Anyone running an ARB 50 Fridge in their Quad Cab?

[Dissent]

I have an ARB 50 fridge in my Landcruiser that I want to take on a trip in my 2013 Quad Cab. I have a Fox Box taking up the middle and passenger space under the seat already and I'm left with the oddly shaped under seat storage/wall thing. Has anyone rigged up anything to support a fridge?

I'm thinking about fabbing up a sheet of plywood to rest on the thin wall between the storage and foot well and extend to the flat floor under the seat and possibly use nutserts for the rear where the floor is the most flat. I will build the platform and strap the fridge to it using the ARB handle straps and some L track.

For those that are curious, I have 4AWG wire run to terminal blocks under the driver's seat for my amps. I'll use this to tap in for power using ARB's twist lock socket.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Dissent]

 

[SitKneelBend]

View attachment 570776

I don't know if it will change your current plan or not, but some opt to make the rear seat back fold down for things like this. You could then make an even larger platform on the folded down seat back that extends to the rear cab wall.

 

[Different Drummer]

Looks like the fold flat floor in my 2017 crew cab is a little different than yours. The two piece fold down section is pretty thin. I cut a piece of 3/8 plywood to fit, placed a rubber non slip mat on it and placed my Dometic freezer on top. At a later date in the interest of safety in the event of a crash I did devise a way to secure the freezer to the seat frame with a racket strap. The thicker plywood distributes the weight over the fold flat area. I no longer carry the freezer inside as it seemed a bit counter intuitive to place the freezer inside the heated truck environment. I now carry it in the truck bed. For power I found a device that plugs into the seven pin trailer socket. It has two 12 V outlets as well as both four and seven pin outlets. The twelve volt outlet runs my freezer without issues. My freezer is in the 50 liter range. I have never had a power issue. I have in the past run two identical freezers using a Dometic PLB 40 lithium ion power supply. The power supply charges via the arrangement I described above. Both freezers are plugged into the power supply. Power supply charges from the trailer outlet all day while it simultaneously powers both freezers. Power supply is always at 100% when I stop around 6PM for a motel stay. Next morning I have never seen the power supply below 49% after powering both freezers for 14+ hours. Next day, repeat the cycle. Been doing this for over 5 years and have never had an issue with power etc. I do this twice a year. One round trip from NY to Newfoundland and one round trip from NY to Florida.Maybe you can use parts of what I have posted to work out your system.
Good luck.

 

[Dean2]

Go to the wreckers and get a fold flat floor for you pickup. Many models came with them installed.

Folded up, and deployed. Lots of guys make a plywood version of these but I like the factory version.

 

[Dissent]

I don't know if it will change your current plan or not, but some opt to make the rear seat back fold down for things like this. You could then make an even larger platform on the folded down seat back that extends to the rear cab wall.

I did modify the seat back to fold down but I don't like the weight of a fully loaded fridge that high, it's not as stable as I'd like and I don't have any way to secure it. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Dissent]

Looks like the fold flat floor in my 2017 crew cab is a little different than yours. The two piece fold down section is pretty thin. I cut a piece of 3/8 plywood to fit, placed a rubber non slip mat on it and placed my Dometic freezer on top. At a later date in the interest of safety in the event of a crash I did devise a way to secure the freezer to the seat frame with a racket strap. The thicker plywood distributes the weight over the fold flat area. I no longer carry the freezer inside as it seemed a bit counter intuitive to place the freezer inside the heated truck environment. I now carry it in the truck bed. For power I found a device that plugs into the seven pin trailer socket. It has two 12 V outlets as well as both four and seven pin outlets. The twelve volt outlet runs my freezer without issues. My freezer is in the 50 liter range. I have never had a power issue. I have in the past run two identical freezers using a Dometic PLB 40 lithium ion power supply. The power supply charges via the arrangement I described above. Both freezers are plugged into the power supply. Power supply charges from the trailer outlet all day while it simultaneously powers both freezers. Power supply is always at 100% when I stop around 6PM for a motel stay. Next morning I have never seen the power supply below 49% after powering both freezers for 14+ hours. Next day, repeat the cycle. Been doing this for over 5 years and have never had an issue with power etc. I do this twice a year. One round trip from NY to Newfoundland and one round trip from NY to Florida.Maybe you can use parts of what I have posted to work out your system.
Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback. I actually started in the truck bed but I have a few challenges I have a Paragon tonneau cover and I don't have an easy way to access the fridge. I only have 1/4" clearance above the fridge and folding the cover to access the stationary fridge is a major pain. The tonneau does leak when it rains and I've devised a simple deflector to remedy that but the overall access is an issue.

