Since you ordered the SRS kit, you'll definitely want to start with their default setup. Get it up and running and see what you think. You might find it perfect. I just prefer SimHub because I can adjust the frequency for each effect. Was really nice to dial in the ABS effect on the brake pedal and differentiate between some of the corner effects. But there's a lot of happy SRS users, so def try that before looking into other options.
Can you please add info or links where you bought the 80/20 material and hardware? it will be appreciated! I looking forward to reinforcing my P3. Thanks for the Video!!!
I bought the profiles on eBay from the 8020.net garage sale section. But it seems like they have since closed their eBay store. I was told they would be selling overstock items directly from their website instead, but I've yet to find a link to them. The hardware I bought from tnutz.com. They have the best pricing by far, but even then it's painful to see how expensive brackets are for this stuff. Oh, and I needed 4 sets 45 degree brackets to create the inverted pedal setup. Found those on eBay as well. Can find a link to them if you want, but I imagine most people are going to skip the inverted portion of the build. Just let me know.
@@topshelf147 Thank You so much for the detail info, if this help to anyone, I bought everything 4080, 4040, all brackets and hardware in AliExpress, took me over a month to received the stuff but everything showed up in perfect condition and with exact dimensions I ask. The more important part was the price, everything is top quality, I have to be honest I got surprised, the more expensive part was the shipping, but hey, all the materials and hardware for $150 is impossible to find it here in the States, I did my research for weeks and similar amount of material here was around $700 the cheapest I found. I will upload a video, I think I went little far regarding reinforcement but the rig feel solid now. Again, I really appreciate your video!, inspired me to modify my! Thank You!
That's awesome man! So glad you got it all hooked up. Sounds like you're smarter than I am at shopping. Really need to check that place out. Once you get a video posted, let me know, would love to check it out! :)
They're just Dayton Audio TT25-8ohm transducers. Like $10 each. You'll just need an amp per pair and an open sound card output channel. The throttle is a nice addition, but the brake is where the magic is. Totally worth the small investment!
@@topshelf147 Really nice mods! Would you mine sharing how you connected the bass shaker to your brake pedal and how it vibrates when you press the brakes? I ordered my H2 for now and wanting to add the bass shaker to the pedals. Thanks.
Thanks man. Yeah, so I just found a mostly flat surface behind my pedal, towards the face, and zip tied a Dayton TT-25 (I think) to that brake and throttle. From there, the leads go to a mini amp which is connected to one of the outputs on my soundcard. Then using SimHub, you can choose what effects you want sent to each puck along with strength and frequency. It sound way more complicated than it is. You can add as many as you want as long as you have outputs for each pair. I installed a second soundcard and have 4 amps and 8 shakers, which is probably overkill, but hey, it's fun. :)
@@topshelf147 I understand the connection now. So you use SimHub instead of Sim Racing Studio software to drive your base shaker and your DOFreality motion sim? Is SimHub better?
Correct. I use SRS for motion only, and if I add wind down the line. For me though, SimHub is infinitely better for shakers as it's extremely customizable. For example, you can change the frequency response 1hz at a time per shaker, per effect. So instead of just buzzing, you can tell the difference between two effects. Also, on the brake pedal it was really useful in dialing in what actual the kickback felt like. I believe it's free to use or try, but def worth a donation if you keep it. Just disable that section in the SRS app.
Very nice mod. I‘m getting my P3 soonish, will look into similar wheelstand reinforcement. The 17mm O rings you mentioned, what thickness are they? 2mm? Also, I see that you bolted the wheelstand assembly into the lateral crossbar as suggested in the manual for added stability. Did you have to drill holes for those or were they predrilled? Last but not least, what seat are you using, looks really nice!
You'll love the P3. Really increases the driving experience! O-rings are 2.5mm thick. Anything close to that should work fine. Yes, the frame comes predrilled with 3 holes on each side as the arms are adjustable. You might want to grab a bag a large fender washers and add them on both sides of all tubing. It helps stop the thin metal from crushing under the torque of the nut/bolt. That's a Sparco Evo. It's pretty comfy, though I did add a little extra foam for those longer stints. Anything should work, but a decent seat is worth the investment imo. Good luck with the new rig, let me know how you like it once setup.
