Corey

iTrader: (1)

I have been toying with the idea of yanking out my back seat behind me.
I would leave the passenger side in, but I never carry passengers behind me.

I have seen this installation before of a fridge in the back of a Tacoma.
http://www.expeditionswest.com/equip...ma/fridge.html



Currently the fridge is on top of the cargobox.



It may look like it obstructs my vision out the rear window, but it does not at all.
The only thing I do not like about it is I can lift the lid all the way up, so that makes it kind of hard to get into.

A carpenter at work said he could put cabinet sliders on it so the fridge would pull out, but I kind of like the idea of what the author did to his Tacoma.

Has anyone with an FJ here taken out the rear seat and also thought about making a platform out of plywood to set a fridge on?

It would certainly be a lot easier to get to the contents, and also open up more space in the back again for camping/cargo stuff.

Island_Yota

Wow, that things massive, If it was me id sell it and buy a cooler.

Sorry, dont really have any real suggestions..

Corey

iTrader: (1)

A cooler?
The whole purpose of having an ARB fridge/freezer like this is so you do not have soggy wet food from ice.

The fridge will also run for 4 to 5 days on a standard automotive battery.

Island_Yota

Ziplock bags man, even just the cheap rip off ones work, I have a Coleman cooler that keeps food cold for 5 days, it was $40 and works great. Cool idea though, just too bad the ARB unit isn't smaller(maybe im wrong, does it come in different sizes?..... Just checked it out, and it does)

But anyway, seems like an cool idea behind the drivers seat, I can imagine that being pretty dangerous in an accident or roll over where you have it now, It honestly doesn't obstruct your rear view?

Corey

iTrader: (1)

ARB comes in one size only, the one I have.
They use to have three sizes, no longer.

The Engel fridge/freezer (made by the same outfit) has three sizes.

The fridge is locked to the plate, and the plate is locked to the top of the cargobox.
It is not going anywhere.

It does not obstruct my vision at all.
I sit up higher in the front seat.

The only weird thing with it there is I can see the green light from traffic lights reflecting off of it as I approach an intersection in the wee hours of the morning on my commute.

Oh, this also freezes too, something a cooler can not do.
And with an attachment, one can turn this into both a fridge and freezer at the same time.
http://www.twozone.com.au/

And since there is no ice, it will hold more grub than a cooler its size or bigger.
All that space is available for grub sans the ice.

keithguts

Corey, It dosn't seem like you are getting the answers your asking for, but being questioned on your view.

I for one would not take out my back seat as you will never no when you will need it. OK you do say that you never use it, but you never no.

The next thing that come to my mind is, will it rune the look of your rig? I must agree that yes it wound be better there then where you have it, but if it was me, I leave the back seat in. But then again this is me. It is your rig, do what you think is best, and what is best for your needs.

I hope I helped you.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Keith.
The one thing I miss about my 2nd gen was the space in the cargo area.

It was much bigger than the FJ, and I would have had room to bolt down the fridge to the floor where I had the subwoofer in the old rig, directly behind the rear seats, and in front of the cargobox.

Yeah, the view is no problem out the rear window.

surf4runner

no passenegers in the rear means lose the seat

then youll still have room for a cooler full of beer

mbisson

There is a write-up on Adventure4x4.net on putting the frig behind the rear seat. It was done by the owner of Sierra Expeditions, one of the sponser on Adventure4x4. Here is the link.http://www.adventure4x4.net/waiting/...read.php?t=787
Hope this helps. It is a very nice install.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

It is the same rig I linked in my first post in this thread.

mbisson

Oh, your picture shows it going fore and aft. His latest install shows it coming out the door for easy access.

4x4Lamm

I think it would be a cool idea Corey, If you made a platform in place of the rear seat you could also intigrate storage into the platform and it wouldn't be all that hard to make. Finishing/covering it would be the only hard part, at least to make it look good.

As it is now you have hardly any room for cargo in the rear so wouldn't your stuff be covering to back seat on a long trip anyways?

Off topic, but I NEED a CO2 tank, id that Powertank a 5 or 10 pounder?

Lamm

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Hi Lamm, yes it would, any cargo would be in the rear seats.

I think I am going to look more into this over the summer when I get time.
To much going on right now, but I am getting ideas for it.

The Powertank is the 10 lb model.
My 2nd one.
Had to sell the first one to pay the rent one month long, long ago when I was laid off from work.

I highly recommend the Powertank brand too.
There are many systems on the market, but I have always felt these were the top of the line.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Messed around a bit today looking at the rear seats.
The drivers rear seat is not wide enough to store the fridge.

If putting in on the passenger side, the seat back also would have to come all the way out, not just the bottom portion, as the floor area would not be big enough.

What I could do if I want to pursue this is to lay down both of the seatbacks and mount the Engel Slide Loc tray I am now using on the cargobox.

It might have to overlap the drivers side some, but would not have to screw to it.
Perhaps make new holes to secure it fully to the passenger seat back, not sure yet as I did not feel like ripping it off the cargobox today.

One problem still exists is that the fridge is to big to try and shove in through the suicide door, you still have to bring it in from the rear and jockey it into position to the Engel Slide Loc.

And when it sits on the seatbacks, it is the height roughly the same as it is was sitting in the rear if my cargobox was not in the equation.

I would gain 7 to 8" of height this way, a little better to open up the lid on the fridge, but not sure if it is worth the gain moving it.

I would have to drag the fridge to that location and test fit it first to determine if it is worth moving it and drilling into my virgin seatbacks.

I will snag a pic of how it would sit back there if I do drag it.

xcmountain80

As an idea why not leave your seat in and turn the fridge longways and put it on a slide. Thats how I have mine it works well, I also built my slide.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/w...a-mods-120026/
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/4...l-45-a-117065/

Aaron

PoleVaulter95

i say do it. if you dont haul passengers im sure you do cargo and having the fridge outa the way in the passenger seat area will free up alot of more room to bring any other camping supplies or whatever the heck u wanna haul around. besides someones gotta do it....

dubsb

Here ya go corey:

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forum...tml#post505145

My long tearm plan is to loose my left rear drawer and i'm going to cut a hole in he rear floor and bring the fridge down to level with the storage box, as well as add some more storage in the process. As you can see in the pics, the two pieces where the rear seats used to be are hinged so that i can use underneath for storage. If i didnt use that space to sleep in i would love to get the fridge between the wheels instead of the back. I think recessing it into the floor will get me the rest of the space i need, as of right now the fridge gets moved to the passenger seat when i sleep.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, I actually viewed your post over there when you posted it.
I am thinking now of redoing the lid on my fridge so it opens from the side.

I have a thread over there on it.

Someday I may tackle the idea again of trying to put it on the back of the seat back, to many other mods going on now.

dubsb

ya kevinr or mabye kevinrowland on mud has all the p/n's through mcmaster on the hidge flip setup...and a walkthrough.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I had read his thread a few months back, and re found the link again the other day and put it up in my thread over there.

Does not look to hard to do.
He did resew his ARB thermal bag, something I will not be able to do.
I have not even put the bag on my fridge since I have had it.

But moving the lid does not look like it would be to difficult.