BajaTaco

My latest mod

THE FRIDGE FREEZER!!! I just got a HUGE 60 litre Norcold fridge/freezer which is the same thing as the ARB's and Engel's. It runs on either 12V DC or 120V AC. Here it is being loaded into the xcab. I ended up having to remove the jump seats, seat belt receivers, and backrest, so the front seats would sit in their normal position. Here's a shot with the lid open - kinda hard to shoot the pic in close range. I have it wired in but I still need to secure it so that it cannot move in an accident or roll-over. Until it passes the "yea, that's where I want to keep it mounted" test, it will be strapped to the seat belt eyelets (both front and rear seat belts). If I decided to keep it there permanently, I might bolt it in.

I added a mod to the mod, so I guess this is a sub-mod. It's a nifty little indoor/outdoor thermometer that does some other tricks too. I fabricated a little bracket for it, so that I could mount it right below the 2 meter radio, and it is angled up like the radio so I can see it while driving. I placed the outside temperature sensor inside the fridge/freezer (it's the little black disc with the black wire). I was able to route it so that no wiring was exposed inside the unit, it did not infringe on the seal of the lid, and it is hidden behind the thermostat cover. It is so cool to be able to watch what is happening inside the fridge/freeze at a glance. It's surprising how fast the temp. drops! A neat feature of this thermomter is that it has a "black ice" warning. This is to alert the driver of icy road conditions, but I am using it to alert me of icy freezer conditions. The first alert is at around 34 degrees (I think) and the second is at 32 degrees. You have the option of either audio beeps and LED flash, or just LED flash, or OFF. This is cool because if I have items in the fridge that I want super cold, but do not want to freeze, this will let me know if I need to adjust the setting. It will also be handy to know how fast the fridge is reaching the freezing mark. Speaking of timing the fridge cycles... this thermomter also has a built-in stop watch with lap timer. (I guess I can use it when I pre-run the Baja 1000 ) It also has a clock, and a volt meter with LED indicator and 1/10 volt digital increments to show how the battery is doing. Furthermore, it has a high and low temp memory that can be reset anytime. So, if I want to see the highest and lowest temps recorded in a given period of time, the info. is available. It's backlit too! It's the only one I've seen like it - got it on Ebay, and I cannot seem to find it anywhere on the web. There is no brand-name on the package. I've seen similar units, but not with the lap timer and temp. memory. So, if anyone knows where to buy these things, please let me know so I can refer people to it.

Here is a night pic of the radios with the temp gauge. And here is an overall view of the cockpit. And a night view

rimpainter.com

I know who I am going wheelin with sometime in the near future!


Everything looks great!

BajaTaco

Thanks! You oughta come up north for the Lava river ice cave fun run this weekend (near Flagstaff). I'm gonna pack the freezer with ice cream so everyone can have a treat at the trailhead

rimpainter.com

My wife and I are down!

Tell me more!

BajaTaco

Here's the info

rimpainter.com

Thanks for the info, we'll be at the truck stop if we can make it.

Later!

Memphis4X4

Nice job on ALL of the mods!! That is one huge freezer too!! I was looking at your cab shots and didn't see the string hanging from the ceiling to ring the bell on the roof of the cab. Every Icecream truck needs a bell!!!

Everything looks great!!

SteveS

Maybe a blender should be the next mod. there may be some real money in pina colada's deep in the desert at sundown

az4x4runner

That's one sweet looking cab, I can't wait to see it in person this weekend

Tacoma Dude

oooh... look at all the pretty lights

Los Gatos?

Quite the flashy setup you have there, Mr. Quite the flashy setup.

Bob_98SR5

Baja,

When the sh#t hits the fan, I know you'll be more than prepared to make a safe getaway.

That's great how you integrated all that stuff inside a Taco cabin. Very clean installs.

Bob

TDiddy

Holy smoke!

The fridge/freezer is sweet, but man was I blown away by the stuff up front! Cockpit is definitely a good word to describe it.

What is a 2 meter radio used for?

BajaTaco

Are you coming to the ice cave? Cool!

Hey everyone - THANKS for the feedback.

A 2 meter radio is used for communications similar to a CB radio. The difference is that a 2M radio requires an FCC license to operate, has more channels and features, is more powerful, can cover greater distances, and has a somewhat "different" user protocol than CB's do. It's basically a type of a mobile HAM radio. SteveS is partly to blame for all of this gadgetry... LOL! he got me started on the whole 2 meter bit, and I'm glad he did.

az4x4runner

Yes, I head of it from the post here on YT , I didn't realize it was on 4x4wire too.

BajaTaco

Woops! I didn't realize the info was here, or I wouldn't have linked to 4x4Wire. Bryan, you should ride up with us - we're meeting in Chino at 8:30. I'll send you a PM.

SteveS

1st radio, now a frig. whats next? Start saving

BajaTaco

OK, time for some pics...

The new "extended" deck for the xtra cab. I had to extend the OEM bench to accomodate the width of the fridge. When I put the fridge in the xcab, there was no longer any room for my old Kenwood speaker boxes. So, I incorporated the speakers into the new deck.



Here is the pass. seat fully reclined (this was to keep my wife happy with the fridge mod )



You will notice the power cord and thermometer wire are laying with "slack" in the lines, and not hidden. This is because the fridge is on sliders, and can slide across the bench to the middle. The white rope you see is the "quick release" that holds the fridge in place... like this...



I put the fridge on sliders because I wanted to be able to access the compressor and motor area if I want to, have easy access from either side of the truck, put the load in the middle for a solo trip if I want, and also to access the OEM stow compartments on either end of the bench, like this...





I cannot believe how many hours I have spent on this!! This must have taken more time than a SAS!! It seemed like a fairly simple mod to begin with... everything in that xcab is contoured... oh man, it took forever to shape the pieces for the deck. And then figuring out how to build the deck super solid so it would support the weight of a loaded fridge... even upside down (like a rollover - I hope not). And then figuring out how to do the fridge slides so they were equally stout. This doesn't even include the dual battery setup and battery controller... that is covered in this thread

And it's still not over!! I am going to be doing some more tweaks and mods with this.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Like wow man, very cool (no pun intended).
You have a lot of work in that, and it shows.
Very nicely done indeed.

BajaTaco

Thanks Corey! Very soon, I will get to put it through a "serious" field test. Deep in the Sierra Madre of old Mexico... hehehe



I will definitely post the results, and some pics!