SimXperience G-Belt review

[RCHeliguy]

Beyond that, I look forward to your controller box fan noise mitigation techniques.

Turn my cooling fan dial all the way up! LOL! I guess I'll see how bad it is and go from there.

 

[vannib]

If you are drilling the seat for submarine straps, I suggest trying the harness first without it.
With lap belts properly tensioned, shoulder strap tensioners should not provoke buckle
and lap belts riding up before shoulder strap tension approaches discomfort.

If those are 2 holes are for mounting the G-Belt to a fiberglass seat at shoulder port,
be aware that mounting scheme was optimized for their G-Seat,
which is a customized aluminum Kirkey.
While I would not mount a G-Belt there on a fiberglass seat, for anyone doing so
I would highly recommend fender washers with rubbers to spread forces,
minimizing risk of fatigue cracking.

Thanks for suggestions. Can you point me to a link showing what you mean for “fender washers”?

 

[blekenbleu]

“fender washers”?

G-Belt mounting holes vertically spaced 100.6mm are M6, which is slightly less than 1/4 inch.
Here are rubber washers with 1/4" center holes with 2" outer diameters:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L1IUN1G
Here are 1/4 x 2" corresponding steel fender washers
for clamping those rubber washers to the fiberglass seat:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KM4LIPU.

If your seat back is curved in this area, perhaps pairs of rubber washer will be wanted
either side of the fiberglass to accommodate lack of parallelism.

If M6 screws are flat head, they have outer diameters between 11.7 and 13.44 mm

To approximate countersinking, instead use 3/8 x 2" fender washers
for head diameters less than 12.7 mm and 1/2 x 2" fender washers for larger head diameters.

 

[anton_Chez]

Reading through this now makes me 100% assured that I made the right decision removing motion and just going with tactile and the newly added G Belt. So many headaches! Trying to get everything to work together, you need a degree in mechanical engineering.

For me, my simple 8020 chassis with a few decent tactile units and my actual driving gear, of which is higher grade than most, is absolutely plenty for me. I can't believe how ugly the massive actuators made my rig look. I love the way it is now. Minimalist, functional, all while still being immersive. Best of all, less things to go wrong when I'm actually competing and nothing throwing me around making my lap times suffer.

That's my opinion, of course.

 

[anton_Chez]

Although, I think I will look into some large washers for the G Belt unit. I think spreading the load is a good idea. I was a bit worried about it being mounted directly on the seat too but the fiberglass is pretty strong and the unit doesn't move so there should be very little stress on the mounting points.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Reading through this now makes me 100% assured that I made the right decision removing motion and just going with tactile and the newly added G Belt.

You definitely have less complexity and less to worry about

The NLRv3 is the only motion system I can fit in my rig, period and the G-Belt is a stretch.

My NLRv3 is definitely the weak link in my system. I can't mount HE Ultimates and use higher brake load cell pressure or the NLRv3 will just quit mid race. I've pressed too hard and experienced this myself. Currently I'm using 55kg for maxbrake pressure. Based on the reports of others, it seems somewhere around 80kg the NLR will just stop after a little while.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I did my best to gently pull the seatbelt grommets apart with a plastic prybar. I'm not sure if these are the same for other seats.

Unfortunately some of the retaining tabs broke. I'll probably use some unobtrusive small wood screws to hold the two halves together when I'm done.

Fortunately I only need to do this on one seatbelt opening.
I do have some 1.5" diameter, 1/4" hole fender washers that I can use to reinforce the bolts.

 

[anton_Chez]

I didn't take those off. I just drilled straight through. One bolt is under the fabric, but the other sits on top because there was nowhere for me to get underneath. I can't remember if I tried to do like in the pics above or not. I don't think I did.

 

[blekenbleu]

there should be very little stress on the mounting points

Supposing the G-Belt is tuned to provide significant cornering force feedback,
that pair of vertically aligned mounting screws represent a pivot if installed on a
curved seatback.
I would always mount the G-Belt housing at the seat base with rollers for belts
at shoulder ports.
For those mounting that housing on a curved seatbacks,
I recommend adding braces from mounting holes in housing ends to seat back edges
to resist those twisting moments.

