Jeep Articles / Technical and Installation (Tuffy Oversize Security Drawer)

Tuffy Oversize Security Drawer

Article written by Adventure Bob

Date Added: 02/05/2007

Once again we turn to Tuffy, the premier name in security products.

The Tuffy center console has provided an incredible peace of mind when leaving the Turtle in less-than-secure places. To get this kind of protection for our larger valuables, we decided to go with a Tuffy oversize security drawer on their 2" risers. While this does eliminate your back seat, it provides ample room to stow all your stuff for a long wheeling trip; and the riser gives room for flat storage under the drawer. This was an acceptable trade off since no one wants to ride in the Turtle anyway.

Installation

1. Unpack and remove the drawer from the carton. You will need help; this thing is heavy. Install the four plugs in the side of the drawer.

2. Pull your rear seat, seat brackets, and seat belt hardware.

3. Place the riser brackets in the bed of the Jeep against the wheel well arches. The open portions of the brackets should face the interior of the Jeep.

4. Place the drawer on top of the brackets.

Get some help to avoid damaging your Jeep or your back.

5. Install the four 7/16? bolts through the drawer case into the riser brackets using the slotted holes.

6. Shim the drawer to achieve a level mount.

The ridge in the floor of a YJ requires you to shim one end of the drawer for a level mount. We shimmed the back with stainless steel fender washers.

7. Mark the holes in the floor for drilling.

We mounted the drawer 3/8" from the fender well sides and 3 1/8" inside the tailgate. This mounting location allowed us to drill the holes without hitting anything under the floor.

8. Remove the drawer and risers. Drill the holes in the floor, and reinstall the case.

Leave the risers bolted to the drawer case.

9. Install the 7/16" bolts through the floor and tighten.

10. Install the drawer.

11. Fill with all your stuff that you'd like to keep, and go wheel!

Installation Issues

Tuffy?s instructions contain a warning about mounting the drawer through the sides into the wheel well arches. None of the installation methods in the instructions call for mounting the box this way. Just ignore this warning and go on with the installation. We suggest Tuffy remove this from the instructions to avoid confusion.

Final Thoughts

The drawer installed easily in about 3 hours and worked as advertised. The instructions were fairly simple and easy to follow.

We did, however, have a problem that Tuffy has addressed. While wheeling with about 150lbs in the drawer, we sheared the drawer slide screws. Tuffy sourced some alloy screws and added a couple more to each side to prevent this from happening in the future. To date, we're still testing the modification and will update you as soon as we can say definitively that it's a done deal.

Purchase / Vendor Info

Vendor Name:	Tuffy Security Products
Address:	25733 Road H Cortez, CO 81321
Phone:	1-800-348-8339
Contact Person:	Jeff Fox
E-Mail Address:
Website:	http://www.tuffyproducts.com/index.asp

Our Thank You's!

We'd like to thank Jeff at Tuffy for working with us on this project.