I actually have 15 series profile, but it's the same as 4040. You don't want to go any smaller than that. I just bought some bulk on eBay and cut as needed. If I was ordering today, I'd just go to tnutz.
It's only like an additional 20lbs. There's a 300lb limit on the H3, so well within limits. Plus you need to balance weight front to back during setup, so you just compensate with seat position, u-joint mounting location, wheelbase mounting etc... You want it about 60/40, maybe 55/45 front heavy as you need the motors loaded.
Thank you for your great video and work! May I ask what you have done to counter balance your rig? I have a similar construction made with a heavy Fanatec Dd1including heavy mounting brackets in front of the rig and aluminum bars. But now all the load is on the front motors and they are getting hot now. Thank you again!
Ah, yeah, those Fanatec dd's are really heavy I hear. Must feel great though! :). As far as balancing, I installed those profiles to mount my DD so that I could move the base closer to the seat, which allowed me to move the seat rearward. Didn't take as much distance as I expected to get it back in balance. And chance you can do something similar? If not, I would run a piece of profile under the rear seat mounts, then add some weight to that. You want to keep it a little forward biased, but might only need 5-10 pounds behind the seat.
Topshelf 147 Thank you very much for your repliy 😀 I think I am moving the mainbar under the seat 4 cm back (last available holes) and increase the height of the front feet for 2 cm and then I will look how it is going. If needed I can put some weight like you said in order to counter balance. Many greetings from Germany 😀👋
@@brosario5235 Hey Bryan, sorry for the late reply, I don't check here often. I would order anything through tnutz.com as they seem to have the best prices I've found.
No, none at all. As far as I can tell, everything happens exactly when you would expect it to happen. Sometimes I think it appears that way in videos, but I recently realized that there's a 100ms delay from my webcam which would make it look like it was lagging behind. But in use, it's spot on! :)
This set up is a true work of art, can’t imagine how good it must feel to race in
You did what they was supposed to do. Great job.
Love how you have reinforced the frame. My only concern would be added weight and thus stress on the H series motors. This is why I’m considering the more expensive P series motors which can handle more stress and have a greater cycle life. My concern is the motors wear prematurely with the added weight and thus stress on them and incurring a greater cost after replacing them as opposed to going with a higher cost upfront but getting much better motor life and reliability with the P series. Just my two cents. Great work sir, and in my opinion very necessary for the level of immersion we seek with this type of setup, ie motion and VR.
Where's the guarantee that the P series motors will eradicate the weight limitation issue? I was having trouble with finding a comparison review that looks into both types of motors...
I would never talk anyone out of buying the more durable version of something. But if you ask me if after a year of usage and following the DOF groups if I think it's worth it, I would say no. Lots of people have modded their units, both H and P, and while issues arise, there's never been any concern of weak or failing H motors. In fact, the general consensus when a potential buyer asks the question, because we all did, they always say to save the money and go with the H. I run mine about 4+ hours a night, 6 nights a week, and I've never once thought about longevity. Even with the additional weight of profiles, I'm easily under the weight limit, and you really can't overload the front because you need to properly balance the rig for it to work smoothly. So any added weight will be evenly distributed front to back. That said, it's just my opinion, and if investing in the P makes you feel more secure in your investment, by all means do it. Either way you'll have a blast in it, and that's all that matters. :)
Well done and thank you! I'm going to add one of those bst1's asap. Direct drive is in my future too. I appreciate the ideas you are putting out there for the upgrading the h-3
Nice to see that you can customize the H3 setup! Well done, looks great!
Really nice, awesome with the inverted pedals!👍👌
Thank you! Inverted just feels so much better. Worth the extra effort. :)
@@topshelf147 Please, how much is the full control price?
When people come over he the only one who gets to race in it. "Watch me."
How wide is the front base? The pictures on their website the rear looks wider. The max space I have for the front base is 28”, or 711 mm. Rear isn’t a problem for me.
you are not using enough budkicker my friend ;-)
really good video and stunning result.
Lol. I could probably squeeze 2 more in if I really tried. :P
Thanks!
What did u use for your seatbelt holders on your rig ? Biunjy straps
I originally used bungee cords but didn't love the feel of it. Now I just use paracord, much stronger and better feel imo.
@@topshelf147 what is that ? Were u get it🤷🏾♂️
Sorry, it's just rope. Search Amazon for black paracord. Can get 100 feet for like $7. Thin and strong.
