Mount T300 wheel to arcade cabinets, better gameplay on spinner racing games, 3d printed

An eleven inch T300 wheel mounted with 3d printed parts on a pedestal cabinet for hot shot drivers. Improved game control for retro 360 degree wheel arcade games; such as Mille Miglia 2 great 1000 miles rally.

Add an awesome eleven inch T300 steering wheel to your arcade cabinet with my 3d printed designs. Game play is improved because the T300 wheel is more realistic and comfortable to use. The 3d parts needed for this project can be downloaded as STL files which include the steering wheel adapter plus the housing for a Turbo-twist 2 spinner. This solution enables you to play arcade racing games that use 360 degree wheels as an input device.

A handful of 360 degree wheel games that use a spinner steering wheel control and are dope.

The above photo shows the Mille Miglia 2 great 1000 miles rally game as an example, which is a retro games that utilizes this type of control. Playing retro racing games with the larger T300 wheel, makes the overall gamin experience feel more natural; since the grip and hand position on the wheel remind you of an actual real life steering wheel on a car.

360 degree wheel spinner that is elevated off the arcade pedestal deck to clear the joysticks and buttons. It uses a 3d printed spinner housing and adapter for the wheel.

I’ve owned the smaller wheels that are sold with the USB spinners and in my experience, they feel too small. The small wheels deter me from immersing into the game and don’t match the size of an actual arcade cabinet racing wheel. They remind me of those shut off valves you see in submarine movies and not an actual racing steering wheel. To be fair, the small wheels are great in terms of the amount of space they save on the deck of an arcade cabinet.

Equally great are the USB spinners with the heavy weight that attaches to the spinner’s shaft and gives it what feels like an infinite spin. However, as you can see in the photo below, my pedestal style arcade cabinet is full of controls and space is limited. In order to address the limited space challenge on my cab, I designed 3d parts that elevate the wheel away from the deck so that it doesn’t get in the way of other buttons and joysticks. I can keep all my existing controls and still have room for a larger racing steering wheel.

Arcade pedestal with a T300 racing wheel mounted with 3d printed parts, used for playing 360 degree wheel racing games.

The T300 wheel mounts to a spintrak knob via my 3d printed adapter and four M4 screws. I chose this knob because its big and feels comfortable in my hand as I play spinner games. The T300 wheel is secured to the 3d printed adapter with the standard screws supplied by Thrustmaster (I believe they are M3 screws of various lengths). You will notice that I am not using any of the electronics on the T300, such as the directional pad, shift levers and buttons; as they are not needed.

Three 3d printed models can be downloaded as STL files to play 360 degree wheel racing games using a Thrustmaster T300 wheel. Other hardware is also required.

The USB spinner I’m using is the TurboTwist 2 and I also designed a housing that can be 3d printed to fit this particular spinner. The housing moves the spinner up and off of the deck, as mentioned before, and secures it to the cabinet deck with a couple of screws and nuts. A standard arcade button hole is still needed to be drilled onto the arcade cabinet to allow the spinner’s heavy bottom weight to pass through.

The 3d printed adapter slides over the spintrak knob and is secured with m4 screws and allows the use of a Thrustmaster T300 wheel to be used.

The connections between all the components are tight and feel solid, but keep in mind that the spinner is not designed to be abused. According the spinner’s manufacturer, the hardware is not as robust as actual arcade hardware; which is understandable. The spinner needs to be treated with care, specially now that i has an eleven inch wheel on its shoulders. So far it has been reliable and the overall experience is smooth and very enjoyable.

T300 steering wheel mounted to a TurboTwist spinner with a 3d printed adapter and spinner housing that lifts the wheel off from the arcade cabinet.

Another benefit of housing the spinner on an elevated enclosure is that, it makes holding the spinner in your hand more ergonomic. When I hold the spinner’s knob, my hand will lay on its side instead of on my palm, similar to the way one hols a pencil when writing. The repositioning of the hand makes a huge difference.

It feels more comfortable and causes less strain on my hand when I play games like Arkanoid. On my arcade cabinet, I have two USB spinners mounted and use them exclusively for certain types of games. I use one of them for games like breakout and the other spinner has the T300 wheel mounted on it to play retro racing games.

A Spintrak spinner knob attached to a Turbotwist 2 spinner elevated off the arcade cabinet with a 3d printed housing.

I hope this gives you some ideas for you arcade projects. If you are interested in this solution, the STL files are available for download from the link below.

More photos of this project:

3D design format: STL

Recommended Resolution: .4mm

Recommended Nozzle size: .8mm

Filament: California PETG

Supports Needed: Supports are needed for the spinner base/housing but not for the wheel adapter

This 3D STL file can be purchased and downloaded from:

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About Marlon Lopez

I enjoy collaborating with artist, photographers, designers and gear heads. I find inspiration while driving the most perfect driving roads imaginable in California. I have experience in print design, web design, advertising, corporate identity, brochures, printed directories, direct mail, interactive design, and 3D printing. My design solutions emerge from a comprehensive design process, and a understanding of my clients needs.

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