ESSENTIAL TIPS for Building an Aluminium Profile (8020) Sim Racing Cockpit 

Im the most practically challenged person on earth and managed to put my Aluminium profile rig together without too much trouble so there is hope for anyone who is looking to build one.

I JUST put together my first 8020 frame from simlab last week. I can tell you, that adjustable square is a great recommendation and would've saved me A LOT of time.

You're a mind reader mate. This is just the video I needed. I'm putting together parts to build a full rig with DIY motion platform and some nifty DIY Arduino items from amstudio as well. Thanks for all you do for the Sim racing community and newcomers alike. Much Appreciated. ✌🏻

Pro Tip = check that your floor is level first..

Now he tells :D Already went through the process. I never really understood the exact position for the uprights though. I looked at other rigs to see where it should go. I have a few tips for others: - when the rig is almost done, put your wheel and seat on it and check if your knees don't hit the wheel (it did for mine) - after building your rig, if possible, keep it on a spot for a while so you can easily access it to adjust things. While racing you will notice you want to change some things slightly. (Actually after 3 months I am still playing around with seat position and stuff) - Don't put the plastic finishing caps on it until you are sure you are happy with everything. Getting them off is hard and you will damage it. - if you want to move a aluminum part be sure to unscrew the bolt a few millimeters and pull it up while moving. Otherwise it will scratch the black paint very easily! (even better is to just unbolt the part complete but I am to lazy for that :P) - if you move things, be careful to not damage wires (I did this 2 times while moving the pedal plat and a wire got stuck between the plate and the rig)

Great video mate. Looking forward to that giant wrap around build!

Just ordered mine yesterday!!! Thanks for the tips 👍

As always a great video helping us understand the basics thank you i love watching your videos always informative.

I was lucky enough that my low level OCD made me do the same with my build. Curious to hear your thoughts on the Rally seat. Look forward to your review 👍

Thank you for posting this, starting my ASR3 build right now!!!

Getting the chassis mounts, seat mounts, seat slider rails, and the seat itself all lined up was the most difficult part for me. I ended up just keeping all the seat related bolts just slightly loose in their respective positions, then actually sat in the seat until it settled, then had another person slowly tighten all the related bolts until it all was secure. First two attempts were a disaster, but this last method did the trick.

This video would have come in real handy when I got my rig a month ago.

This video will help when I start building my trak racer. I just am waiting on the tr80 to arrive.

Great video and such a help when considering building a profile rig 👍🏼

Love your stuff Will. Keep ém coming. My Trackracer 160 is being delivered next week, so you're right on time. Looking forward to your "build video" .?

Awesome reminders, Will! So many little things can be frustrating when assembling 8020.

Thank's for your Tips. My Sim Lab P1-X will be shipped on Monday. I wanted to order the Bardland 300-12 via your link. Unfortunately there is no delivery to Switzerland. Keep it up. Stay healthy.

The tip about have the bolts in the right place before tightening things up is golden, learnt that the hard way. Also make sure to slide enough Tnuts into the framework before blocking off access. Otherwise its disassemble time just to slide a Tnut in. Hardest part of building my TR160 was that I was missing a load of pieces. Check that you have every piece required before starting to build..... hard way over here again. Cheers for a top channel your my go to for simracing.

I can’t wait for your full review. I already ordered one and I’ll really like to know what do you think about it

I plan to buy one of these after I win and then sell an RSeat N1 from a league I'm in. Really excited to get all the TR stuff soon, getting a triple monitor stand as well so I can move from 24" triples to 27s!

Great tipps! thank you ... very helpful because i start building my own Formula Rig (based on a RCC MK8 seat) and use aluminium profiles for the basic structur and 3d print a "real F1 cockpit" around it ... let´s see :))

Picked up a tr160 and recline seat for 46% off (nz closing down sale). What an awesome rig and comfy seat. 3 missing parts but these are on the way. (Great service by the sales person). All in all so happy- coming from an fgt lite.

Make sure everything is even and squared up and parallel with each other, that's the message. Was expecting more but some people wouldn't think of this I guess.

Found this helpful, going to be assembling my very first aluminum profile rig in a few days (once delivered). These tips ought to keep the amount of vulgarities the neighbors here a bit lower, lol.

My TR160 was delivered from Melbourne to Adelaide within 7 days of placing the order. I am bolting it together tomorrow, so thanks for the tips. I thought about waiting for Black Friday to order the Fanatec DD, inverted pedals etc but am concerned it may cause big delays in delivery if everyone else has the same idea. I picked up battery driver today to reduce rsi on the build. I will join the TR Facebook page (thanks for the heads up)

Hey Will this is great content, thanks for sharing. I built my first aluminium profile rig a few weeks ago and struggled a bit, but now things are in a really good place :) Would you be opened to make a detailed video about mounting the triple monitors so that everything lines up perfectly? Maybe also touch a little bit on how different games are set up differently (angle of the screens mainly). The mount I have for my triple monitors is really sketchy and I'm still struggling a bit to get it right. Just a quick suggestion :)

