I built a low budget wheel stand that actually works

[polizei]

$30 wheel stand. Went to junkyard and found out minis have flat rails making them very easy to mount to a flat surface. $25 bucks and removal of the airbag and it was mine. Also kinda cool and sporty looking. I grabbed a few pallets from work as my goal was to spend as little as possible. After some guestimating, cutting, screwing, breaking a drill (some pallets are made of crazy dense oak, who knew?!), cussing, and adjusting, I'm pretty happy with the results.

 

[Georgeagea]

Great work buddy! I like it! Just make sure to paint it, just to make it look better

 

[VBR]

That's sim racing on a budget done properly. Awesome!


👍

 

[ToyGTone]

I should attempt at making something like that since i haven't found any tables and chairs at home to be comfortable enough.

 

[polizei]

The only adjustment I might make is dropping the wheel about an inch. When cutting and screwing I measured from the floor but mounted the vertical a little higher.

My junkyard was insistent I remove the airbag which I thought would require cutting the bolster, but it was actually very easy.

Here is my cost breakdown:

Seat - $25 from LQK junkyard
3 Pallets and some scrap wood - free
4 M8 bolts/nuts/washers - $7
Tools - already owned, but you could do this with a handsaw and a cheap drill
Drywall screws 1 1/2in and 2 in - purchased for other projects but cheap

I had read lots of DIY on how to make stands and always thought even the cheap ones seemed a bit expensive, but i guess a lot of that has to do with your level of OCD. I was amazed that my vertical supports were dead even, as i am no pro carpenter. I thought of making a DIY, but it's really going to depend on what kind of pallet you get and it's not that different than any of the wooden DIY's out there already. The measurements for where to orient the wheel, pedals and seat are the most difficult part to figure out. I roughly measured my BMW and came pretty close.

 

[polizei]

Great work buddy! I like it! Just make sure to paint it, just to make it look better

I plan to hit it with some sandpaper, pallets aren't really meant for furniture
And then stain or paint.

 

[Dopplegagger]

Polizei, you are my hero. I forgot there's a LKQ here... The junk yards were charging way too much for a used car seat. I'm not about to pay over $20 for a seat that's been exposed to the elements 24/7.

 

[polizei]

Polizei, you are my hero. I forgot there's a LKQ here... The junk yards were charging way too much for a used car seat. I'm not about to pay over $20 for a seat that's been exposed to the elements 24/7.

haha thanks buddy. I went to an "auto salvage yard" that makes you wait hours for some moron to pull 4 bolts and bring the seat to the counter, they wanted $45 for a trashed cloth seat, $75 got a decent cloth one, and $150 for one identical leather/vinyl to the one i got. I asked them, is that really the best price you can give me, LKQ 2 miles away sells these for $25. They said, yeah but you have to pull it yourself! I said, it's 4 bolts, this isn't rocket science, and since you have 3 seats all with different prices, OBVIOUSLY you can make some adjustment. The price counter said to the shop moron, does the seat have any damage? No, sorry, that's our best price. I said, well i guess you don't want to make any money, see you later. I went to LKQ immediately and guess what, that seat that i was going to have pay double to have some pull was ALREADY pulled out of the mini and sitting in the back seat.

The only "hard" part was removing the side airbag, which if you are getting the same seat i can show you how to do it. If anyone is interested, again, it's not rocket science!