TM Ferrari pedal springs

The pedals on the Thrustmaster Ferrari wheel modulate quite well but the gas pedal is much too stiff for many drivers. I got tired of having a sore knee after 2 hours of racing Midtown Madness with the kids, so I decided to soften the feel on the gas pedal only. It was never a problem with games like GPL or any Nascar or F1 sim, but on arcade type games it really got to me. I guess it's because my foot is almost always mashing down on the the accelerator in this type of game.

A simple, small bend in the spring is all it took. The new, bent section of the spring goes against the pedal, not the base. Here's how its done. Click on the images to bring up a larger picture in a new window.

		The first step is to remove the bottom base cover. DO NOT remove the pedal first. There is a reason for doing it this way. You'll have to remove the 2 rubber feet to get at the screws beneath them. A flat screwdriver blade is a good aid. There are a total of 9 screws.
		When the bottom cover is removed, use a marking pen to mark the location of the gear. Simply put a black mark on a tooth that is in line with one of the lugs on the potentiometer. Make sure you are not putting pressure on the pedal while you mark it. You will use this mark later when you reassemble the unit, so make sure you remember its reference point.
		Now it's time to remove the spring. Use a small socket to unscrew the bolt from the spacer. There is a bolt on each side, but you only have to remove one and slide the spacer out. It's a little tough coming out because of the spring tension, but going back in will be easier.
		Secure the spring on the edge of a vise and tap it with a hammer. You want to put a kink in the spring as close to the coil as you can. If you bend it too much, you can put the spring sideways in the vise. Then, tightening the vise will straighten the spring.
		It doesn't take much of a bend to get the desired effect. If you bend it too much, the pedal will not return all the way to its normal position. Remember, the bent section goes against the pedal, not the base, when you reinstall it. When you're done, reinstall the spring into the pedal and slide the spacer all the way in place, but don't put the bolt in until you've checked the calibration of the gas pedal in the Windows Controller Panel. If it doesn't work right, pull the spacer out part way, lift the pedal slightly and move the gear to its proper alignment position. Try the calibration again and repeat this step until it's right. When everything checks out OK, finish the pedal reassembly.

I've run quite a few laps in the new Live For Speed Demo and the pedals work very well. The gas pedal is significantly softer than the brake. This simple tweak makes the pedals much nicer to drive with. After I did this modification originally*, I played several hours of arcade games with the kids and my knee is holding up much better.

* I do several modifications and tweaks. Not all of them get published here on T&R. If I think the mod is successful and worthwhile after hours, weeks or even months of testing, and I think it is something that an average person with common tools can do, then I reconstruct the steps I went through and take pictures and notes for the article. Some modifications are out of date by the time the testing is done, so they don't get published, either. Unlike some web sites, I do not simply think of a fix for a problem, take pictures as I do the work and then publish it. Often, I try 2, 3 or even more approaches to see which performs the best. All the mods I publish are rigorously tested to make sure they will not fail.