American Truck Simulator Steering Wheel: Setup Guide

By Pamela Orange

Updated Oct 1, 2026Published Mar 6, 202110 min read

Note (October 2026): Earlier versions of this guide said most racing wheels turn only 180 to 270 degrees and confused driving pedals with flight-sim rudder pedals; mainstream wheels such as the Logitech G29 turn 900 degrees, and both points are now corrected.

The best steering wheel setup for American Truck Simulator is a force-feedback wheel that turns 900 degrees, such as the Logitech G29, G920 or G923 or a Thrustmaster T128 or T248, plus a pedal set. Install the maker’s driver, set the wheel to 900°, run the game’s Input Wizard, and match the in-game Steering Animation Range to 900°.

With the right racing wheels and pedals, you can get the most out of your arcade racer or racing simulator. There’s nothing quite like driving your American truck or luxury car in the privacy of your own house. You want to get the best racing wheel and pedals for the money, but you’re not sure where to begin.

What to consider before buying a steering wheel for American Truck Simulator

Material

You need to pay attention to the materials and build quality of the wheel. If you want your wheel to last a long time, choose one that is made of metal and not cheap plastic. Higher-end wheel rims often use aluminum frames, and some add carbon-fiber plates, while many entry-level wheels use plastic or rubber-covered rims.

Sensitivity

The sensitivity of the wheels, as well as the angle of rotation, should be considered. Older and budget wheels often turn only 180 to 270 degrees, which suits arcade racers but not trucks. Mainstream force-feedback wheels such as the Logitech G29, G920 and G923 turn 900 degrees, and Thrustmaster’s T150 RS and T300 RS turn up to 1080 degrees. Think of how you’ll use the racing wheel.

Large-angle wheels are not for everyone, because they need more hand-over-hand steering and take longer to bring back to center in fast racing games. Most modern wheels let you adjust the rotation angle to fit the game you’re playing; Thrustmaster, for example, lists its T128 as adjustable from 270° to 900°.

Compatibility

Make sure to check to see if the game you’re playing is compatible with the hardware. Check to see if the racing wheel works for your setup.

Many wheels are sold in platform-specific versions that also work on PC: Logitech’s G29 supports PlayStation and PC, while the G920 supports Xbox and PC. On PC, American Truck Simulator runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, so also check that your wheel’s driver software supports your operating system.

Pedals

Racing pedal sets come in two-pedal (accelerator and brake) and three-pedal (accelerator, brake and clutch) versions. A two-pedal set is the cheaper choice and is enough if you drive with automatic or sequential gears. A three-pedal set, like the one sold with the Logitech G29 and G920, adds a clutch for use with an H-pattern shifter. Rudder pedals, by contrast, are flight-simulator controllers, not driving pedals.

All the pedals sit on a single pedal base. The pedal base must be secured so that it does not move when you press down on the pedals. Basic pedals measure how far you press them with a potentiometer, while load-cell brakes measure how hard you press, which feels closer to a real brake. The brake pedal requires more pressure to register than the accelerator pedal, but the amount of pressure required varies by design.

Installation

The majority of the racing wheels are plug-and-play. Others, on the other hand, need specialized software and configurations in order to function. Racing wheels use one of two kinds of feedback: rumble or force feedback.

The rumble feedback works in the same way that the vibrations from your console controllers do. When your in-game car collides or runs into another car, the wheels have vibrating motors that shock and shake.

Depending on the type of terrain the car is on or the situation you’re in, the Force feedback system will change the smoothness and speed of the steering. Both of these structures help to create a sense of immersion in the game.

How to set up a steering wheel in American Truck Simulator

First, plug the wheel’s USB cable directly into your computer and let the operating system finish installing the device. Then download the wheel’s driver software from the manufacturer’s official site (for Logitech wheels, that is Logitech G HUB). Drivers from unofficial download sites can be the wrong version or carry malware.

Then, open Euro Truck Simulator (the steps are the same in American Truck Simulator, its sister game from SCS Software), choose your profile, and wait for the game to load. After that, go to options, then controls. You’ll see a lot of stuff, but we won’t use it just yet. Don’t worry if the game doesn’t recognize your wheel yet; the Input Wizard fixes that.

If you see “Input Wizard,” move your cursor over to the button and press it. Go to controllers and press on it as it lights up. It is constantly looking for a linked controller and will continue to do so (Detecting available controllers) even though it says no game controllers were found.

Close the game and disconnect your controller, then reconnect it and restart the game. If the problem persists, you will need to restart your computer.

Also, double-check that you have the right drivers mounted. Now that you’ve pressed the “Controller” button, you should see four options: Simple automatic, real automatic, Sequential, and H-Shifter.

Choose Simple automatic for the most basic mode of play. Choose Real automatic for a little more realism. Choose Sequential for a lot of realism, and H-Shifter for the most realism.

An H-shifter is a separate manual gear stick: Logitech’s Driving Force Shifter, for example, plugs into the G29, G920 and G923 and has a six-speed H pattern with push-down reverse, and the older G25 and G27 sets also supported an H-shifter. Choose that option only if you have one; for now, we’ll go with Real Automatic.

