I just got a Logitech G29 Wheel and all the fittings, will it work of Beamng?

If something is going to break my G27, it's one of these. 1st is stock, 2nd is +5cm, 3rd is +11. Currently using 3rd one, with shifter mounted 20cm below table level. No signs of wear on shifter base yet.

 

either you are very unlucky or the g27 is much more cheaply made than its predecessor.
i have been using my g25 for about 11 years and it still works perfectly, and ive heard the same from many other people.
there might be better and more modern wheels on the market but the logitech ones are generally known to last forever.

 

I've seen the internals of all of them and researched review comparisons. The G25/G27/G29/G920 wheels are all built with the same economical plastic mechanisms, including the same plastic optical encoder wheel that can crack and fail, a plastic wheel shaft and bearing housing (the bearing housing was also cracked on my used wheel, though not sure if it would've been too noticeable even if I didn't superglue it), plastic construction in the main shifter mechanism, etc.

There are minor manufacturing changes to some parts between models, but no real design revisions to the major mechanisms of the wheel, shifter or pedals outside of removing the sequential shifting mode switch of the G25 shifter. You can absolutely get lucky and end up with a wheel that has no issues for an extended period of time, but there are objectively highly stressed components of the wheel that are made out of questionably low durability materials and are prone to breaking. Manufacturing defects can also increase or decrease failures at random throughout production (even the most well engineered products may fail within the first month of use sometimes), as can the behavior of the parts in hotter or colder climates, or under different levels of humidity, different levels and intensities of use, etc., so I don't doubt one could still be functioning fine a decade later for certain people.

Much more in-depth images of the internal electronics and potential failures I've heard of in the spoiler.

Spoiler: General construction and failure points

G25 Shifter. Same style of plastic as G27 and G29. Common failure from Googling tend to be the small wires coming loose at connectors, breaking at the solder joints, or snapping from sheer brittleness due to excess movement and strain for the strength of wire and design they used. Potentiometers also come loose or fail sometimes, and the guides that keep the gear shifter in place can also wear down until it's not consistently holding gears. Note the plastic shavings that have fallen inside from regular use.

Comparison of the three common modern shifters for racing wheels.
G25:
TH8A:
TSW 6:
Plastic wheel shaft, plastic optical encoder disc and module in the plastic shroud on the right motor (black plastic thing at the end of the silver metal on the right). All the G-series wheels have this same base design. Though a small note, the first G27's apparently share the 60 slot encoder disc with the G25, with them later switching to a 30 slot encoder disc in later production for the G27.

The optical encoder module.

How the encoder disc typically fails is that it cracks apart and becomes loose on the motor, which causes calibration loss with aggressive steering inputs against the force feedback as expected in rallying, drifting, or recovering from a spin. In some cases the whole module can also come loose, which is easier to fix as the screws can simply be tightened. A broken encoder disc either has to be superglued with the risk of another eventual failure, or swapped with a stronger brass or aluminum replacement (something the G27/G29 both could've had done as a design revision over the G25 if Logitech was concerned with the part consistently lasting well beyond the warranty period).

It's not like the G-series wheel's design is that bad, it's just built with more compromises on longevity than these should have for their absurd MSRP of $400 direct from Logitech with shifter sold separately, especially when Logitech absolutely would've been aware of these flaws by the release of the G29 given they've been manufacturing essentially the same base design for a decade and have plenty of consumer warranty data to work from.

The worst thing about it for me is just the insane market stagnation. The G25 started at $300, with shifter included, with an additional sequential shifting feature, and yet the nearly unchanged G29 has a retail price of $400, with the shifter sold separately for a further increased price of $460 for what was originally the standard package. For that you get modern console support (but only for one of them, sure hope you don't use both consoles), a few more buttons, some basic shifter LEDs, and lose a shifter feature.

 

there might be some compromises, but i think any device that can lasts for over 10 years without any signs of degradation is built well enough.
i agree that the g920/g29 is way too expensive considering its the same 12 year old design as the g25 (i definitely wouldnt buy one today), but i dont think people have to worry much about their longevity.

 

The issue is that "can" and "is likely to" are far cries from each other. The design of the G-series wheels means they aren't likely to stay issue free for many years for an avid sim racer who puts thousands of hours of extended use into the wheel and pedals, and especially if they constantly use the shifter (though fixing broken cables is one of the easiest starting points for learning repairs). Those users are also more likely to notice hindered competitiveness from any loss of center calibration or any amount of malfunction in the controller axes.

A manufacturing run could also change the plastic supplier and temporarily use higher quality materials that are less likely to crack or fail, so early G25's could be higher quality even using identical designs. Still, types of use will also effect your odds of encountering issues. Even the most competitive racer focusing on types of racing with less aggressive countersteering requirements and using lower force feedback strength will be less likely to encounter calibration failures, even if the optical encoder is cracked. This is also a concern for buying one used, as the wheel could be sold at a standard price despite damage because the seller simply never encountered those issues personally.

I would never say avoid the wheel at all cost. I was able to match my prior leaderboard/league racing pace from console sim experience with the G27 after repairs and it's a ton of fun, but I do think concerns of poorer than average longevity are warranted and every interested buyer should be aware of that when weighing their options in the wheel market.

 

I pulled the trigger on G29+its shifter, I got the steering wheel stand and the G29 delivered at the end of month. It's the most economical way to get three pedals and H shifter where I am as other brands are really hard to find and if there is a seller it is sold on very inflated price. No used G27 at reasonable price either. I just pray mine is going to last.

 

G25 had issue where if you didn't use it for a long time and then plugged in, it kind of self destructed. That had something to do with grease used and who knows what, but that is why mine let smoke out. As long as being used regularly G25 might of lasted fine.

 

Hello guys! Nice to hear that a lot of you are also using the G29! Feel free to join my thread and let's discuss the best ingame settings together!

https://www.beamng.com/threads/logitech-g29-best-setup.51912/