Love your mods. I’m wondering with the added weight did you rebalance your seating position for the H3?
Thanks. I did shift some things around a little, but it turned out that I actually had too much rear weight bias before the mod. Didn't know that was what was causing a forward stutter I was dealing with. So this actually fixed my weight balance, but it was purely luck.
Topshelf147, your engineering design and efforts resulted in a solid and quality built full motion simulator platform. Great explanation and an easy to follow video.
With the 80/20 components designed using triangulation principles, is there a possibility your enhanced DOF Reality H3 could support the three monitors without exceeding the recommended weight limit?
Congratulations on a project well done. I can see you enjoying many hours on the simulator, which you fully deserve. Thank you for sharing your work and your time. All the best to you. Aloha!
K Inouye Honolulu, Hawaii
Thank you! And yes, depending on driver weight and profile design, it's totally doable. Without verifying, I believe max weight as listed as 300lbs. I'm a lightweight at only 165lbs, so have plenty of headroom left. Also if you don't plan on installing inverted pedals, you don't even need the rear triangles, just the uprights. So I'm sure a modified plan would easily fall into the weight limits. I've seen a few guys do it using other methods, and it it's very cool! :)
Did you get your extrusions custom cut? and where can I order or buy them?
I just got my P3 and love it but I've used the provided dampeners (the same black ones, it looks like) - love the o-ring idea, rather! That being said, are they 17mm OD or ID? It also looks like you've switched out the Allen bolts for ones with a broader head to hold the o-ring snug to the shock, or is it just me? Assuming you did switch them out, what size bolt did you use?
17mm OD , 12mm ID. These are the ones I used.
uxcell Fluorine Rubber O-Rings 17mm OD 12mm ID 2.5mm Width, Metric FKM Sealing Gasket, Pack of 20 smile.amazon.com/dp/B082S39BQF/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_P4K3SHE463DN1RFBNEGP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
And same bolts, I just added some washers I had picked up from Home Depot.
What software are you using for the VR motion cancellation? I have a Valve Index and am interested in doing so.
Chris, check out OpenVR Motion Compensation. Takes a little tweaking, but works really well once setup.
ovrmc.dschadu.de/
The 17 mm o-ring you mentioned, is it 17mm inside diameter? What material is it? I saw some at Home Depot.
No, it's 12mm ID
uxcell Fluorine Rubber O-Rings 17mm OD 12mm ID 2.5mm Width, Metric FKM Sealing Gasket, Pack of 20 a.co/d/0AHga6T
Love it
This looks great! My H3 arrives in about a week from now, the wheel base is my only concern? I'm thinking I might have to build 2 struts from beneath the footplate going forward, up and bolted to the underside of the wheelbase? Hope that'll do it.
I can't picture exactly what you have planned, but anything that creates a triangle should help. Just be aware that the pedal plate is thin metal, so doesn't offer a great deal of structural stability to build off of. The main frame beam under the pedal plate only extends about 8 inches or so. Could grab a measurement if needed. But I'm sure it will be easier to figure out once it arrives. And congrats, you'll love it! :)
also - why did you use a bracket ( door handle on the lower bar and not fix it directly to the main pedal strut?
There were no access holes on the pedal plate were the profile crosses it and I didn't want to drill holes. Could and would probably be easier tbh.
Really nice mod. Can you please share how you balanced your rig? Thanks
Hey man can you tell me about the "o-ring" mod? I see it mentioned but cant find any info, Thanks
Hey J D. Sure thing. We just added a 17mm o-ring to each side of the tie rod balls. Whatever the correct term is. Just make sure they're locked in with large enough washers to prevent pinching. It sounds silly, but it helps tighten up the movement without adding stress to the motors or slowing them down like the dampers do. Here's what I used.
smile.amazon.com/dp/B082S39BQF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_09oEFb07MG803
How much extra weight is your custom wheel bass?? Do you not think all the extra weight will damage the motors?? Love the design and effort you have put in top job had my dof h3 for almost 2 years love the motion. Need to get some O rings lol
Thank you! There's another option I'm seeing now where you can make a small modification and bolt the profile directly to the Y braces which is probably the cleaner route, but I'm very happy with the outcome here. I believe there's about 20-25 pounds of profile there, but I rebalanced the rig and moved some weight rearward to offset it. Honestly, after balancing and running smc3 tests, it's the best it's been. Motors are cool to the touch after 4 hour sessions, so I have no concerns about extra stress to them.
