Microsoft Wheel with clutch pedal and gear shift lever for Forza Motorsports 3

I wanted to share this with you guys because I <3 [H]. I built a gaming seat for Forza Motorsports 3 and made a few custom modifications to my Microsoft 360 wheel. I already had the Microsoft Wheel and wanted a gaming seat. I have access to a wire welder, plasma cutter, and every other tool imaginable necessary to build it. Materials were only $100 that doesn't include a few minor pieces I already had. The wheel itself isn't as nice as the Fanatec wheel, but I was able to build this for a fraction of what it would cost me to buy it.



You have to take apart the wheel and do a little soldering to add the clutch pedal and gear shift lever.




Here is the gear shift lever. The throw force is adjustable and is self centering.




An intermediate build picture of the game seat.


I created a basic drawing that shows some the dimensions of the geometry. The seat itself is from a 1999 Honda Prelude. I don't have details for the actual mounts on the frame to the seat because of the complexity. The seat mount brackets are not symmetrical and can be a bit of a pain. Hopefully someone will find this useful.
Drawing

Here is a closeup of the wiring and solder points on the wheel.
Wiring

I put a 100 ohm resistor in series with the clutch pedal switch to simulate pressing the "A" button on the wheel. The "A" button on the wheel is pressure sensitive, but Forza Motorsports 3 treats the "A" button as a digital on/off button. The clutch pedal works in the game, you just can't slip the clutch using the Microsoft Wheel. It's a shame because slipping the clutch is supported using the Fanatec setup.

Nothing is complete without a Youtube video.
Video

woah, that's cool! nice build brah

That is F'in [H].

Very cool. Does the game support the clutch pedal?

brogers said:

I put a 100 ohm resistor in series with the clutch pedal switch. The "A" button on the wheel is pressure sensitive. Forza Motorsports 3 treats the "A" button as a digital on/off button. You can't slip the clutch using the Microsoft Wheel.

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Great mod! But that fact alone would prevent me from even bothering. If I was going this far, I would definitely go for a full on, burnable clutch.

This looks way cool. I've thought about doing something like this for a while, but I've never started for one reason or another.


One common mod I see that increases the reliability of the 360 wheel is a bearing

Great work. i was just thinking about this the other day. Think I would do the same but instead of gear shift, I wanted to make the ebrake.

This is why we [H]

Dew said:

Great mod! But that fact alone would prevent me from even bothering. If I was going this far, I would definitely go for a full on, burnable clutch.

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I probably would have, but Forza doesn't take advantage of it when using the Microsoft Wheel. It's a shame because they do allow it for the Fanatec setup. I suppose they figured it would be too hard to control the clutch using the "A" button so they made operate as engaged/disengaged only.

LOL i should have read your first post better. That sucks about the clutch, but at least its supported in some fashion.

JohnleMVP said:

LOL i should have read your first post better. That sucks about the clutch, but at least its supported in some fashion.

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It's really not that bad. I'm just glad I can use the clutch pedal instead of a button on the wheel which really sucks. I think the only possible benefit to the clutch on the Fanatec setup is the ability to slip the clutch for better launches.

Impressive work.

Hey, great job with this. As someone with decent welding skills myself, that looks really clean. Living room clean. I realize that the welding was the easy part, don't get me wrong.

What does it weigh?

snaggletooth said:

Hey, great job with this. As someone with decent welding skills myself, that looks really clean. Living room clean. I realize that the welding was the easy part, don't get me wrong.

What does it weigh?

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I haven't weighed it, but I would estimate around 80 lbs. I have fixed casters in the back. That way I can pickup the front and roll it out of the living room if I need to.

That's pretty bad ass...good work man.

hmm pictures dont work for me but it sounds cool
too bad devs dont put much effort in really simulating a manual transmission