Pad Modding

My 1st DDR dance pad. 3 1/2 months old.

Here is my guide of simple modding of DDR/Stepmania dance pad. It is an easy modification that does not includes the usage of plywood or re-wiring the sensors. As you can see my, oldest pad was in very bad condition after vigorous DDR sessions on it. It was my first pad, and my legs were quite stiff at the beginning.

The materials used are a 4mm thick rubber foam board and some hard A4 cardboards. Since the the rubber foam is smaller than the dance pad, I cut it evenly into three. The separation will allow more grips and insulation of air, in case the pad became overheated when playing difficult songs.

The hard cardboards on the rubber foam board.
The cardboards will be between the pad and the rubber foam board.

The hard A4 cardboards were then pasted on the foam board. Just a thin measure for making it not movable. 4 panels is actually enough. Just to hardened a bit where I'm going to step (although it will certainly bend after a few plays).

I actually wanted to put on every panel (7 panels minus the 2 minor panels) but due to miscalculation of difficult mathematical problem of determining the number of panels available on the pad, I ended up with seven.

Finally the foam were taped using a strong sellotape.

Final product.

The pad are now:

• Thicker than the original El Cheapo pad. Even thicker than my new foam-back pad.
• 5 times heavier than the original El Cheapo pad. 2-3 times heavier than my newer pad. Less slipping occurs on carpet. Probably harder to slip when the rubber meets cement flooring.

Later I'm going to put even thicker rubber foam on my newer pad(s).