MOZA Racing Trucking Bundle – SimRaceBlog

Even though we’re called SimRaceBlogNL, we’re into more than just racing. Sometimes we go drifting, drive a tractor, or hop into a virtual truck to cause a bit of chaos on Europe’s highways. And since we’re definitely not the only ones who unwind after a long day of work by doing even more digital “work,” MOZA Racing saw an opportunity. Thanks to the huge popularity of Euro Truck Simulator and American Truck Simulator, MOZA decided to create a proper truck steering wheel: the MOZA TSW Truck Wheel.

Since we really liked the concept, we gladly accepted MOZA Racing’s offer to review the Trucking Bundle. The MOZA Racing Trucking Bundle includes the R5 wheelbase, the SR-P Lite pedals, a special trucking desk clamp, and of course, the TSW Truck Wheel. At the time of writing, the MOZA Racing Trucking Bundle is priced at €599 including VAT, excluding shipping costs. It’s available through MOZA’s official webshop or via our partner, SimRace Webshop.

Since we’ve previously reviewed the MOZA R5 bundle, we already have the R5 wheelbase and the SR-P Lite pedals at home. That means MOZA sent us the special trucking desk clamp (€55.00) and the TSW Truck Wheel (€329.00) separately, so we could test and review the complete bundle.

Packaging & Contents

From MOZA’s warehouse in Germany, a package with two boxes was sent our way. Shipped via DPD, it takes two days to arrive at our doorstep. Inside, we find the boxes containing the trucking desk clamp and the TSW Truck Wheel.

The Trucking Desk Clamp
The box for the trucking desk clamp is a relatively simple white one. On the front, there’s a nice image of the clamp holding a semi-transparent wheelbase, just to show how it works. On the back of the box, you’ll find an assembly guide with images, Chinese instructions, and thankfully some English instructions as well.

When we open the box, we pull out a large black block of soft foam made up of three layers. The first layer is a foam top sheet for protection, and underneath we find the first filled layer. Neatly wrapped in white protective film, we find the two actual clamping mechanisms of the desk clamp, along with a small white plastic bag containing mounting hardware and an Allen key.

In the bottom layer, again wrapped in white protective film, we find the structural parts of the desk clamp. These include one large mounting bracket that attaches to the wheelbase, and two quarter-round brackets that allow us to set the wheelbase at the desired angle.

The TSW Truck Wheel
The box for the TSW Truck Wheel is quite large for a steering wheel with the box measuring 44 x 44 cm, which makes sense since this wheel is much bigger than your average racing wheel. The design sticks to MOZA Racing’s signature style: a white box with a light blue top. In this case, the top also features a plastic handle, making it easy to carry. Both the front and back of the box show a large product photo, while the sides contain the rest of the wheel’s specifications and details.

This box also contains a large block of black foam, although this one is split into two sections. Sitting on top of the foam is a neat white plastic sleeve that holds several sticker sheets and a user manual.
When we lift the foam lid, we see a large white circle snugly nestled in the foam, this is the TSW Truck Wheel. Like the other components, it’s wrapped in a plastic protective bag. It’s only once we pull the wheel out of the bag that we can truly appreciate the beauty of this steering wheel.

The MOZA TSW Truck Wheel

The MOZA TSW Truck Wheel is unlike any steering wheel we’ve held before. While we’re usually dealing with relatively small, sporty wheels, the Truck Wheel is in a completely different category. With a diameter of 400mm, it’s anything but small and matches the size of a real truck steering wheel.

To keep everything as sturdy as possible, MOZA has used a 4mm thick internal frame made from an aluminum alloy. The center of the wheel is made from a hard plastic material, giving it an authentic look and feel. At the center, the MOZA Racing logo is stylishly placed, with a narrow black strip above it that hides ten LEDs. The rim of the steering wheel is fully wrapped in a special microfiber synthetic leather, hand-stitched in place. Around the handgrip areas, MOZA opted for a perforated version of this synthetic leather, adding both texture and comfort.

