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As you can see by the stock seat belt placement between the racing seats, there is very little room for much of anything. If you rotate the seatbelts forward they will give the needed space for the security console and still be accessible. Many people have completed the race ensemble by adding a set of racing belts that include a shoulder harness. You may notice the slots in the seats where they are designed to come through. Be sure to check your state laws covering such an upgrade though, because it may be illegal in your state to remove the stock belts. Since this is a daily driver and it needs to pass annual safety inspections the stock belts have been retained.
As you can see the fit is very close. If your emergency brake raises above a 45 degree angle it needs to be adjusted to snug up a little sooner. The unit fits up against the raised rear section in the transmission tunnel where it meets the rear cargo area. This gives about 1/4″ of space extra space up front for those of you that pull the brake handle a little too hard. The light bristles that hide the handle mechanism didn’t stay on very well, but after talking with the folks at Tuffy, it seems that they are looking for alternative adhesives that will fix this problem.
With the stock seats, the position is identical because the emergency brake handle is in the same position in both applications. The difference is that there is more room for the stock seat belts. Also notice that there is very little clearance between the emergency brake handle and the cup holder (if you choose to install it up front). You must be careful not to hit the steel cup holder with your hand. Steel is not very forgiving.
After finding and marking the mounting holes in the bottom of the unit, we used a punch to pass through the carpeting for a more visible mark in the sheet metal below. The separation point for the carpeting is only inches away from the drilling points, so we just lifted the carpet to drill the holes. If you elect to go through the carpet without moving it, cut away the area where the drill could catch in the material. This is a safer method than getting all twisted up in the weave of the carpet.
The two holes to the rear of the box are easy to drill and only require slight pressure on the drill for completion. The two holes toward the front of the box will be passing through the thicker steel plate that crosses from one side of the transmission tunnel to the other to form a stronger mounting point for the seatbelts. This will require a sharp drill bit and some patience. It also gives a more solid mounting point that will withstand lots of abuse.
Also notice (in the photo to the right) that we inserted the bolts from under the vehicle. Tuffy recommends that at least one of the bolts should be installed from underneath because after the nylock (self locking) nuts are installed from inside – it is next to impossible to remove it from underneath. This is where a helper comes in handy to hold one of the wrenches. Be sure not to torque the bolts too tight. The transmission tunnel has two raised ridges for strength and they make a ‘less than perfect’ platform for mounting a flat console. If the lid does not close quietly and completely, loosen the bolts and try again. This is a fairly new console, so I imagine there will be small design upgrades as time goes on.
Check out the Review next and see if this is what you have been searching for.
Source:
Tuffy Security Products 25733 Road H Cortez, Colorado 81321 Toll free order line: (800) 348-8339 Fax: (970) 564-1783 Web Site: http://www.tuffyproducts.com
08/11/10 15:02
