gnarly
01-20-2008, 12:31 AM
My lovely wife picked up one of these for me for Christmas. I have just now got the opportunity to install it. A couple of things to mention. First off, for the money, and specifically compared to the Tuffy console, which is the only other metal, security stereo console that I'm aware of, it rocks. I have some small complaints that I feel I should mention, but no show stoppers. The design of the console is excellent. I can shift with drinks in the cup holder. The seat belt straps are great and hold the belt in the correct place. The stereo portion is simple, and you can use standard parts, included with most stereo's, for installation minus the antenna extension and some extra power wire. The security portion works nicely.....meaning lids etc. All the metal parts are well crafted and precise. My complaints concern mostly finishing work. My product was packaged carelessly. I found some random chips in the paint due largely to the poor packaging. These were no big deal, but if you buy something new, you expect it to look new. Some of the paint issues were manufacturing issues that need to be looked at, like incomplete painting in hard to reach (and largely unnoticeable areas), painting with lids in the open position (producing lines in the paint on flat surfaces where there should not be lines). I feel that Smittybilt needs to look closer at the cup holder mechanism, and find a provider that matches the quality of the metal components. The securing mechanism for the cups is practically useless and the rear cup holders, which do not come with the unit, but are clearly planned for, judging from the holes in the rear of the unit, would be nice for a little extra. The instructions are obviously copied at poor quality several thousand times leaving the pictures useless. The instructions were hard to follow and I ended up throwing them out and figuring it out on my own (not hard at all). The last but not least item I wanted to mention. The hardware resembles something similar to what I would find hunting nuts and bolts in the garage fabricating something. For instance, the use of metric, 12 and 13 mm nuts and bolts for completing the same task which requires you to fetch several wrenches just to get the thing bolted to the floor. None of the hardware installed by the factory was tight. The hardware to install the belt straps was cheap and broke, and lastly, the rubber mat that was included for the bottom of the console looked like it had been run over by a truck, and the holes were not precut for the screws. So with all that said, it's a great product that needs a little refining, but over all, great for price as long as you can complete the TLC.
http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?jeep-sid=476&plID=1183&partID=5618
http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?jeep-sid=476&plID=1183&partID=5618