2 years is a long time. Done any cool mods?
@@topshelf147 nah not made any mods had a hard enough time putting the rig together 😂😂 the only thing I have added is a rally harness with bunge cord attached to the rig base crossed over at the back. then the buckle attached solid at seat then the side straps attached to base just gives that bit off authentic seat belt tightening. Apart from that rig is standard. Defo yours looks the business👍👍 if I upgrade to direct drive wheel then some sort of upgrade will be required the rig can just about handle a csl elite at the moment lol only grumble. Well that and the motors can be noisy thank god for noise cancelling headphones lol.
Oh yeah, forgot all about the initial assembly. That was certainly a fun time. lol. Good call on the harness. It's really required and makes the experience so much better. If you do decide to upgrade to DD, the profile makes a massive improvement. Might even be worth it now. ;)
How did you mount the DSD boxes? I'm looking to buy an H3 but can't work out how I'm going to mount my boxes. I have the Fanatec v2.5 wheelbase.
My DSD boxes are actually CSW version, so they are designed to bolt directly to that wheelbase. After switching to the SW12C though, I just drilled some holes and have it mounted to the direct drive mounting frame. You'll definitely want them secure.
Thank you for the very informative video. I have two questions for reference. Is your aluminum profile 20mm or 30mm? I also want to know the size of the rubber ring added to the motor.
Sure thing. The aluminum profile is 15 series, which is actually equivalent to 40mm. Not sure I'd want to go much smaller than that. Maybe 30mm would be ok though.
Here's the size info on the o-rings I used. 17mm OD - 12mm ID - 2.5mm thickness. The only other thing I noticed is that you'll want slightly larger washers to capture the o-rings if you try them. The ones for the tie-rods is just a tiny bit too small, and immediately pinched a section of one o-ring off. I switched to some ⅝" washers that I had and they were perfect.
@@topshelf147 Thank you very much for answering. The tips on rubber rings are also very helpful.
I haven't bought Dofreality's product yet, but I'm planning to buy it soon and build a rig with aluminum profiles. I'm going to use an aluminum profile of 20mm. I'm worried about stiffness and shaking, but I'm going to try it out. Unless it's broken, I'll upload a video too. Maybe a month later. :)
Sorry, didn't see this till now. Let me know how your mod goes. A buddy built a full 40 series rig on top of his and loves it, so it can be done! :)
You said you used 40mm equivalent aluminum profiles for reinforcement, with your experience, do you think 30mm would suffice and lower overall weight surplus?
I think you'll be ok with 30mm. Depending on how you design and secure your additional support of course. If you don't mind a bar between your legs, I saw one guy just add a thick wheelbase plate and use a length of threaded rod from it to the main beam in front of the seat. Didn't cost/weigh much at all and was extremely stable. So design is really key.
Hi. Great mod! I’m curious as to how you did the side mount for keyboard and mouse. Looks fantastic! Thanks
Thanks. I actually built a wooden wall mounted shelf that stores the pc components and the monitor arms. So i just added an extension off of that for the keyboard/mouse. Tried a few rig mounted ideas but always sent things flying. lol
nice JOB!!! subscribed!
So - I'm having an issue with my P3 in that the "slop" (movement that you can make happen by shifting your weight around when the rig is off or on but not moving) seems to be prevalent even with the rig on. In particular when swerving around cars on a straight, it seems the rig just "wanders" around. Do you have this issue? If so, were you able to get around it? Maybe the o-rings?
Hey, so my guess is that you don't have enough weight on the front of the rig. If while sitting in the seat you can make it lift the front just by moving, you need more forward weight bias. Also make sure you're transmission arms are set correctly, about 20 degrees above level. I would think that should resolve the issue, but if you're still struggling, it might be worth looking into the dampers.
@@topshelf147 Thanks for the help! I'll try adding weight to the front. You are the second person to mention that. He said you might have the rig "too" balanced. He had his slightly front heavy as well and he said it keeps the thing from rocking back and forth. I had a broken motor for a bit and had the system leaning slightly forward during that time and couldn't move it one bit so I think you might be onto something with the front heavy feeling. Thanks again.
