From time to time I've seen posts from people who had plans to build their
own force feedback steering controller using the guts of one of the
commercial wheels but I've never seen anything from anyone who had actually
done it. Well I haven't done that either but what I did do was to modify my
Act Labs Force RS by adding a real steering wheel and I love the results.
What I did wouldn't work for everyone but if you have some sort of a
simulator you have constructed I can recommend the technique.
What I did was to remove the steering wheel from the Force RS leaving only
the end of the shaft projecting from the steering unit. Then I got a real
3/4" steel steering shaft (mine came from a golf cart) and fabricated a
fitting which allowed me to connect the steering shaft to the Force RS - in
effect I extended the Force RS steering shaft by about 2 feet. The
dashboard-looking part of the Force RS is now mounted slightly in front of
and above my pedals leaving plenty of foot clearance. The steering shaft is
suspended from my simulator with a pair of pillowblock bearings and I have
mounted a real, aftermarket 11.5" steering wheel.
The action of the wheel is now absolutely rock-solid (no plastic feel) and
the movement is silky smooth. The assembly has a little mass to it too so
the user is completely isolated from the slight notchiness and friction that
used to be evident in the Force RS. The feeling of the steering is very
much like the feel of the steering wheel in my car. The transmission of the
force feedback effects has not been degraded at all. I am extermely
satisfied with the result and would highly recommend the modification to
anyone who might be interested.
In article <4zrD5.67880$[email hidden]>, Stephen
Warrior <[email hidden]> writes
When my RS wheel started to fall apart, after only a couple of months
:(, I decided then that I would prefer a different style of wheel, I
always found that the spokes were too high for my taste anyway, and
decided to attach my ageing Digital Edge wheel which I always enjoyed.
Simply fixing a solid metal wheel to the main shaft of the RS improved
things immensely. The whole thing now feels more realistic and you can
feel a heck of a LOT more of the subtle FF effects, which were being
lost due to the plastic movement within the wheel itself.
Still have the shifters working and since the Digital Edge wheel didn't
have any buttons I had to make some up from some old remote controls
,worked a treat.
I never could feel a lot of the subtle FF with the RS that was always in
my MSFF wheel but now I can and with far far stronger force feedback as
well.
I also have my Digital Edge Pedals wired up to the ForceRS too, The RS
ones are fine for a lot of games, but I just couldn't use them for GPL.
Add in the Shifter and I am a very happy person indeed with my setup :)
Vince
Quoted text (28 lines)
>From time to time I've seen posts from people who had plans to build their >own force feedback steering controller using the guts of one of the >commercial wheels but I've never seen anything from anyone who had actually >done it. Well I haven't done that either but what I did do was to modify my >Act Labs Force RS by adding a real steering wheel and I love the results. >What I did wouldn't work for everyone but if you have some sort of a >simulator you have constructed I can recommend the technique. > >What I did was to remove the steering wheel from the Force RS leaving only >the end of the shaft projecting from the steering unit. Then I got a real >3/4" steel steering shaft (mine came from a golf cart) and fabricated a >fitting which allowed me to connect the steering shaft to the Force RS - in >effect I extended the Force RS steering shaft by about 2 feet. The >dashboard-looking part of the Force RS is now mounted slightly in front of >and above my pedals leaving plenty of foot clearance. The steering shaft is >suspended from my simulator with a pair of pillowblock bearings and I have >mounted a real, aftermarket 11.5" steering wheel. > >The action of the wheel is now absolutely rock-solid (no plastic feel) and >the movement is silky smooth. The assembly has a little mass to it too so >the user is completely isolated from the slight notchiness and friction that >used to be evident in the Force RS. The feeling of the steering is very >much like the feel of the steering wheel in my car. The transmission of the >force feedback effects has not been degraded at all. I am extermely >satisfied with the result and would highly recommend the modification to >anyone who might be interested. > >Hello,
Do you have any pictures of your assembly? I would love to take a
look at them. Please e-mail them to me at [email hidden]
Thanks
Raymond
ACT LABS
www.act-labs.com
On Fri, 06 Oct 2000 21:33:52 GMT, "Stephen Warrior"
<[email hidden]> wrote:
Quoted text (28 lines)
>From time to time I've seen posts from people who had plans to build their >own force feedback steering controller using the guts of one of the >commercial wheels but I've never seen anything from anyone who had actually >done it. Well I haven't done that either but what I did do was to modify my >Act Labs Force RS by adding a real steering wheel and I love the results. >What I did wouldn't work for everyone but if you have some sort of a >simulator you have constructed I can recommend the technique. > >What I did was to remove the steering wheel from the Force RS leaving only >the end of the shaft projecting from the steering unit. Then I got a real >3/4" steel steering shaft (mine came from a golf cart) and fabricated a >fitting which allowed me to connect the steering shaft to the Force RS - in >effect I extended the Force RS steering shaft by about 2 feet. The >dashboard-looking part of the Force RS is now mounted slightly in front of >and above my pedals leaving plenty of foot clearance. The steering shaft is >suspended from my simulator with a pair of pillowblock bearings and I have >mounted a real, aftermarket 11.5" steering wheel. > >The action of the wheel is now absolutely rock-solid (no plastic feel) and >the movement is silky smooth. The assembly has a little mass to it too so >the user is completely isolated from the slight notchiness and friction that >used to be evident in the Force RS. The feeling of the steering is very >much like the feel of the steering wheel in my car. The transmission of the >force feedback effects has not been degraded at all. I am extermely >satisfied with the result and would highly recommend the modification to >anyone who might be interested. > >I bought a wheel from SRC that I intended to turn into a FF wheel. My LWFF
has been in sitting in pieces for months, but I've never found the time to
install them into the SRC. I just don't miss FF that much and the SRC is so
smooth that I hate to ruin it.
-Andrew
"Stephen Warrior" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:4zrD5.67880$[email hidden]...
> From time to time I've seen posts from people who had plans to build their
> own force feedback steering controller using the guts of one of the
> commercial wheels but I've never seen anything from anyone who hadactually
> done it. Well I haven't done that either but what I did do was to modifymy
in
> effect I extended the Force RS steering shaft by about 2 feet. The
> dashboard-looking part of the Force RS is now mounted slightly in front of
> and above my pedals leaving plenty of foot clearance. The steering shaftis
> suspended from my simulator with a pair of pillowblock bearings and I have
> mounted a real, aftermarket 11.5" steering wheel.
>
> The action of the wheel is now absolutely rock-solid (no plastic feel) and
> the movement is silky smooth. The assembly has a little mass to it too so
> the user is completely isolated from the slight notchiness and frictionthat
> used to be evident in the Force RS. The feeling of the steering is very
> much like the feel of the steering wheel in my car. The transmission ofthe
> force feedback effects has not been degraded at all. I am extermely
> satisfied with the result and would highly recommend the modification to
> anyone who might be interested.
>
>