 

[wajdi]

Reading through this now makes me 100% assured that I made the right decision removing motion and just going with tactile and the newly added G Belt. So many headaches! Trying to get everything to work together, you need a degree in mechanical engineering.

For me, my simple 8020 chassis with a few decent tactile units and my actual driving gear, of which is higher grade than most, is absolutely plenty for me. I can't believe how ugly the massive actuators made my rig look. I love the way it is now. Minimalist, functional, all while still being immersive. Best of all, less things to go wrong when I'm actually competing and nothing throwing me around making my lap times suffer.

That's my opinion, of course.

Mmmm…. Personally i think both are important. I tried twice tye G-belt without actuators and I immediately felt something is missing. I tried actuators without G-belt and I felt something is messing but I have to admit that months after months I’m using less and less aggressive motion profiles. At the beginning I was using 100% of settings then 90% and now I’m using only 60%. Less is better.

 

[vannib]

Supposing the G-Belt is tuned to provide significant cornering force feedback,
that pair of vertically aligned mounting screws represent a pivot if installed on a
curved seatback.
I would always mount the G-Belt housing at the seat base with rollers for belts
at shoulder ports.
For those mounting that housing on a curved seatbacks,
I recommend adding braces from mounting holes in housing ends to seat back edges
to resist those twisting moments.

Sounds fair enough and kind of reflects situation on my rig.
What type of "rollers" would you be mounting and how?

Thanks.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Sounds fair enough and kind of reflects situation on my rig.
What type of "rollers" would you be mounting and how?

Thanks.

Custom 3D printed rollers would be my choice

I wish seat belt holes were a standard size, then it would be worth designing a solution. Maybe I could build something slightly adjustable that would expand and pressure fit into place. Hmm....

With motion I think most people get to the less is more stage after the initial setup. I know I have. In fact I'm planning to drop my settings further.

 

[anton_Chez]

Not really interested in adding more bulk to my rig with rollers, towers, etc. The mount is sturdy, the unit does not pull to the point of wanting to torque itself clean off the mounting points. So I think a decent washer/s to add some weight distribution should be more than enough. It's pretty hard up around the belt ports and I've never felt like it was going to be an issue after I mounted it.

I was a bit weary before I did. But not really now.

 

[NeoGrotesk]

Not really interested in adding more bulk to my rig with rollers, towers, etc. The mount is sturdy, the unit does not pull to the point of wanting to torque itself clean off the mounting points. So I think a decent washer/s to add some weight distribution should be more than enough. It's pretty hard up around the belt ports and I've never felt like it was going to be an issue after I mounted it.

I was a bit weary before I did. But not really now.

I agree, I think it's easy to over think things and end up with something far more complicated than needed.

Before I had the gs4, I had the gbelt mounted to a tower behind the seat, just because I didn't want to drill into my Sparco seat. The tower was pretty bulky and ugly, it's much neater just mounted directly to the seat.

I guess you could always 3d print a couple of small spacers to fill the gap between the curve of the seat and the gbelt.

 

[anton_Chez]

Yeah, some shims put between the space where the unit does not meet hard up against the seat should be a nice and clean way of ensuring that there is something for the unit to push up against if indeed there is a bit of torque on the bolts.

 

[Clover11]

Nobody has actually broken a fiberglass seat by bolting through it correct? Just wanting to make sure I did not miss anything.

 

[NeoGrotesk]

Nobody has actually broken a fiberglass seat by bolting through it correct? Just wanting to make sure I did not miss anything.

I've not heard of anyone breaking their seat. I think the fibreglass is probably pretty strong.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I've not changed my mind on this. I'm still planning to through bolt mine to the seat. I was just thinking it might be cool to generate a 3D printed solution if others are not comfortable with doing that.

 

[NeoGrotesk]

I've not changed my mind on this. I'm still planning to through bolt mine to the seat. I was just thinking it might be cool to generate a 3D printed solution if others are not comfortable with doing that.

BTW, your build thread convinced me to get a 3d printer, just had an email to say my Prusa i3 has just been dispatched!

 

[anton_Chez]

Another rabbit hole that I'm trying to avoid tumbling down, that 3D printing....