DIY ButtKicker on a Budget: Making My Friend’s Sim Rig Shake (Literally)

Ah, the thrill of racing. The roar of the engine, the rush of speed, the sweat-inducing tension as you tear through virtual corners at breakneck speeds… and yet, something’s missing. Sure, it looks and sounds like you’re driving, but where’s the feel? How do you truly know you’re in a race car if your butt isn’t vibrating violently as you hit the gas?

Enter: the DIY ButtKicker project. A tale of two transducers, a questionable amp from Amazon, and the genius that is SimHub. And the best part? Doing all this at my friend’s place, because if something catches fire, it’s his house.

The Plan: Shake, Rattle, and Drive

Now, we’re not exactly working with a Formula 1 budget here. We’re more in the “two-for-one deal at Amazon” price range. But that’s the beauty of DIY. Why drop hundreds on a fancy ButtKicker system when you can spend a fraction of that and still make your sim rig shake harder than a washing machine on spin cycle?

So, what did we get?

• Two cheap transducers (aka glorified rumble motors but bigger and angrier) from Amazon. These things may not look like much, but bolt them to the seat, and suddenly you’re in the Fast & Furious: Discount Edition.
• A Nobsound amplifier—the name alone inspires confidence, right? It’s the kind of amp that says, “I was made in a factory where shortcuts are a way of life.” But hey, it was cheap, and it works.
• SimHub—the real MVP. If you don’t know about SimHub, you’re missing out. This software is so genius, it practically does everything for you except actually build the rig. It takes all the telemetry from the game and turns it into pure, butt-shaking glory.

The Installation: How Hard Could It Be?

First off, let’s talk about installing transducers. It’s like screwing speakers to a chair, except instead of music, you’re getting the sweet, sweet feeling of engine vibrations coursing through your posterior. We picked a spot under my friend’s sim rig seat, grabbed a handful of bolts, and said a quick prayer to the god of DIY projects.

The first hurdle? Figuring out which screws fit the transducers without accidentally drilling through the bottom of the chair. The good news: we only dropped one screw into the transducer’s magnets. The bad news: we had to get it out because the transducer needs a bit of wiggle room to produce it’s low rumblings.

Next came wiring. Now, neither of us is an electrician, but we’ve seen enough YouTube videos to feel vaguely confident that we can connect a few wires without blowing up the house. After a few false starts—like trying to hook up the wires to the wrong power outputs and wondering why nothing was happening—we managed to get it all connected. The moment of truth: turning on the amp without blowing a fuse or launching my friend’s seat into orbit.

The Test: Butt-Vibrating Success

We fired up the sim rig, loaded into the game, and—oh yes—it was working. With the transducers humming under the seat, every rev of the engine was felt deep in the spine. The first corner my friend took felt like he was drifting in real life. Every bump in the track translated into a satisfying jolt, and when the car went over a rumble strip? Let’s just say we had to tighten a few bolts afterwards.

Honestly, it was more immersive than I thought it would be. For a setup that cost less than a decent dinner out, it delivered enough rumble to make it feel like you’re driving a sports car with no suspension left. Which is exactly what you want, right?

The Nobsound amp, surprisingly, didn’t explode. It quietly hummed away, dutifully shaking the transducers to the beat of simulated engine noise. And SimHub? Flawless. The fact that you can customize the intensity of the vibrations for every aspect of the game—braking, acceleration, crashing (my friend was particularly good at this)—made it feel like the software was doing all the heavy lifting while we sat back and let the transducers do their magic.

Conclusion: DIY ButtKicker—Because Vibrations Are a Must

All in all, this DIY ButtKicker project was a solid win. My friend’s sim rig now has more vibration than an overworked massage chair at a shopping mall, and the total cost? Way less than you’d expect for something this immersive.

If you’re looking to add some serious realism to your sim racing setup, but don’t want to drop a small fortune on a name-brand system, I can’t recommend this enough. Two cheap transducers, a Nobsound amp that somehow hasn’t self-destructed, and the sheer brilliance of SimHub—that’s all you need. Well, that, and a good chair to bolt it all onto. Preferably one you don’t mind drilling holes into.

So, next time you’re sitting in your sim rig and thinking, “this could really use some more feel,” just remember: you don’t need to spend big to make your butt vibrate.

And if you ever find yourself shaking uncontrollably in your seat, grinning ear to ear as you feel every bump, rev, and crash… you’re welcome.