Tuffy Security Products: Mid-Size SUV Drawer

Every vehicle based travel enthusiast suffers from the same quintessential problem: WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL OUR STUFF?!? More precisely, how do we keep it secure and how do we keep it safe. No one likes sifting through a rat’s nest of gear to find something. Worse, no one likes having their vehicle broken into and their gear stolen. For Jeep people like myself this is an everyday part of life due to the modular nature of the Wrangler platform. With a removable top and doors, some of which are fabric, it isn’t any surprise why the Wrangler is herald as the “easiest vehicle to break into.” That is, until you lock your keys in it with the hardtop and full steel doors on and your spare keys are at home (don’t ask). Anyway, this security problem is how Tuffy Security Products not only got its name but got it start. The founder of the company had his Jeep broken into while out mountain biking. From that point forward he vowed to help his fellow Jeep owners. Not only that, but over time the company grew and evolved to offer a wide range of products to a wide range of vehicles.

I will not be covering all the the install steps. So make sure you read the instructions.
What I will do though is highlight a few things not in the instructions.

One of the things I love about Tuffy is that they not only understand the needs of their customers, but they also understand how their products till be used in the field. The Mid-Sized SUV Cargo Area Security Drawer drawer is a perfect example. The drawer on its own would be cool. It would solve many of my problems. However it will also cause a few. Tuffy understands that. So along with the drawer I also picked up their 3″ Drawer Riser Kit, Multi-Point Tie-Down Anchor Rails, and their Drawer Divider Kit. All three of these products take the drawer to the next level. The riser kit allows me to have a place under the drawer to store my windows. The tie-downs on the top give me a place to strap things like groceries, firewood, trash, or anything else extra I might be carrying. Lastly the drawer dividers keep things organized inside the drawer and prevent things from sliding around while the vehicle is off-road. This is essential in preventing something big and heavy like a tool bag from beating up something more delicate like my radio bag.

My first piece of advice is to invest in a riv-nut tool.
This one was only $50 and come pre-stocked with riv-nuts and 6 dies.

I had previously removed the rear seat brackets and rear seatbelts
I opted to remove the rear carpet to make finding existing bolt holes a little easier.

Once the riser kit was installed we mocked up the drawer to see which existing bolt holes it lined up with.
Although the TJ and LJ share many of the same features, all of their differences are in the back half of the Jeep.
In this case the mounting holes for the seats and seatbelts that the Tuffy box uses in the TJ would but the drawer too far back for my liking.

Here is where the riv-nut tool earns its keep and saves the day.
In order for the drawer to sit where I wanted it to I need to drill two holes.
It is much easier to use riv-nuts than try and fish a nut to the backside of a bolt in this location.
This would be equally true when mounting this drawer into a SUV, station-wagon, or van.

Another area where the riv-nut tool comes into place is mounting the tie-down rails to the top.
While the kit does include enough hardware to mount them, fishing washers and nuts back under there didn’t seem like fun.
A few seconds with the drill and a few more with the riv-nut tool made this install super easy.
*The green tape was used to mark the holes and prevent paint from pealing up while drilling.*

Once the drawer was in it was time for carpet.
The rear floor piece fit without any modifications.

The side carpet was a different story. I wanted them to be removable so I didn’t want the bottom lip pinched under the drawer.
I opted to remove some insulation off the back and trim the bottom lip off making it super easy to remove the carpet sections.

Here is the drawer and carpet fully installed. As you can see the fit and finish on this drawer really shines.
You can see the level of detail Tuffy Security Products puts into their products.

Inside the drawer isn’t slacking off either. With the divider kit set up in a ⅔-⅓ fashion I will have ample room for gear.
The larger left side is divided in half and is perfectly sized for the Blue Ridge Overland Gear bags. Going to be fun fleshing this out.

I would like to thank Tuffy Security Products for coming onboard as an Equipment Level Partner for the 2022 season. This is a perfect example of me being picky with whom I work with. I already believed in Tuffy as a company. In addition to the Gloves Box and Under-Seat Drawer I purchased and this drawer system Tuffy provided for my Jeep, I have installed dozens of their products in customer vehicles. They truly are a company for enthusiasts by enthusiasts and they get it. They know how their products are going to be used and provide practical additions to their base products that just make sense.

Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to support it and help make future posts possible? Consider joining the ECOA Patron Support Team. For as little as $1 a month you can support the ECOA mission to Educate, Encourage, and Inspire readers like you!

Dean