ShakeIt Motors: rumble, pads and pedal haptics
Last updated · SimHub 9.11.22
ShakeIt Motors is the half of SimHub's haptics that drives vibration hardware rather than audio transducers. It outputs to an Arduino — via a Motor Shield V2, a Monster Moto shield or raw PWM, with up to twelve channels — and to Gametrix pads, the ForceFeel pad, Next Level Racing's HF8, and Fanatec pedal motors over USB. Its two distinctive controls are a per-output Threshold from 0 to 100% and a Minimum Force setting that compensates for devices which do nothing below a certain drive voltage.
If your haptic hardware plugs into an amplifier, you want bass shakers instead. Motors is for anything driven as control data — which is most small vibration hardware, and all of the commercial rumble pads.
What ShakeIt Motors can drive
- Arduino
- Via the Adafruit Motor Shield V2, a Monster Moto shield for higher current, or raw PWM pins for small motors. Up to twelve channels, which is what makes a per-pedal, per-corner build possible.
- Gametrix pads
- The seat pads with built-in vibration cells. Natively supported.
- ForceFeel pad
- Natively supported.
- Next Level Racing HF8
- The eight-motor haptic seat pad. Natively supported.
- Fanatec pedal motors, over USB
- Fanatec pedals with built-in rumble motors can be driven directly by SimHub over USB — no Arduino involved.
The Fanatec route is the cheapest way in, if you already have the pedals. If your pedals have the motors, there is nothing to buy and nothing to wire. Enable them as an output in ShakeIt Motors and start assigning effects — brake-side effects on a pedal you are already pressing are unusually convincing.
How it differs from bass shakers
| Motors | Bass shakers | |
|---|---|---|
| Signal path | Control data over USB or Arduino | Audio through a sound card and amp |
| What it produces | Vibration at a driven intensity | Low-frequency movement at a chosen frequency |
| Frequency control | No — intensity only | Yes, base and high range or fixed |
| Extra hardware | Motor shield, or none for supported pads | Dedicated audio interface plus an amplifier |
| Best for | Localised cues — a pedal, a wheel, one seat zone | Whole-body force — impacts, engine, road |
| Windows audio settings | Irrelevant | Critical — exclusive mode and enhancements silence them |
The practical consequence of the frequency row: motors cannot distinguish two effects by feel the way a transducer can. Everything a motor produces is buzz at some intensity. That makes where you put an effect much more important than it is with shakers — separation has to come from location rather than from frequency.
Threshold and minimum force
These two per-output controls exist because vibration motors have a physical property that transducers do not: a stall voltage. Below a certain drive level the motor does not turn at all — it does not turn weakly, it does nothing.
- Minimum force
- Lifts weak signals up to where the motor actually starts moving. Without it, the entire bottom half of every effect's range is silent, and the effect appears to switch on suddenly rather than build. This is the setting that makes cheap motors usable.
- Threshold (0–100%)
- Discards everything below a level, so an effect whose telemetry never quite settles at zero does not leave the motor humming permanently. Constant low-level buzz is both irritating and hard on the motor.
Set them in that order: minimum force until light inputs produce movement, then threshold until the idle hum stops. Doing it the other way round makes the first adjustment fight the second.
Fan hardware is the exception — run it at 100%. Where a motor output is driving a fan rather than a vibration motor, official guidance is to run at full volume. A fan's useful range is its whole range, and throttling it just means it never produces meaningful airflow.
Volume, global and per effect
ShakeIt Motors has a global volume plus a per-effect volume, and they combine the same multiplicative way the bass shaker chain does. Two settings at 50% leave you at 25%, which is the usual reason a configured setup produces almost nothing.
Leave the global at 100 and tune per-effect. One variable is easier than two, and the global is there for the moment you want to quieten everything at once — late at night, for instance — rather than as part of the tuning process.
Where to put motors
Because motors cannot separate effects by frequency, placement carries the whole load. What works:
- Brake pedal — ABS activation and front lock-up. The best single motor placement on a rig, because your foot is already there and already sensitive to what the brake is doing.
- Throttle pedal — wheelspin and traction loss. Same logic, at the other end.
- Wheel rim — road surface and kerbs, if your base does not already communicate them through force feedback. Often redundant on a direct-drive base.
- Seat base — rear grip and gear shifts.
- Seat back — impacts and collisions.
One effect per location is the rule that works. Two effects on the same motor become one indistinct signal, and unlike a transducer there is no frequency separation available to rescue them.
The three-effect guidance from the ShakeIt hub applies here too, and if anything is generous for motors — with no frequency dimension, two is often the real limit.
Common questions
What is the difference between ShakeIt Motors and ShakeIt Bass Shakers?
Motors sends control data over USB or Arduino to vibration motors and rumble pads. Bass Shakers sends audio through a sound card and amplifier to tactile transducers. Motors produces buzz at an intensity; shakers produce movement at a chosen frequency. Which you use is decided by what your hardware plugs into.
How many motors can SimHub drive?
Up to twelve channels on an Arduino output, plus natively supported devices like Gametrix pads, the ForceFeel pad, Next Level Racing's HF8 and Fanatec pedal motors over USB.
Can SimHub use the rumble motors already in my Fanatec pedals?
Yes — Fanatec pedal motors are supported directly over USB with no Arduino involved. If you have those pedals, this is the cheapest possible way into haptics: enable them as an output and start assigning effects.
What does Minimum Force do?
It lifts weak signals up to where a motor actually starts turning. Vibration motors have a stall voltage — below it they do nothing at all rather than moving gently — so without minimum force the bottom half of every effect's range is silent and effects appear to switch on rather than build.
Why is my motor humming constantly?
Its effect's telemetry is never quite reaching zero. Raise the Threshold, which discards everything below a set level. Constant low-level drive is both annoying and unnecessary wear on the motor.
Should I run motors at full volume?
For vibration motors, no — tune per effect and leave the global at 100. For fan hardware driven through a motor output, yes: official guidance is to run fans at 100%, because throttling a fan just means it never moves useful air.
Sources
Related guides
SimHub is developed independently by Wotever and is not affiliated with oesimracing. This page was checked against SimHub 9.11.22 on 4 August 2026; where the interface has moved on since, the version stamp tells you how far. More on what SimHub is and what it costs.