When you click the button, you should see some information; if you see Combined Pedals, go to advanced settings, leave everything alone, and focus on the following two options: if it says Combined Pedals on the Brake and Acceleration axes, click on Joy Combined Pedals and press either the brake or acceleration pedal.

Do this for both pedals, and your pedals are set up. You can go further into the advanced setup if you like. Return to the previous screen and then select Finish Wizard. You’ll return to the controls menu, where you’ll see that the game has detected your wheel if everything went well.

It’s all yours to play with! You can change any settings in the controls menu if you want to (think of steering sensitivity, force feedback etc.).

If you want to bind controls to the wheel, go to the Keys & Buttons section, click on the controls on the secondary row, and then click on the button on the wheel where you want the feature to be bound.

Finally, the best steering wheel for an american truck simulator steering wheel setup has tough sections that you can program to fit your playing style.

What is American Truck Simulator?

American Truck Simulator (ATS) is a truck-driving simulation game developed and published by SCS Software, the Czech studio behind Euro Truck Simulator 2. According to its Steam store page, it was released on February 2, 2016, for Windows, macOS and Linux. Players run a trucking business and haul cargo across a scaled-down map of the United States.

The base game covers California and Nevada, Arizona was added free in June 2016, and paid map expansions add more states, including Texas, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Illinois. According to SCS Software, as cited on Wikipedia, the game has sold over 6 million copies. Because the trucks are large and slow to steer, a wheel and pedals change the experience more in ATS than in most racing games.

Which steering wheels work with American Truck Simulator?

American Truck Simulator on PC works with most force-feedback wheels once their drivers are installed and the in-game Input Wizard has been run. The table below compares common wheels by rotation range, the setting that matters most for trucks.

Rotation, years and drive types are from Wikipedia’s sim racing wheel comparison; platforms are from Logitech’s and Thrustmaster’s own pages. Prices change often, so compare current listings before buying. A 2015 engineering study cited on Wikipedia compared gear-driven and direct-drive wheels and concluded that direct-drive wheels are preferable for high-fidelity force feedback, though they cost more.

What is the best rotation setting for American Truck Simulator?

900 degrees is the standard rotation setting for American Truck Simulator. Thrustmaster’s buying guide for the game says trucks need a rotation angle of up to 900° because they take several full turns of the wheel, and that the 270° or 360° of console-style wheels is not enough for realistic truck driving.

Whatever you choose, set the same value in two places: the wheel’s driver software (for example the operating range in Logitech G HUB) and the game’s Steering Animation Range under Controls. When the two match, the steering wheel in the cab turns exactly as far as the wheel in your hands.

Recommended in-game wheel settings

American Truck Simulator splits wheel settings between the Controller and Controller Feedback sections of the Controls menu. Players share many presets and none is official, so treat these as starting points:

• Steering Animation Range: match your wheel’s rotation, usually 900°.
• Steering Non-linearity: start at 0 so wheel movement maps evenly to the in-game wheel.
• Steering Sensitivity: recommendations vary widely between guides; adjust until lane changes feel natural.
• Force Feedback: turn it on, then tune Overall Gain, Centering at High Speed and Centering at Low Speed so the wheel feels weighty but not tiring.
• Bumps, Collisions and Terrain Surface: these effects add road feel; lower them if the wheel shakes too much on rough roads.

PC requirements for American Truck Simulator

A wheel adds little load, but the game itself needs a reasonable PC. These are the Windows requirements on the Steam store page as of October 2026:

If you are building or buying a machine for simulators, see our guide to buying a pre-built gaming PC and our checklist of configuration needs for a custom gaming PC. A wide or high-refresh screen also helps; our gaming monitor buying tips cover the basics.

How to fix a steering wheel that American Truck Simulator does not detect

1. Plug the wheel directly into a USB port on the computer rather than through a hub.
2. Install or update the driver software from the manufacturer’s official site, then restart the computer.
3. Check that the wheel appears and responds in the driver software before you launch the game.
4. Start the game with the wheel already connected, then run the Input Wizard from the Controls menu.
5. If the in-game wheel turns too far or too little, make the Steering Animation Range match the rotation set in the driver.
6. If the pedals show as combined, set them up as separate axes in the advanced section of the wizard, as described above.

Common mistakes when buying a truck simulator wheel

• Buying a 180° to 270° wheel: it works, but trucks feel twitchy and unrealistic.
• Ignoring the mount: force feedback pulls hard, so the wheel needs a solid desk, clamp or stand; Thrustmaster’s SimTask Steering Kit, for example, clamps to surfaces 15 to 50 mm thick.
• Skipping the shifter decision: an H-shifter is optional, but if you want to change gears by hand, check that the wheel supports one before buying.
• Forgetting seating: long hauls mean long sessions, so a stable, comfortable chair matters; read our look at whether gaming chairs actually help.

Written byPamela Orange

Pamela Orange has published 162 articles on Justwebworld since 2020, mostly covering Tech, Business and Digital.

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