Question How Heavy Duty Does Aluminum Rig Need For 4DOF+Surge+TL?

tl;dr at the bottom of the post.

I'm trying to budget for an aluminum rig I plan to purchase within the next 3 months or so. So far, I've looked in Trak Racer, SimLabs and a custom rig builder I found on a Facebook group. I plan to do a SFX100 motion build with traction loss and surge (much) further in the future but don't want to have to buy a new rig or modify mine to withstand the forces of motion. However, I'm trying not to go overkill as I need to save as much money as possible for a DD and other equipment.

After speaking with the custom rig builder, he mentioned that Trak Racer and SimLabs uses the below extruded aluminum.


He uses the below 1545 for his higher end rig (starting at about $1100) and 1530 for his standard rig (starting at about $750).


His extruded is clearly more dense and would offer more rigidity and support. However, I'm not sure if this is truly needed or if this is overkill for my purposes. I believe the majority of his customer base is more competition-focused whereas, despite my seemingly high ambitions, I'm a casual racer/drifter with the most serious engagements being rookie racing leagues.

Based on some preliminary quotes, it looks like I'd have about $1,700+shipping in a custom rig. With the Trak Racer TR160, I'd be able to purchase one for around $1,350+shipping, plus Trak Racer offers some other options like F1/GT adjustable seat positioning, inverted pedal kit, etc.

The ultimate question is whether or not a Trak Racer TR160 (or SimLabs P1X if I can find one in the US) would withstand the forces of an SFX100 build. Does anyone have any insight on this?

I built my motion base from 8020.net Ultra Light 4080 profile. It is plenty strong enough. My cockpit is a GT Omega Prime also built from Ultra Light (but Chinese manufactured).

My motion system was inspired ( ) by PT Actuator's 6DoF system but using DIY SFX200 for the four corners and three DIY linier slides for the dual traction loss and surge. It is very rigid indeed.

You could go with just the GT Omega Prime and bolt your four SFX100(+) actuators on that as it is a really nicely designed and rigid cockpit. Then add the rest of the base as you go along.

GT Omega sells the Prime for 599.99 USD, if that helps.

Okay, that makes this much easier on my budget then. I've read the GT Omega uses proprietary t-slots and hardware for mounting which would limit the add-on options I could install later if it were standardized extruded aluminum. Is that the case or have I been led to believe incorrectly?

I've been interested in the Trak Racer based on some features like the F1/GT positioning and inverted pedals kit. Their accessories seem reasonably priced and it's standard extruded as far as I can tell which means I could mix and match accessories from other brands.

If your UL 4080 rig would withstand motion just fine, I'd imagine a Trak Racer TR120 utilizing 120x40 extruded would be fine as well, correct? Any reason why Trak Racer's aluminum would be less strong than 8020.net?

Sorry for the seemingly dumb questions, just want to make sure I'm not making a $800+ mistake.

Thanks for the insight and advice Historiker!!

I just measured the three brands of extrusion that I have around here and they all have the same 8.5mm slots.

I am using four different types of t-nuts and they all fit fine. The GT Omega extrusion is the same as the rest.

The Prime uses 40x160. As to shipping, it is free so that saves a great deal of money. But that is up to you, whichever rig you decide on.

Back to "is light extrusion strong enough?", My experience says Yup.

Awesome, thank you so much for the help Historiker! Looks like I'll be going with a much more cost-effective option than custom!!