The Drifter - Specs and FAQ

Ah man, we are taking the Drifter for a spin on Saturday out somewhere in the wild. Otherwise we'd be there. It is very, very good beer. See you all in Plain!

 

Alrighty. We are suckers. Got a Dometic Cooler with the REI 20% off coupon. Got a blue sea fuse box already installed. Need a 101 on how to hook up dometic CFX40 to fuse box. The ultimate basics would be appreciated. It might not seem as if I have skills whatsoever, but I am a decent science writer and that's worth something (at least my employer thinks so). It just doesn't get me very far when it comes to the Drifter. Tutorial anyone?

 

ORLY

 

It's not a drifter, but my snugtop shell has a boot built in to it (no actual window). It actually keeps the snow and water out really well! My only complaint is that it squeaks quite a bit when its wet out. If it'd be helpful I can get a picture of it tomorrow...

 

Wire cigarette lighter port into blue sea.
Put beer in fridge.
Plug in fridge to cig port.
Wait a little while.
Drink cold beer from fridge.


Not the most helpful i know. I’m sure others who are better at wiring like @Iggy @MJonaGS32 or @jberry813 can chime in with better advice.

However....i would definitely recommend cooling the fridge down in the house prior to putting in truck. It’s much quicker. I also like to have stuff inside the fridge when doing this so it’s not working hard to keep an empty space cold.
Having a fridge is a definite game changer. You’ll love it.

 

Wiring is easy. Just hook it up a 12v cigarette outlet and plug the fridge right in. I recommend fridges be one always hot 12v.

 

I would not recommend an OME Dakar leaf pack. I have had mine for less than a year and its already shaped like a w, barely any load on it as I dont have my Drifter yet. Go with something else like Dobinsons.

 

thing is you need to have the cigarette port. may not just come with refrigerator. several ways to wire your fridge, you do want to be able to disconnect from truck. what wires/plugs came with the refrigerator? Is the Blue seas in the camper?

 

@huruta

I used this, 10ga wire, two spade connectors, two ring connectors and an inline fuse to connect mine. Mine goes direct to the battery so you can skip the inline fuse since it’s going into a fused panel.

$12 Blue Sea Systems 1011 Dash Socket, 12V, Black

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...8C1DB7TXRS5&psc=1&refRID=1QAP4RTG98C1DB7TXRS5

 

This is exactly the same cigarette light I used in my old fridge wiring setup.

 

I’m working on it!

 

I think it is a good idea to abandon the cigarette lighter plug. They're the worst 12v connector: very easy to bump loose. Wire an SAE or some other 12v connector to your fuse panel and replace the cigarette plug on the fridge cord with an sae connector.

 

I would verify the polarity on your wires, and cut the cigarette plug off and just wire it directly to the fuse box. It’s going to be a lot cheaper and more reliable than using that stupid cigarette plug.

I don’t personally see the value in an inline quick disconnect when you could still just unplug the whole thing from the back of the fridge.

 

Sounds like you’re in the LA area? I would just call Deaver and have them redo your leaf pack.

 

Alrighty! We have lift off of our Dometic fridge. Cut off the 12V plug and wired it directly into fuse box. Major PITA was figuring out where the hell we put the voltimeter after we sold the vanagon. Finally found it. The rest was a breeze....well, it was a breeze for me because husband did it. But, we appreciate all your feedback, esp. Rodney have gave a blow by blow account of every single wire and connector in a PM. Looking forward to testing out the Dometic tomorrow. Took about 20 minutes to go from 61F to 37F, so we are hoping by putting cold food in it, this will routinely be the case and we won't need to remove it from the truck, making the biggest hassle of camping (getting ready) more seamless.

 

We used the OME kit with Hilux leaf springs bought from the Mule in Seattle. As you can probably tell from my posts, we are not the most clued in, but it was less expensive than Deavers and clearly a fridge was a higher priority than a leaf kit, at least for me. So far, so good, but we are only 4 months in and so it hasn't stood the test of time.

 

Can someone tell me the internal height of one of the Tacoma Drifters when closed? From bedrail to ceiling I guess.

 

It’s about 25 inches from the top of the bed rail to the bed platform when closed