Fixing a Broken $10 Nitho Drive Pro One Racing Wheel With a 3D-Printed Part

I bought this Nitho Drive Pro One racing wheel for $10. The seller was honest about it: the wheel was broken and, in his words, it was only useful for DIY projects.

That sounded like a challenge more than a warning. After opening it up, I found that the black plastic hub connecting the steering shaft to the centering spring had broken. It was a small part, but without it the wheel was basically useless.

I could not find a replacement, and I did not have a 3D scanner. I measured the damaged part by hand with a vernier caliper and measuring tape, rebuilt it in Autodesk Fusion, and printed a replacement on a Bambu Lab printer. The repair worked, and this discarded wheel became my first sim-racing setup.

I first checked the outside of the wheel and connected it to see what still worked. The wheel itself was in decent condition, but the steering mechanism was not behaving properly. It did not return to the center as it should.

Since it had only cost $10 and had already been written off as a DIY item, I had very little to lose by opening it. I unplugged it before starting and kept the screws together so none would go missing.

I removed the screws from the underside of the base and carefully lifted the casing. There are several wires between the buttons, circuit board and steering assembly, so I opened it slowly and took photos along the way.

Inside, the problem became obvious. The black plastic hub around the steering shaft had broken. This hub connects the shaft to the spring mechanism, so the spring could no longer pull the wheel back toward the center. Most of the electronics and mechanical parts were still fine; one failed piece of plastic had made the whole wheel unusable.

A replacement part was not readily available, and I did not own a 3D scanner, so I reverse-engineered the original part manually.

I used a vernier caliper for the smaller dimensions and a measuring tape for the larger ones. I measured the outer diameter, thickness, center opening and the features that engage with the shaft and spring. I also measured the surrounding parts in the wheel instead of trusting the damaged hub alone.

The broken edges were not perfect measuring references, so I checked each important dimension more than once and used the undamaged side to work out the original shape.

I recreated the hub in Autodesk Fusion. I started with the main circular profile, extruded it to the required thickness, and then added the center opening, slots and connecting features.

The aim was not to make a visually perfect copy. The important things were that it fitted the steering shaft, engaged with the spring and could rotate without rubbing the housing. I kept the broken original beside me while modelling so I could compare every feature.

This was the part of the project I enjoyed most. It showed that a 3D scanner is useful, but it is not essential for repairing an object when you can measure it carefully and build the shape from simple sketches.

I printed the replacement in white filament on a Bambu Lab 3D printer. The different colour made it easy to compare the new part with the original black one.

After printing, I cleaned the edges and checked the holes and mating surfaces. I first tested the new hub outside the casing, then placed it on the steering mechanism and checked the fit against the spring and shaft. It needed to sit securely while still allowing the mechanism to move freely.

Before closing the case, I turned the wheel slowly in both directions and watched the new part to make sure it stayed aligned.

Once I was happy with the fit, I installed the hub in its final position and returned the wiring and circuit boards to their original places. The disassembly photos were useful here because they showed exactly where everything belonged.

I made sure no wire could be pinched by the casing or caught in the moving steering parts. Then I closed the base, replaced the screws and tested the steering movement again by hand.

I connected the repaired wheel to my computer and tested the steering and buttons. The new hub allowed the spring mechanism to work again, and the wheel was usable.

That $10 “DIY only” wheel is now the center of my first sim-racing setup. It is not the most expensive rig, but using something I repaired and redesigned myself makes it much more satisfying.

This project kept an otherwise functional controller out of the trash and avoided replacing the entire wheel because of one small plastic component. More importantly, it gave me practical experience with measuring, reverse engineering, Autodesk Fusion and 3D printing.