A good tip i used is to add big thick washers when mounting the pedal plates and motor plates to my P1 Simlabs. It stops bad gouging to the slots if you need to make adjustments if other people use your rig and need to adjust them. The bolts that come with the rig only just go over the diameter of the slots so damage is inevitable. The profile is soft aluminium and won't look nice all marred up. I noticed you have done this on your motor mount pieces but the P1 does not cover this

NLE Ford Edition Elite arrives tomorrow, just getting ready!

nice to see Trak Racer on the channel. I feel like it's a underused brand

Solid tips, I grabbed the angle thing myself watching one of your previous videos. Having a level floor is not be underestimated ;) a bigger level in addition to the angle one was a big plus. Might be worth touching on use of medium locktite Vs/or good old fashioned grease for long term corrosion prevention. TR 160 is amazing, and a lot of early customers' feedback have now been implemented, eg labelled bolt packs and step by step instructions. I have built a custom remote programming quad monitor workstation with studio lighting which doubles as a simrig, just amazing. Personally I preferred 20mm bolts in a lot of places so grabbed some from elsewhere. It just made my build process easier. I am rather inept mechanically but like anything, it's just one bolt and one measure at a time! So got there in the end.

I made the same mistakes as this vid shows. I lined the seat up with the back of the frame to make sure it was square and I ended up being way too far away. I lined the wheel deck up with the top of the upright, and it was way too high. There's great advice here but don't forget about your ergonomics while trying to make sure everything is square.

The Most perfect timing! Just thinking of buying on of these rigs but debating upon getting the T80 or TR160 but not sure yet

Whoops, I didn't do any of these. Kinda wanna put mine apart and rebuild with these tips in mind.

Good to know thanks

Hey mate. Loved the video. Wanted to ask if you still have a discount code for Pagnian? Gonna pick up a next level wheel stand racer and thought I'd check

About to build my first rig. What's a good rule for how tight bolts should be, especially the ones threading into the aluminum planks? Thanks

where can i buy this 8020 rig frame in perth and with the measurements that i want . i looking to build my own setup ?

The bolt head hitting is why we use low heads nothing more annoying than bolts stopping you getting a bracket exactly perfect Biggest thing is use blue loctite to stop screws backing out of threada

Building the TR160 right now ! Regarding the seat rails , did you leaved them as is on this video ? I'm wondering if I should keep it flush with the back of the rig as you did or did you had to move it upfront further on ?

Handy tip for everyone... Using electrical tape between aluminium components helps to stop scratching during builds when adjusting things.

Amazing 🤞🏽 🥊😂💎

It’s a combination square is the tool he is using. 12 inch Irwin is about 10 bucks on Amazon.

Just got this rig however it will not line up my steering wheel is always of centre by a centimetre or so Any ideas ???

Got a bom of materials, lengths and specs of all prices required?

i want to see how someone converts between racing/space/flight/keyboard(work). Easily. Fast. Can it be done?

Hi Will, I built the same rig a month ago. Do you have any tips on getting the washer and spring washers on? I left alot off mine as I found the bolts a little short.

Having so much trouble finding aluminum extensions in the US. It seems like such a convenient option. Has anyone been successful in the US finding these?

Is this rig compatible with the Next level Racing motion platform V3 or you will have to drill holes into the aluminium profile?

Hey will, want to start off by saying love the channel. Only been watching for the past month or so, but I’ve watched so many on your videos and have been doing a lot of research of various sim racing products. Currently, I’m using a thrust master tmx on a crappy wheel stand, and I’m planning on upgrading to the fanatec forza bundle that includes csw 2.5, cs v3 pedals, universal hub and shifter for about $1,500. What in your opinion is the best cockpit for under $1,000? Keep in mind I live in the USA so that may affect your answer in terms of what you know is available here. Looking forward to hearing your response! Also if anyone else sees this in the comment section and has a recommendation I’d love to hear your input too

Your seat brackets could go on the inside and would have greater adjustment

Nobody ever talks about how sharp these Ali profile rigs are I’ve rebuilt mine twice and both times ended up with a bad cut lol maybe I’m just careless 😂

Does anyone have any great cable management solutions? Seems like managing all the cables for a triple monitor set up is way more involved than building the extrusion rig imo

It also helps if u have someone else helping to hold up the profile whilst adjusting (or maybe I’m just a weak ass 🤣)

After building the TR80 rig by Trak Racer, my best tip would be to take the Trak Racer instruction manual with a pinch of salt! It's not the best instruction manual I have ever seen and I had to improvise in some parts. Oh and there are very few instances where you actually have to use the cut washers.

Its a combination square

Which 8020 series did you use for your build?

6:15 what the heck is a millimeter

The stuff of dreams...

Hey Will, have you taken a look at AMS2 lately?... They added GT3 cars and updated some other stuff, I picked it up in steam sale for £19 yesterday, I’m quite impressed with it.

Are they 8020 profiles? Because they look 8040 and 12040.

Hi all😁

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

This is literally 150 dollars of profile and a 100 dollar seat back, I don't see where they get off charging these prices

You could honestly just build this sim cockpit yourself at home and would be cheaper then buying thru a supplier

I think you mean an 8020 Rig ? 🤣🤣🤣

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Lost all faith after the little ruler thing comment lol

Thank god, you can properly pronounce „Aluminium“ 😍 not Aloominum 😂

Surprised anyone buys from this company, they are just full of lies and false promises