The Front Side
The front of this truck steering wheel features a generous number of push buttons. There are fourteen buttons in total—seven on each side—each equipped with its own RGB LED. Every button also has its own icon, like for lights, windshield wipers, or cruise control.

Additionally, there’s a thumb encoder on both sides, neatly placed between the buttons. Finally, below each thumb encoder, there’s a flat joystick to complete the setup.

The Back Side
The back of the MOZA TSW Truck Wheel is quite simple. Since this isn’t a racing wheel with lots of paddles or buttons on the back, there are only two points of interest here. The first is MOZA’s Quick Release system. The wheel uses MOZA’s standard Quick Release, which allows it to be used completely wireless on any MOZA wheelbase. If you don’t have a MOZA wheelbase, the Quick Release can also snap onto MOZA’s Universal Hub Kit. The second point of interest is the RJ12 port. This is used to connect the wheel to the Universal Hub Kit, enabling it to work with third-party wheelbases.

Assembly

The MOZA Racing TSW Truck Wheel requires little to no assembly. It comes with the MOZA Quick-Release already attached to the back. The only thing left to “install” are the included stickers. Since the buttons on the wheel already have icons with backlighting, we decided to skip applying the stickers.

The only thing we did have to put together was the trucking desk clamp. It’s a simple job with just five parts and the included mounting hardware. With everything laid out on the table, we looked for the assembly instructions but couldn’t find them at first, this is because we forgot they’re printed on the back of the box. Following those steps, we had it assembled and mounted to our MOZA R5 wheelbase in under five minutes.

Finally, all that’s left is to clamp the desk clamp onto our desk and connect the wheelbase to our computer. Because the wheelbase hangs a bit below the surface of the desk with this setup, we found it quite tricky to manage the cables neatly as our PC is on top of the desk, which makes the whole setup look a bit messy.

Software

To control everything, MOZA Racing uses their own software called MOZA Pit House, which is easy to download from their website. Since we already had this software installed on our PC, we could start right away.

Saying “start” might be a bit of an overstatement, though. The MOZA hardware is almost plug and play. When we turn on the wheelbase, everything is recognized instantly and shown in the main menu. All we have to do is select the “Truck” preset in the wheelbase menu, and we’re ready to drive.

The software isn’t just for the initial setup, it’s also where you can customize your personal preferences for the wheel. In the wheel menu, you can adjust a few features. For example, you can set the joysticks on the wheel to work as either analog joysticks or as D-Pads. The difference is that the analog joystick is fully directional, while the D-Pad has eight fixed directions.

You can also customize the wheel’s LED lighting here. You can choose whether the revlights at the top of the wheel show the RPM, are permanently on, or stay permanently off. You can also decide if the RPM should be shown by individual LEDs or by groups of LEDs. MOZA also lets you set which RPM triggers each LED and what color each LED should be.

The last setting in this menu lets you adjust the brightness of all the LEDs on the wheel. The only big thing missing for us is the ability to change the backlight colors of the buttons from the software. To change those colors, you have to push both joysticks toward the center of the wheel and hold them there. This puts the wheel into a kind of setup mode, where you can press each button to change its color. Each button has ten color options, so there’s plenty of choice.

Using the Trucking Bundle

With everything set up and adjusted, we took a seat in our office chair instead of the rig for a change. We decided to test the wheel using Euro Truck Simulator 2 (ETS2).

The first thing we had to get used to was the position and size of the steering wheel. Although it feels quite natural, it’s definitely very different from having a race wheel right in front of you. Luckily, we adapted quickly and soon were driving like it was our every day job.

Still, we quickly ran into some limitations with the wheel. Although, not exactly “limitations,” but it’s worth mentioning. With most race wheels, you can control almost everything directly from the wheel, but that’s not the case with the TSW Truck Wheel. Even though it’s equipped with fourteen buttons, that’s still not enough to control everything a truck requires. In a truck, you also need controls for things like hooking and unhooking the trailer, operating the radio and windows, adjusting the ride height, and more. Because of this, we had to use the keyboard alongside the wheel to keep ETS2 fully playable.