Well, H3 is up and running! It's great! Now to workout motion compensation?!? On a seperate note, could you please tell me if you use the Sim Racing Studio software as default? I hear simtools also works for this platform.
Awesome!! Glad to hear you got it all sorted out. I do use the SRS software. I've heard about simtools, but SRS is extremely active in the community and constantly updating the software, so I'm very pleased with it.
For motion compensation, I use this.
www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/openvr-motioncompensation.14576/
Works great, though I'm still sorting out an issue with lost tracking. Just ordered a second base station, think that should solve everything.
@@topshelf147 thanks for the link! That's my weekend sorted. Cheers man.
@@topshelf147 Thanks for all of these tips!! would be perfect if you could make a video about motion compensation when everything will be solved
And by the way, You are the first one that I've seen to attach the seat belt to the base on a DOF Reality rig. Really good idea!! Does that work well ?
@@manueleggen8265 No problem, just sharing what I've picked up from others mostly. ;)
My second base station just arrived, so will be doing some testing over the next week I'll share my findings once I have a clear answer.
And yes, the seatbelt attached to the unit base works really well. Having the solid mount point adds tension to the belts under braking which adds another level of immersion. I'd definitely give it a go. Only improvement I'm looking into trying out is to mount something to the back of seat so that the belts go backwards instead of straight down. I think that should closer replicate the feeling of them secured behind you in a car. Can't just leave well enough alone I guess. Lol
hi - thats really clever bracing. I had designed a solution but yours is better bar far! Any suggestions to an alternative for the diagonal fixing point. My seat doesn't have a carcass I can reliably fix to. Also I dont suppose you have a components list of the measurements?
Thanks Marc. If I was going to do it again, I'd change it up a little bit actually. After I did this, some guys came up with a solution to completely replace the uprights with 8040, bolted directly to the upright brackets. Once that's done you can tie off of that profile and run horizontal bars on each side backwards. That can create mounting points for additional bracing, shifters or anything else you want. Hope that makes sense. There's a FB group called DofRealityBuilders. Super active and tons of great info. One guy actually has a link to the profile for the uprights with pre-drilled holes and everything. That's where I would start, then build off of that. Profile completely changes the usefulness of the rig though.
@@topshelf147 Hi Thanks for getting back. That idea of completely replacing the existing uprights with 8040 was the design I came up with. I was just a little concerned that it depended on a weak spot of fixing to the brackets. Also there is the added complication of the brackets being quite offset. Thats why I like your design. Solved with some long bolts. I tried to access the DofRealityBuilders group - but I have a pathological hatred of
No problem at all, happy to help. First off, I completely understand that hatred. lol. I only use it for a few groups myself. Second, I won't lie, I've thought the exact same thing. That upright bracket seems like the weak point to me as well, so totally get the concern. Since this video I've made a few changes with the SC2 Pro upgrade. I ended up with the same concept since I'm locked in now, but I replaced the dof uprights with 1 inch square tubing that's stronger and shorter. It now stops where it oem bars angle in. Just drilled a few holes to run the bolts. And in place of the dof bracket, I now have (3) 15 series profiles bolted together and to the profile. It's now strong af. The SC2 is very happy with the upgrade. I have an SG Racing shifter on the way, I can throw up an update video after it arrives if it's helpful.
@@topshelf147 yeah - I would like to see that. I cant quite picture it. I created a Facebook account just to join the group. Havent found the build you mentioned yet. A few people have just bolted supplementary bars on the uprights - but to me they haven't addressed a flex point where it hit the chassis
I’ve noticed the srs shakers on your seat... You obviously took it apart yourself and set it up this way intentionally... Can you tell us more about it? Why did you set it up that way and how does it changes from the original factory setup?
Finally, i didn’t quite catch what the 2 items in the back bottom of your seat were. Shakers? Buttkickers? Does the fact of having 2 really gives you a kind of « stéréo » effect ?
