Belt Tensioner on static rig (buying advice)

Paul Jeffrey

Paul Jeffrey

Hi folks,

So, I'm very much on the hunt for added immersion in my sim racing nowadays, and one of the next steps I'm interested in looking into is a belt tensioner for my Sim-Lab P1 rig. To be clear, for various reasons I can't go down the motion route, so this is a static rig.

I'm really curious to see if any solutions exist in the marketplace that don't cost an arm and a leg - I'm seeing ready-made products over £1k which to me is far too much money for what it is, and sadly I'm no DIY dude, so homemade solutions are off the table for me.

Does anyone have any thoughts please on what might be a good option to get a ready to use belt tensioner for the rig, at a reasonable price?

Cheers :)
 
Paul Jeffrey said:
Hi folks,

So, I'm very much on the hunt for added immersion in my sim racing nowadays, and one of the next steps I'm interested in looking into is a belt tensioner for my Sim-Lab P1 rig. To be clear, for various reasons I can't go down the motion route, so this is a static rig.

I'm really curious to see if any solutions exist in the marketplace that don't cost an arm and a leg - I'm seeing ready-made products over £1k which to me is far too much money for what it is, and sadly I'm no DIY dude, so homemade solutions are off the table for me.

Does anyone have any thoughts please on what might be a good option to get a ready to use belt tensioner for the rig, at a reasonable price?

Cheers :)
Click to expand...
I didn't even know such a thing existed, I had to look up what it was. I actually thought of such a device years ago, obviously someone had the same idea! I was looking at getting just a normal harness, but this looks interesting... I would be really interested to hear what people have to say about it's "immersion value". I.e is it just a cool novelty or does it actually make it feel a bit more real.
 
green serpent said:
I didn't even know such a thing existed, I had to look up what it was. I actually thought of such a device years ago, obviously someone had the same idea! I was looking at getting just a normal harness, but this looks interesting... I would be really interested to hear what people have to say about it's "immersion value". I.e is it just a cool novelty or does it actually make it feel a bit more real.
Click to expand...
I can see the youtube short movie now. Paul buckles into his rig, and tensioner cinches up. And then with every move the belt tightens more, and more, the quick release doesn't work...Paul is trapped...he slams on the brakes to stop his car and......
 
More so than any other piece of sim related hardware, a malfunctioning belt tensioner has the most potential for an absolute obliteration of your manhood.
 
:D

So, back on topic… decided I'm not capable of going down the DIY route, nor am I willing to spend £1k on a consumer version - so I've just gone for a plain and simple 4-point Sim-Lab harness to see how I get on, and I'll revisit the idea further down the line :)

I'm off work this week (well, Monday - Thursday as I'm doing something very, very cool on Friday that I'm not allowed to talk about yet, but I'm taking a camera man with so expect video coverage later in the year!). Time to spend some more days fettling the rig and having sim racing type fun!
 
Thinking out loud: the system is pretty simple, it just consist of 2 servos and a controller. In the field of RC models there are pretty strong servos available, a simple arduino board can control them with few lines of code. My bet is that if in your area there is a "maker club" a club of those nerdy people involved in 3d Printing and robotics, you could easily find someone interested in developing this project with you. They get some money for their club and you get your belt tensioner.
 
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