Racing Rig & Workstation In One

[William Wallace]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forums and having a bit of trouble finding what I'm looking for in the search...

Currently I have a CSL Elite + Clubsport V3 pedals + Fanatec SQ shifter attached to my desk. I work in IT and am spending a lot of time working from home at the moment, on a company provided laptop (I connect to one of my two monitors on my desk for additional screen real estate).

I race with the wheel desk mounted and pedals underneath - but it's getting old constantly moving it out the way and I also find I get sore knees / back when racing cause of the terrible layout.

I'm looking at getting away from the desk, and trying to toss up options. I initially looked at a wheel stand as it was something I could bring out and then put away when I'm done... but thinking perhaps that a 'dual use' rig, like the Obutto Revolution might be a better path to go down.

I share my office space with my wife, so unfortunately can't just go nuts and take up all the space - but I have a reasonable amount of room I can utilise for something, though it will need to be dual purpose race rig and workstation (I almost purchased a Revolution locally for $850 AUD... but thought I might look at some other options first).

After much searching around, I've considered perhaps a 'custom' 8020 rig is the way to go and start playing around in MAY-CAD to design something... but I have no idea wtf I'm doing.

Does anyone have any designs or info they can share to help me on my way? My rig would need to have an articulated keyboard & mouse tray so I can still use it to work and play FPS games etc on. I also can only enter from one side of the rig (left side, which is also the side for my shifter).

I should also mention - I currently have 2 x 27" monitors. One for my main display and another, for stuff... MY rig will likely stay this way till I purchase an ultrawide down the track and have a second monitor mounted above for the other stuff.

TIA

 

[stigs2cousin]

You could make it work when your wheelbase has a detachable steering wheel.
( I´m typing this sitting in my rig with the keyboard on my knees, steering wheel on the floor next to me.)


But it´s in no way a solution for a 8hour workday.
Tripple monitors mean I have to turn your head to see the other two, to see the keyboard i have to look down and strain my neck.
( Not a keyboard worker/ artist)

The seat is comfy, but restrictive as it is a car seat you are not supposed to move in.
The feet are restricted to minimal movement as the pedals get in the way.

I think this all could be minimized with a seat slider, but it will not become a full blown computer WORK station.

It´s okay for the hour or two i need a PC work place, no way would I try to earn my keep with it.

Of course your mileage may vary.

MFG Carsten

 

[blekenbleu]

Since I sim in VR, swiveling the desk chair right (or left) from workstation to wheel stand works for me,
strapping office chair to wheel stand quite positively locates it by triangulation.
Having the brake pedal exactly centered below the wheel avoids torque on chair swivel.
I remove the wheel rim when not in use. Hooking the chair strap and attaching the rim
takes less time than launching SimHub+Content Manager+Assetto Corsa+WMR+SteamVR
In my experience, obtaining proper fit in a racing seat takes lots of time e.g. at car shows
and still custom fettling.

 

[AccAkut]

or do like I did:

don't copy my design exactly tho, as it has the huge drawback of the whole arm sacking a lot, I prop it up on a bunch of books when swiveled to the desk
80x40 profiles with a sort of hinge that is fastened to the side of the profile, and not head on (and thus can rotate a little), would be better.

 

[R Soul]

I've been trying a few ideas, mostly dealing with something that can be put away. The designs are still 100% virtual as I keep finding problems, but you might get some ideas you can work with:

Foldable aluminium rig suggestions?

Hi all. I currently use a desk with a G27 clamped on to it. It's important to me that it's not fixed so I can use the PC for other things. For those that don't know, "other things" is a general term for tasks that do not involve sim racing ;) I sometimes toy with the idea of getting a new...

www.racedepartment.com

I think a general principle of your design would be a small rig where your usual chair temporarily clamps/locks on to it for driving, and some sort of folding or sliding desk. You should consider whether or not you tend to end up with lots of papers, books etc over your current desk.

This isn't a full desk but the idea might help:

 

[blgk]

or do like I did:

don't copy my design exactly tho, as it has the huge drawback of the whole arm sacking a lot, I prop it up on a bunch of books when swiveled to the desk
80x40 profiles with a sort of hinge that is fastened to the side of the profile, and not head on (and thus can rotate a little), would be better.

What seat is this? Thanks

 

[AccAkut]

What seat is this? Thanks

not a good one, I'm looking for better one (but a link is in my dedicated thread) https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/slow-rig-build.172986/

 

[G-Slev]

I have a similar situation, with triple monitors on my work desk which I then drag in a Next Level Racing simrig when I am racing. It is a pain in the arse, so I am moving to a dedicated 8020 rig next to the desk. My triples are set up as a single display in Nvidia surround, and I am going to add a forth 27 inch monitor to use on the desk and then use ctrl+P to switch between them (eventually, I might build a second PC for lightroom/photography work and have a standalone simracing PC).

However, what about this as an option?

 

[AmazingReflex]

I've opted for a wheel base that slides under the desk. This means I have my wheel and pedals always attached to the wheel stand.

I can move it to the left when I'm done and then I am able to move my chair forward to sit at my desk as normal.

I've been toying with the idea of getting some kind of monitor arm that would effectively give me a floating monitor that I can move to the left when I want to game. It would also allow me to bring it closer to the wheel if necessary for perfect positioning. I just haven't spent the time finding the right mount. My monitor is a quite hefty Samsung G7 32" so I think I would need something decent with a good amount of movement. Anyone have a good recommendation?

I know it's not perfect but neither is my driving! My logic was to spend £130 on the wheel base and see how I go. If I start edging towards world domination then start thinking about dedicated rigs after that.

 

[William Wallace]

I have a similar situation, with triple monitors on my work desk which I then drag in a Next Level Racing simrig when I am racing. It is a pain in the arse, so I am moving to a dedicated 8020 rig next to the desk. My triples are set up as a single display in Nvidia surround, and I am going to add a forth 27 inch monitor to use on the desk and then use ctrl+P to switch between them (eventually, I might build a second PC for lightroom/photography work and have a standalone simracing PC).

However, what about this as an option?

Thanks for the input.

I'm really super limited on having a setup like that because of the room layout and where my wife sits (the door is back right corner, I'm right hand side wall and she's left hand side wall).

The room is also not big enough for me to have the rig and a desk, well... it would be if my wife wasn't in here too haha.

The more I look at it, the more I think the Obutto Revolution is the way to go for me. I don't have a lot of stuff on my desk so the two acrylic trays will be more than enough space.

I can pick up a second hand one nearby for $800 AUD ($1300 + shipping new) which is going to be much cheaper than any 8020 rig I try and build I think, and will do what I want it to.

 

[protocolgeorge]

My previous setup was dual purpose too. I have a corner desk and mounted all three 32" monitors on wall mounted adjustable Vesa arms. This allowed me to push them back into the walls for "Work" mode and and pull them out for "Sim" mode. I then mount casters on my old rig and rolled it into position and rolled it away when working at my desk..

 

[TedBrosby-]

If you get a Windows Mixed Reality headset, you can use the VR full time even from the cockpit. That combined with a folding rig like a Next Level F-GT Lite or something, you can keep workspace and play separate. Added bonus, the Reverb G1 has great resolution and is quite cheap secondhand.