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PlayStation.com Forums :
Racing :
Gran Turismo Series :
Re: MasterGT's Very Cheap Wheel Stand!
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MasterGT's Very Cheap Wheel Stand! [Updated: July 21, 2006]
[ Edited ]
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 PlayStation MVP
Posts: 28040
Registered: 12-03-2003
Message 1 of 59
Viewed 8,787 times
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First, don't expect much and remember, you get what you pay for things. This is only a
quick&dirty project. Any prices are Canadian, but, at these prices, it's cheap in any
currency.
With two new Logitech FFB wheels in the house, we needed two stands and in a hurry. The
stands had to take up little space and just had to be functional - that's all. Being
pretty did not enter the picture. Because I want to design much better wheel stands
later, these temporary ones had better not cost much either. There are some
substitutions that can be bought, for some of the wood.
The basis for the main part of the stand is scrap wood - discards. The main source was
an old kitchen counter-top, from a neighbourhood apartment repair. That means the
tabletop's and leg's surface is nicely finished. A prize find is always the new kitchen
sink's cutout, from the new counter-top. (These cutouts, of various sizes, are very
useful for other purposes, too, such as for making TV turntables and monitor stands.)
Part of the old counter-top is used here, too.
I needed two stands, therefore, the new cutout was ripped down the middle with a jigsaw.
It is approximately 29" wide and 8" deep, after being cut. There is little need for
anything deeper, except to gain stability. You can easily substitute a 30 x 8" shelf ($
5).
The "legs" for the stand were ripped from the discarded old counter-top. These will be
almost exactly the right length, depending on your own legs and the chair you use. The
one I found is just over 23" deep, including the front curved lip. You won't want one
much shorter than this, if you use a normal chair. When you cut it, do it front to back,
unless you can get more length from a sideways cut. I cut the section of counter-top
into 4 8" pieces, for the two stand's legs.
To join the legs to the tops, I used two 6 x 8" L-shaped shelf brackets ($1.09/ea), for
each stand. These cheap, wide brackets supply enough rigidity each to make it all work,
since each one requires 6 screws. I used what we call #10 3/4" Robertson-head screws,
since they had larger blades (it's stronger) to cut into the wood than #8 screws and the
Robertson screw won't allow the screwdriver tip to slip. That is important when pressing
hard to tighten screws in cramped areas. A package of 24 screws is only about $2 and is
exactly enough for two stands.
A notch had to be cut in the front edge of the counter-top, to allow the L-bracket to
fit up against the stand's top. The jigsaw was used to do this, after measuring the
centrepoint and accounting for the bracket width. The edge is just glued on to the
counter-top, so don't be too rough handling the "lip".
When attaching the L-brackets, you have to attach each of them to the legs first, inside
the notch, so do both legs. I felt with my fingertips to locate the bracket just inside
the notch enough, to make sure it would hold tight against the stand's top underside (no
wiggle when tightened). I attached the 8" bracket arm onto the stand's leg and left the
6" bracket arm for attaching to the top. Then, eye-ball where you want each leg to go,
on the bottom side of the stand's top shelf. You might want to off-set the legs towards
the player's side, to accommodate the wheel's weight, especially if you have Logitech's
Pro wheel - it's very heavy. The cutout will probably have rounded corners, so you will
probably want the whole width of the leg just inside the rounded edge.
Once the two legs are attached, the basic part of the stand is almost finished. I cut
two small sections of duct tape, to give the small edges of the clamps something to grip
with better. These were placed on the underside of the top. All you need to do now is
check for mistakes, clean the plastic surfaces, clean up sawdust and chips and attach
your wheel. Remember that the stand could be a bit tippy, because it is so narrow - yours
may be wider and that may help counter-balance the wheel's weight. You might also add 2
short extensions on the bottom edge of the legs, to stop the stand from tipping over.
What is left to do? I still need to figure out a cheap way of controlling the foot
pedals and protecting our hardwood floor from the chair feet. I find that bare feet work
best with pedals (people who have sweaty feet use socks) and you don't want the pedal
assembly to move in relation to the stand or where you sit. My shoe-size is large and I
need to figure out a heel support that will work with someone who has smaller feet (just
about everyone else alive...). This mainly affects the small pedal box of Logitech's non-Pro
wheel set. People with smaller feet should have no real problem with the Logitech pedalframe
design, though. I think I also want a leftfoot resting support, too. Wire control is the
only other concern, at the moment (they are everywhere!).
