Mounted a Fridge?

Hello team, has anyone mounted a fridge (I'm planning a two week camping trip this summer) on your Tacoma? What brand did you use? Any pictures? How do you keep things cool at night when the truck is not running? Any option to hook up to a generator?

 

IMHO a 'fridge' is not camping. And the hum of a great little generator http://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu2000i sort of ruins the whole 'in the wild' experience.

If you're going in the wild 2 weeks with no plans to re-provision, you take only enough perishables that you can consume prior to your cooler(s) failing to hold ice.

One cooler would be packed with dry ice and frozen items which handled right should last more than a week.

If you are just touring various campgrounds, you can just re provision every couple of days.

 

arb would be a good option.

ARB Portable Fridge Freezer 50 Quarts Electric Powered 12V/110V For Car, Boat, Truck, SUV, RV, Home Classic Series I (50 Quart)

http://www.amazon.com/ARB-10800472-...TF8&qid=1424992708&sr=8-1&keywords=arb+fridge

 

An ARB Fridge is standard equipment for overlanders. I wouldn't tell them they aren't 'camping'.

 

Whatever.

 

I bought this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MQ5Z5F2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this.

$10 BiXPower Car Cigarette Socket to 5.5 x 2.5mm or 5.5 x 2.1mm Male Barrel Connector Adapter

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SP4KV0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Lasted 36 hours on my ARB fridge in my garage w/ lows in the low 40s. I figure it will last at least 12 (overnight) on a hot Summer night. It did take over 5 hours to recharge it using a 120 volt AC outlet in my modern built (2006)house.

I also bought this:

$10 BESTEK 12V 24V Extension Cord Plug Socket with Battery Clamp, 3.9ft/1.2m 16AWG Battery Clip-On Car Cigarette Lighter Adapter

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JOY6U7U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Z0HVHA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The ARB fridge uses, on average, 1 amp/hour. A group 24 battery, stock Tacoma battery, in theory would last 24 hours.

 

I also have a couple of these as well when needed.

http://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu2000i

They are not as quiet as you may hope. Get a 50' or 100' heavy duty extension cord and put it as far away and or behind a solid object to redirect the noise. But be considerate of your camping neighbors. I doubt they want to hear your generator either.

 

Most 12v fridges also will shut off before draining the battery below 'safe' starting levels.

Your best bet would be a hard-wired dedicated circuit using proper sized wire and fuse.

FWIW - I used to have the Edgestar 43qt. fridge and loved it. Sold it to finance other responsibilities - wish I hadn't, but will go with and ARB or Engel next time around...

 

100 watt solar panel it will run it all day and charger the battery at the same time. $600+ is a lot of money for a camping trip to keep your beer cold.

 

Please link me to the $600 ARB fridge.

 

This is what I do for extended trips. Two coolers, basically one is a 'freezer' using dry ice and one is a 'fridge' holding my beer and sometimes a little food. But mostly beer.

If you are set on getting a fridge, ARB has a great product.

 

Click on my Sig below and you can see the mount I made and my Whynter fridge that I put in my truck (since moved to my off-road trailer). The Whynter has a separate freezer and fridge which was why I went with it.

 

Hello team, has anyone mounted a fridge !!!!!


Sorry, buddy, I'm not that kinda guy....!! I've thought about this nice little cooler I met one time, but a fridge..NO WAY...!!!

 

For those of you naysaying my 'camping' position, I'm not trying to win you over to anything. Just stating my opinion.

And I have great respect for the folks that build capable overland vehicles. Not putting them down at all. Some of the builds around here are awesome.

I just have my own views of what in the wild camping (or survivalist type camping, what I'd consider an overlander capable of) vs parking lot camping.

Which, BTW, parking lot camping can be great fun too.

For me, a fridge and generator aren't part of the wild camping equation. I prefer to replicate more of a horseback, canoe or hiking experience, just getting to cover more distance or duration because of the vehicle.

If you want electronics, generators, refrigerators, rock on. I prefer my camping to be more of a digital dark age.

 

$600+ that's where the little compressor fridges start to well over $1,500. For what some of them cost you could buy a nice small used camper with a working gas fridge!

 

those fridges r cool, but how much stuff can u realistically fit in them they seem so tini..

 

I would love to have a fridge but I can get 2 yetti coolers if not a 3rd before I would get tot he cost of the fridge, second battery, wiring, and solar panels. .

Plus my yettis double as meet storage for the long trips back from hunting. But rest assured once some more pressing mods are done a dual battery set up will be in the works and then maybe that fridge wont seem so expensive since I'll already have a dual battery...

Camp how you want. Check out Xoverland as their taco has a fridge in it. Also, ARB has a number of rack/slide systems for their fridges. Just google search TAcoma Fridge & I bet 90% of results will lead you to threads/build here on TW.

Be sure to keep us posted when you get one and document your set up.

 

Hey man. I did a 2 week camping trip from Los angeles to Denver, up through Wyoming, down through Idaho and Utah this passed September. It was just my wife and I and we had an amazing time! We did 3200 miles in that 2 weeks! I have a whynter fridge that I got from Home Depot. It was roughly $500. Comes with a 4 year warranty and I also bought the 3 year extended warranty for $60. I didn't mount it so I can't really help you there but I just wanted to comment on how well it worked for us. It's a 65 quart fridge and it fit everything that we ate for 2 weeks. We only stopped to get a half gallon of milk and some more waters one time. What I did to keep the fridge cold when the truck was off was put a small bag of ice inside and kept the fridge at 32 degrees when it was running. That was enough to keep the ice still frozen and kept the fridge nice and cold when the truck was off.

Here is a picture of my fridge.



Basically just configured it in the back seat where I could open it easily and it worked super great. Don't know if this helps much haha. Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

I agree with you. For those really wanting to rough it make sure you start your fire by rubbing two sticks together, no pans allowed for cooking. spears only for hunting, wipe your ass with your left hand and enjoy those baths in that upland icy stream. Progress means we don't have to camp like Daniel Boone did.