If you take sim racing reasonably seriously you will probably want to use a dedicated rig.

You have managed so far with a steering wheel clamped to a desk and pedals on the floor uner the desk.

But now it’s time for something a little better. It’s time for a dedicated rig.

You want a rig to be steady and not move or flex at all under any forces that you may put through it.

The most popular rigs are made from aluminium extrusion pieces and are bolted together using ‘T’ nuts and corner brackets.

By their nature they are quite heavy and are designed to withstand the forces of strong direct drive wheelbases and, very importantly, the forces you might put through the pedals when braking hard.

Of course, you will need a racing seat that can be attached directly to the rig or on seat sliders that make adjusting your position much easier. Seat sliders can also be used to fit the pedal tray to the rig, also for easier adjustment.

It is quite easy to personalise rigs built from aluminium extrusion by easily adding extras such as keyboard trays, mouse selves, button boxes, gear shifters, and perhaps the most important accessory of all, the cup holder!

These rigs can be built or adapted to use virtually any wheelbase or pedals on the market, so it’s your choice completely what you choose.

While these aluminium extrusion rigs are by far the most popular amongst sim racers, there do seem to be more manufacturers now producing tubular metal rigs.

These can look more attractive, perhaps less industrial than the aluminium extrusion rigs. In fact, there’s one manufacturer who claims their rigs look so good it wouldn’t be out of place in your living room!

While it’s not so easy to bolt on the accessories you may want, the makers will probably their own solutions not to make that too much of a problem.

Monitor stands can usually be attached directly to the rig. So, in effect, it’s an all-in-one unit. Whereas, some people prefer a free-standing monitor stand that can be positioned separately from the rig.

One thing I will say is that however, as easy as it looks to put an aluminium extrusion rig together, it is on the face of it, fairly straight-forward, it will take you longer than you think putting it together.

So, leave a few hours free for its construction, don’t get too frustrated, and it will all be worth it.