Here comes the big “but”: In a truck, you generally don’t need to make split-second decisions like you do in a race car. That’s why truck interiors are packed with buttons and switches on the dashboard and around the wheel. The wheel itself only has controls for cruise control, radio, and the horn. So, we feel the MOZA TSW Truck Wheel would really shine when paired with the Multi-function Stalks and a button box. These will add lots of extra functions around the wheel, which means you don’t have to overload the wheel buttons, and it also creates a more realistic experience.

The only real downside then is that you can’t use the center of the wheel as a horn button since the middle of the TSW Truck Wheel isn’t a button. Also, a gear stick can be useful if you want to shift manually. That’s not a big deal for us since we’re happy driving the truck in automatic mode. But if we want to shift ourselves, we can add the MOZA Racing HGP shifter, which we reviewed before, to complete the experience.

Focusing just on the wheel itself, the experience is much more positive. The wheel feels great thanks to the microfiber leather, and its shape makes it comfortable to hold during long highway drives. The force feedback from the MOZA R5 wheelbase, included in the full bundle, is more than enough to simulate wheel resistance and provide feedback for details like road markings and curbs. You definitely don’t need more than 5Nm since in ETS2 you’re generally not driving on the edge of grip.

The buttons feel solid and are pleasant to use. They do click quite loudly when pressed, but since you’re not constantly pressing buttons in ETS2, it’s not a big issue. We also like the button backlights. You can keep all buttons one color, or assign different colors to each button. Unfortunately, this can’t be changed in the MOZA Pit House software, but you can easily customize button colors “on the fly” through the setup mode on the wheel itself. Just push both joysticks toward the center and hold them until the LEDs at the top start blinking. Then, every button you press changes color. To exit setup mode, just press both joysticks toward the center again. The colors really bring the wheel to life compared to the default light blue.

The joysticks on the wheel are a very useful addition, and this wheel is no exception. The joysticks are flat and glide smoothly under your thumbs, which was a very pleasant surprise. Another nice surprise is the thumb encoders. They’re relatively large, look stylish with their pattern, and have very clear feedback when used.

The last feature on the wheel are the revlights at the top. By default, these LEDs are turned on. You can adjust the LEDs to match the actual engine RPM of the truck, but honestly, we think that’s kind of pointless for a truck. So, we turned them off in the software ourselves.

Where these revlights really add value is in games like Automobilista or Assetto Corsa during truck races. That said, we think the revlights themselves are very well done. The black screen behind the LEDs keeps them hidden when they’re off, so the wheel maintains its clean look when the LEDs aren’t in use. But when they’re on, the small rectangular LEDs are clearly visible. They have a bright, distinct color and their shape gives them a stylish appearance.

Conclusion

All in all, we really enjoyed this side step from racing to truck simulation, it was a nice change of pace. The fact that MOZA Racing offers this wheel shows they’re thinking beyond just racing and want to support other sim enthusiasts in their hobbies too.

While the MOZA Racing Trucking Bundle on its own falls a bit short of a complete truck sim setup, it definitely provides a very solid foundation. The trucking desk clamp makes for a comfortable seating position when driving trucks. The R5 wheelbase included in the set has enough torque at 5Nm to deliver clear feedback. The real star of the bundle is the TSW Truck Wheel. Its shape, size, and components left a great impression on us. The backlit buttons, joysticks, and thumb encoders were definite highlights. We also liked the revlights on top of the wheel. Although they don’t add much when playing ETS2, they’re very welcome for truck racing and are well designed in our opinion.

If you’re interested in a nice truck simulator setup at home, we think the MOZA Racing Trucking Bundle is a great choice. We do recommend adding the Multi-function Stalks, and maybe a button box or gear shifter, to complete the experience.

The MOZA Racing Trucking Bundle is available through our partner at SimRace Webshop and MOZA Racing’s own webshop for €599 including VAT, excluding shipping. If you already have a MOZA Racing wheelbase and/or pedals, you can buy the trucking desk clamp and the TSW Truck Wheel separately. The clamp costs €55 and the wheel €329, both including VAT and excluding shipping.

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