I've spent £400 on DIY mods that perform like £2,000 retail equipment. Here's what's actually worth building.

DIY Button Box

Cost: £60 (vs £250 retail)

What you need: Arduino Leonardo (£18), arcade buttons (£15), project box (£12)

Build time: 4 hours Tutorial: YouTube "Arduino button box"

Works flawlessly. Retail equivalent costs 4x more.

Load Cell Brake Mod

Cost: £40 (vs £200 upgrade)

For Logitech G29/G923: Add 100kg load cell (£25), Arduino Pro Micro (£7)

Transformed my braking consistency immediately.

Bass Shaker Setup

Cost: £80 (vs £400 retail)

Dayton Audio shakers (£50), Lepai amp (£25), Simhub (free)

Mount under seat, feel every kerb and gear shift. Insane value for immersion.

Custom Monitor Mount

Cost: £50 (vs £200 retail)

80/20 aluminum extrusion (£30), VESA mount (£20)

Stronger and more adjustable than retail stands. Built in 2 hours.

Pedal Plate Upgrade

Cost: £25 (vs £150 retail)

12mm plywood (£15) eliminates flex on GT Lite or Playseat Challenge.

30 minutes work, massive improvement.

When DIY Makes Sense

Good for DIY:

• Button boxes
• Bass shakers
• Monitor mounts
• Pedal plates
• Cable management

Not worth DIY:

• Wheel bases (too complex, safety issues)
• Load cell pedals if you're not technical
• Anything requiring precision machining

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