MFG Crosswind pedals - initial thoughts

[lesthegrngo]

Hi all, just received my MFG Crosswind pedals and thought I'd just give some initial impressions.

Firstly I want to touch on the packaging - I want to be very clear that none of the components arrived damaged or lost - but I also want to make it clear that when I took the box from the courier, it was rattling alarmingly. It looks like there was a ziplok bag taped inside that hadn't been closed properly, and so there were four M6 x 25mm cap head bolts, the two spacer blocks used if the pedals are set away from a wall, the tensioning spring, a spare cam. the tensioning threaded rod and nut and an allen key all loose in the box. The pedals themselves were taped together and then taped to a cutout in the shaped polystyrene blocks, and the pedal base assembly nicely constrained by the shaped blocks. Another closed ziplok bag taped to the polystyrene blocks held the USB cable, and another the four longer bolts for the pedal attachment.

While no damage was done by the loose parts, the tensioning spring had caught on one of the cables that goes to the toe brake sensor, and if I had not spotted it I suspect it may potentially have pulled on the cable when opening everything up.  

However, there is no damage at all, so while I would like MFG to take note about the packing, the pedals and base themselves are everything I hoped they would be. I will be mounting them in my rig frame on a captive floor adapter, so the wall spacers will be surplus, but the nice beefy (13mm thick) baseplate has good solid 6mm diameter mounting holes. The material is some kind of composite, and I would like to know what it is to get some - it looks ideal for any homemade CNC machined items as an alternative to Aluminium. If anyone knows what it is called I would love to know.

At this point I have not assembled the spring tensioner, but when I move the pedals with my hands I can feel a slight detent at the centre position. Looking at the bearing on the tensioner arm, it is not touching the cam at all, so I can only surmise that there is some light self-centering on the position sensor. When I try it with my feet, that self-centering is too weak to be felt.

I will have to make some adapter plates for the nice ME109 style pedals that came with my set. This is no fault of MFG, it is due to my rig fame being particularly narrow, being my first F1 Sim rig repurposed over time. It was constructed with all welded steel tube and so doesn't lend itself to modification. Nonetheless, with some machined aluminium blocks, the pedals can be moved inwards to suit my needs. If I had some of the composite stuff they make the pedals out of I could use that, it would be perfect.

In the fullness of time I can see me making some bespoke pedal plates to better suit my particular rig. I will play around with some 3D printed ones to see what suits best, but the open architecture of the pedals looks like making this a simple task.

The positioning of the USB (B) connection at the back is ideal for my rig, meaning that the cable is safely away from any potential harm. I also appreciate that it can be removed, less potential to muller it when manhandling in tight spaces.

I made a mistake when ordering in that I should have got the damper as well, but didn't. The pedal base comes with the holes ready made so when I do get it it looks like a literal five minute job to retrofit, but will see how I get on with them first.

Generally they exude a quality feel, are nice and beefy and for me at least look great. So far I am happy!

Cheers

Les   

[FlyBy2507]

Enjoy!
It's an excellent product.

[Biggus]

It's a great set of pedals.

I've actually removed the damper from mine.  There's a little bit of slack in the tension on my damper and it doesn't quite return to centre even at the lowest settings and with lots of preload on the spring.  I'll eventually rebuild the damper to fix it, but for now I'm just enjoying the precision of these pedals.

[lesthegrngo]

I am starting to think that the material is a modern phenolic resin composite - I used to work with stuff called Tufnol when I was an apprentice and I think this is similar to it but a different colour. I have seen some on Ebay and Amazon, so will get some of it to see if it's similar

Cheers

Les 

[DishDoggie]

I Love my MFG Crosswind rudder pedals. I Do Agree lol My Package when it arrived was Not as Bad but Almost. The Shipper from yonder country to the USA beat the Bejesus out of the package and it was split open and there was loose parts and I had to make the shipper stay till I opened it and Just by luck all parts were still in the package. Lol I do get lucky a few times. Nothing was missing and nothing was Damaged I too had the same zip package open. Regardless The Function of the Pedals are Outstanding and are SO much better then the 50 year old CH rudder pedals I first started out with and the Logitech Pedals The MFG Crosswind replaced. The BIG PROBLEM with the DAMPER is that people Install it the Wrong way. THIS is the Correct way to Install a Damper and You do not use the extra Items in the package on the Version 3 Pedals.I placed a old wood shelf cut down behind my Pedals and used the 2 brackets in the package to attach the pedals to the wood so they do not move or slide. DO not worry about the return to center feel. Get in a Simulator and you will see you will control the return to center and all use of the pedals as the pilot. They will return to center but can be off but out of a Simulator why does that matter? You control the center in the Sim. The Damper gives a Hydraulic force flow in the push feel and yes you can still feel the spring too. Both are adjustable to get your personal sweet spot of feel. These are High Precision Movement Pedals. The smallest movement will be seen and take a wonderful joy of learning the precision of the input given to your feet. Even without ever using Virpil Pedals (I USE ALL VIRPIL GEAR) I would bet hands down the MFG are superior. LOL DON'T tell my Wife I got the Vacuum Cleaner out and swept them off and the floor before taking the picture. She thinks I don't know how to turn it on. Oh I have size 13 feet so they are approved for Big Foot

Edited April 2, 2023 by DishDoggie

[lesthegrngo]

I am knocking together some pendulum pedals to work with the Corsswind pedal base. They lend themselves to it due to their adjustability, meaning that you don't have to modify the pedals themselves, simply make adapters. Once I have the mock ups I will post them on here as they are not complicated

Cheers

Les