So those are just Dayton Audio TT25-8ohm transducers. Exact same thing SRS uses in their ShakeIt products. Since I already had a second sound card installed, it was much much cheaper to just buy 6 pucks and 3 amps (2 pucks per amp), and wire it all up myself. I had them inserted into the Sparco seat pads for a while, but they work just as well on the side and are much more comfortable. I tried using the SRS Shake software since we have access to it, but prefer SimHub as it's much more customizable imo. Can really dial in what effects you want at each wheel. The two larger ones on the back are Dayton BST-1's. They're much larger/stronger bass shakers that give a different feel. I use one for engine vibration and the other for gear shifts. They vibrate the entire seat, so you could easily get away with just one, but I already had two so just put them to work. The small pucks can't replicate that kick and intensity. It all ties together nicely though and really adds to the immersion.
Oh, and the profile is 15 series. 40mm would be the equivalent. And it's the lightweight version which is a good thing because it adds up surprisingly quick.
Thanks a lot for the time you spend on answering our questions and videos you make. It is quite some help for new users!!! Nice setup with the shakers! I’ve ordered the srs shake kit and plan on adding a buttkicker. Apparently, your thoughts about the srs tuning software on shakers is not the best... could you (again) tell us more about the differences you experience between the 2 softwares? These kinds of “pluses” on the rig seem to bring much more realism to the whole experience, and I’m curious to have your feedback!
No problem at all. I luckily had help getting started and know how overwhelming it is. We have a small Discord group dedicated to the rigs as well that you're welcome to join. Can get thoughts and ideas from users as well.
discord.gg/5dJKzG
Since you ordered the SRS kit, you'll definitely want to start with their default setup. Get it up and running and see what you think. You might find it perfect. I just prefer SimHub because I can adjust the frequency for each effect. Was really nice to dial in the ABS effect on the brake pedal and differentiate between some of the corner effects. But there's a lot of happy SRS users, so def try that before looking into other options.
Can you please add info or links where you bought the 80/20 material and hardware? it will be appreciated! I looking forward to reinforcing my P3. Thanks for the Video!!!
I bought the profiles on eBay from the 8020.net garage sale section. But it seems like they have since closed their eBay store. I was told they would be selling overstock items directly from their website instead, but I've yet to find a link to them. The hardware I bought from tnutz.com. They have the best pricing by far, but even then it's painful to see how expensive brackets are for this stuff. Oh, and I needed 4 sets 45 degree brackets to create the inverted pedal setup. Found those on eBay as well. Can find a link to them if you want, but I imagine most people are going to skip the inverted portion of the build. Just let me know.
@@topshelf147 Thank You so much for the detail info, if this help to anyone, I bought everything 4080, 4040, all brackets and hardware in AliExpress, took me over a month to received the stuff but everything showed up in perfect condition and with exact dimensions I ask. The more important part was the price, everything is top quality, I have to be honest I got surprised, the more expensive part was the shipping, but hey, all the materials and hardware for $150 is impossible to find it here in the States, I did my research for weeks and similar amount of material here was around $700 the cheapest I found. I will upload a video, I think I went little far regarding reinforcement but the rig feel solid now. Again, I really appreciate your video!, inspired me to modify my! Thank You!
That's awesome man! So glad you got it all hooked up. Sounds like you're smarter than I am at shopping. Really need to check that place out. Once you get a video posted, let me know, would love to check it out! :)
Where do you get the pedals' bass shaker? Seems very interesting.
They're just Dayton Audio TT25-8ohm transducers. Like $10 each. You'll just need an amp per pair and an open sound card output channel. The throttle is a nice addition, but the brake is where the magic is. Totally worth the small investment!
@@topshelf147 Really nice mods! Would you mine sharing how you connected the bass shaker to your brake pedal and how it vibrates when you press the brakes? I ordered my H2 for now and wanting to add the bass shaker to the pedals. Thanks.
Thanks man. Yeah, so I just found a mostly flat surface behind my pedal, towards the face, and zip tied a Dayton TT-25 (I think) to that brake and throttle. From there, the leads go to a mini amp which is connected to one of the outputs on my soundcard. Then using SimHub, you can choose what effects you want sent to each puck along with strength and frequency. It sound way more complicated than it is. You can add as many as you want as long as you have outputs for each pair. I installed a second soundcard and have 4 amps and 8 shakers, which is probably overkill, but hey, it's fun. :)
@@topshelf147 I understand the connection now. So you use SimHub instead of Sim Racing Studio software to drive your base shaker and your DOFreality motion sim? Is SimHub better?