I did find the adapter you are referring to and a 5th wheel wire harness to tap into the existing 7-pin on the bumper to run into the truck bed.

I run this fridge in my Landcruiser and have a 100W solar panel on top to maintain it. Used to park in the sun at work. The panel output over 5A and the fridge consumed 4.6A in the heat of the day. Worked out great for 2 years.

 

[Dissent]

@Dean2 Great suggestion but I can't use the fold flat panels with the Fox Acoustics sub box, the seat already hits the box. I'm OK with fabbing up a plywood platform, just not sure how to anchor it. I've not been under the truck yet to see what's under the carpet in the flat spot under the seat.

 

[Dean2]

@Dean2 Great suggestion but I can't use the fold flat panels with the Fox Acoustics sub box, the seat already hits the box. I'm OK with fabbing up a plywood platform, just not sure how to anchor it. I've not been under the truck yet to see what's under the carpet in the flat spot under the seat.

Makes sense. As far as anchoring a plywood version, just use the same attachment points as the factory fold flat floor. That way you aren't putting any new holes in your pickup.

This is a 2500 but similar idea.

Attach fold flat fdloor ram 1500 at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[Dissent]

I don't think the Quad cab supports the fold out trays, the Crew Cab does.

 

[SitKneelBend]

I don't think the Quad cab supports the fold out trays, the Crew Cab does.

I "think" they actually do mount up without issue, they just don't come that way from the factory as they limit seat positions (but so will a fridge!)...

Edit: Here you go...

Check out the Fold Flat Floor in the Ram 1500

It is those extra features that make the Ram 1500 the best choice in a pickup. Our sales manager here at Midstate Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Ram demonstrates h...

www.youtube.com

 

[Dissent]

Just measured my ARB 50 fridge at 20" tall, 15" wide and 27.8" deep. It's too deep to fit on the driver's side, hits the subwoofer box and needs another 4 inches. It's 1/2" too tall to fit under the tonneau cover in the bed too. Back to the drawing board.

Just noticed an ARB Elements fridge would fit the bill perfectly. It's only 17.3" tall, 19.3" wide and 32.3" deep and it's weatherproof. It would fit under my leaky tonneau cover and I could accommodate a slider underneath. Just need to justify the $1600 price tag. But, if I didn't buy any food on a 4000 mile road trip, that adds up quick and I don't have to deal with ice from a cooler. And I got my ARB 50 for free so it averages out just fine.

 

[Dissent]

OK, can't spend the money on the ARB 63 right now so it's back to the drawing board...again.

I did locate the child seat restraints (black U shaped brackets between the seats next to the seat belts) and will fashion up a platform over the rear seat (over the woofer).

The initial plan is to use a chunk of 4" x 4" wood and wrap it in a piece of carpet to protect the seat. I'll lay the 4x4 on the rear seat, along the crack where the seat belts protrude, covering the passenger and middle area. I'll have drilled 2 or 3 holes diagonally allowing me to use a battery hold down J-hook on the black child restraints and pass it through the hole so it comes out on the upper corner, secured by a nut. This will pull the 4x4 down towards the corner of the seat.

Next, I'll fashion a T-shaped foot out of plywood to rest on the floor mat and extend upwards beyond the top of the seat edge.

Then I'll fasten a piece of 3/4" plywood across the 4x4 and the T-shaped foot providing a solid foundation for the fridge.

Finally, I'll install some strips of L-track on the ends of the plywood covering the seat to secure the fridge straps to. This is how I'm securing the fridge in my Landcruiser.

This setup should provide a stable and secure platform for the fridge that also protects the seat from wear and will be easy to remove later. I may come up with a better idea but so far, this is the plan.

I'm currently building cabinets for my office so I have most of this lying around and will assemble it in the next day or two then post up pics.