=====================================
[Observations after using this stand]
The stand is tippy, if you are careless around it. As mentioned above, you might want to
add an extension to stop it from falling over easily. Another way of making the stand less
tippy is to cut out a notch, for the stand to be moved closer to the front edge. That worked
well, too. Doing something about this problem will be mandatory with the heavier Logitech
Pro wheel.
I wish the top was about 1" higher and that the whole design was more V-shaped, but still
with a flat top. This would bring the wheel closer to me and also take care of the tipping
problem.
A quick solution for the second stand, for protecting the hardwood floor, was to buy a rug
with a good nap, so the pedals would not move. I still use a 1' section of train rail to
act as a stop. It works very well on another old rug that has no nap because I can tilt the
pedal box up a bit, while resting the box against the rail.
=====================================
Pictures show the main parts, tools (except for the jigsaw) and the finished stand. With
taxes, one stand cost less than $5 and that suited the project just fine.
Assembly shown is by MissGT. If she can do it, so can you!
Any feedback?
MasterGT
July 21, 2006 update
Here are some images of an updated version of my cheap stand. I just grabbed a simple camera, so the images aren't as clear.
This time, the basis for making the main part of the stand is a discarded dresser of some sort. The advantage of this one is that one end had a clamping system built into it, to add to its strength, plus it was cut 2" wider than the examples above. Yes, an L-bracket was still necessary, but it could now be moved to an outer edge, while the clamp could still hold the other end together.
The notch for the steering wheel body can be used to help stabilize the stand with the heavier Pro wheel, too. The cutout from the notch could be used to make a small stabilizing "foot", as I mentioned earlier, if cut in half.
Since I had the L-brakets, the only thing this one cost was a bit of time, and it performs better. 
 
  Message Edited by MasterGT on 07-21-2006 06:55 PM
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06-03-2004 02:07 AM
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Re: MasterGT's Very Cheap Wheel Stand!
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Firble
Posts: 53
Registered: 06-01-2004
Message 3 of 59
Viewed 8,719 times
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Looks pretty sturdy to me, man, I wish I could build things like that, but hey, I can repair a lawnmower, so I'm still crafty!
 There is only one Mach 10, and that's me Mach 10's Super Speedway 5OO Lapper, Can you do it? Wanna Try? PM me. Results: http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/t-43483.html
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06-03-2004 05:27 AM
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Re: MasterGT's Very Cheap Wheel Stand!
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PlayStation MVP
Posts: 28040
Registered: 12-03-2003
Message 5 of 59
Viewed 8,707 times
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GTÇhampion wrote:
Cool,how sterdy is it ?
It's only 8" wide, so it is tippy.
No food/drink will be allowed on it, that's for sure.
You can easily make your own double the width, but it is not necessary to do that, as you can see.
MissGT was pulling it into her, when she was playing, probably because she is sized differently than me. That is another reason I wanted to experiment with scrap materials now, to get ideas for a better quality design.
Cheers,
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06-03-2004 08:24 AM
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Re: MasterGT's Very Cheap Wheel Stand!
[ Edited ]
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Lagger
Posts: 594
Registered: 04-20-2003
Message 7 of 59
Viewed 8,713 times
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I just found an entire forum! lol Message Edited by ATV_ENDO on 06-03-2004 08:47 AM
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06-03-2004 08:39 AM
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Re: MasterGT's Very Cheap Wheel Stand!
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Jenova
Posts: 1703
Registered: 06-24-2003
Message 9 of 59
Viewed 8,701 times
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Glad to see that the stands turned out for ya MasteGT! I think I'm going to stick to the good old reliable TV tray!
_____________________________________________________
Anybody can fire a bullet. Few can actually steer it.
TOCA 2 Online: OneMoreNut_Ver2.0
GT4 XTag: OneMoreNut
Resident NFSU2 Hater!
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06-03-2004 09:45 AM
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)-made wheel stands?