Correct. I use SRS for motion only, and if I add wind down the line. For me though, SimHub is infinitely better for shakers as it's extremely customizable. For example, you can change the frequency response 1hz at a time per shaker, per effect. So instead of just buzzing, you can tell the difference between two effects. Also, on the brake pedal it was really useful in dialing in what actual the kickback felt like. I believe it's free to use or try, but def worth a donation if you keep it. Just disable that section in the SRS app.
Nice rig but you would think that someone would have come up with a cheaper version by now after all we are going into 2021
Lol. I don't think anything gaming related is getting cheaper heading into 2021.
Very nice mod. I‘m getting my P3 soonish, will look into similar wheelstand reinforcement.
The 17mm O rings you mentioned, what thickness are they? 2mm?
Also, I see that you bolted the wheelstand assembly into the lateral crossbar as suggested in the manual for added stability. Did you have to drill holes for those or were they predrilled?
Last but not least, what seat are you using, looks really nice!
You'll love the P3. Really increases the driving experience!
O-rings are 2.5mm thick. Anything close to that should work fine.
Yes, the frame comes predrilled with 3 holes on each side as the arms are adjustable. You might want to grab a bag a large fender washers and add them on both sides of all tubing. It helps stop the thin metal from crushing under the torque of the nut/bolt.
That's a Sparco Evo. It's pretty comfy, though I did add a little extra foam for those longer stints. Anything should work, but a decent seat is worth the investment imo.
Good luck with the new rig, let me know how you like it once setup.
What is the MPN of your extrusion? 2020 or 4040
I actually have 15 series profile, but it's the same as 4040. You don't want to go any smaller than that. I just bought some bulk on eBay and cut as needed. If I was ordering today, I'd just go to tnutz.
thats plenty of more weight on the motors. How do you measure the extra load/stress on the motors assuming they are operating at safe loads?
It's only like an additional 20lbs. There's a 300lb limit on the H3, so well within limits. Plus you need to balance weight front to back during setup, so you just compensate with seat position, u-joint mounting location, wheelbase mounting etc... You want it about 60/40, maybe 55/45 front heavy as you need the motors loaded.
@@topshelf147 cvv
Thank you for your great video and work! May I ask what you have done to counter balance your rig? I have a similar construction made with a heavy Fanatec Dd1including heavy mounting brackets in front of the rig and aluminum bars. But now all the load is on the front motors and they are getting hot now. Thank you again!
Ah, yeah, those Fanatec dd's are really heavy I hear. Must feel great though! :). As far as balancing, I installed those profiles to mount my DD so that I could move the base closer to the seat, which allowed me to move the seat rearward. Didn't take as much distance as I expected to get it back in balance. And chance you can do something similar? If not, I would run a piece of profile under the rear seat mounts, then add some weight to that. You want to keep it a little forward biased, but might only need 5-10 pounds behind the seat.
Topshelf 147 Thank you very much for your repliy 😀 I think I am moving the mainbar under the seat 4 cm back (last available holes) and increase the height of the front feet for 2 cm and then I will look how it is going. If needed I can put some weight like you said in order to counter balance. Many greetings from Germany 😀👋
@@christianhofmann7182 hopefully that does the trick. Fingers crossed. Let me know how it turns out.
@@topshelf147 it worked, thank you for your thoughts. I will send you the link to my video
ua-cam.com/video/dkNcG5u4XgY/v-deo.html
Sir can you send some details?
which discord channel are you on??
We have a small group of guys here. You're more than welcome to join. :)
discord.gg/B8YMYg
oh and link to the 17mm o-rings? thanks!
Sorry, didn't see this.. here's the o-rings I used.
smile.amazon.com/dp/B082S39BQF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_HiocGbVCKS4QK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
@@topshelf147 Thank you sir! Can you shoot me a link to where you sourced the 8020 extrusions?
@@brosario5235 Hey Bryan, sorry for the late reply, I don't check here often. I would order anything through tnutz.com as they seem to have the best prices I've found.
Why does every sim racer with like a 5k setup have $14.99 monitor ? Like what in the living fuck ?
Probably because motion rigs are best experienced in VR, so decent monitors are pointless.
Do you experience any latency with the H3?
No, none at all. As far as I can tell, everything happens exactly when you would expect it to happen. Sometimes I think it appears that way in videos, but I recently realized that there's a 100ms delay from my webcam which would make it look like it was lagging behind. But in use, it's spot on! :)