Builds 2008 LX Live Camera Car and Overlanding Build. (1 Viewer)

[grinchy]

OK, this might be it but I will wait for a response from IceCo regarding group discounts before I move forward (might organize a group buy if price is right). They are closed for the weekend.

To get this price you sign up with an email at stack social.com, then they email you a coupon for 10% off first order. 420 total!

they also have a referral program that I might take advantage of if the bulk discount isn’t worth it. If you sign up through here I get 10 bucks if you make a purchase, and you get 10 as well!

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so I just need 42 of you guys to grab this deal so i can get one for free lol.

View attachment 2331263

Pictured here is a rebrand alpicool. I'm sure they have the ability to spec parts differences though. For example the alpicool clones on sale at Costco last week had a 'Samsung' compressor.

Did you give the dodge to dual zone?

 

[SharpeCat]

Pictured here is a rebrand alpicool. I'm sure they have the ability to spec parts differences though. For example the alpicool clones on sale at Costco last week had a 'Samsung' compressor.

Did you give the dodge to dual zone?

no Im just an idiot and assumed that one was dual since it had separate compartments. Again, this is why I have you guys! No single zone fridge is getting past @grinchy‘s trained eyes!

I also gave it more thought and really want one that opens from long side to long side, so that it takes up less space vertically with it open, and so that I can open it easily from inside and outside. I also haven’t given up on a metal one either. When metal gets hot it’s really hot but after the fridge has been running for a while, and after a nice air conditioned ride, I am thinking it will be a nice cool surface to lay on.

I bought a tape measure from dollar tree so I will go back to the drawing board and start there. That might be Tigers new favorite store this summer because 1 dollar ice cream!

 

[Ratchey]

no Im just an idiot and assumed that one was dual since it had separate compartments. Again, this is why I have you guys! No single zone fridge is getting past @grinchy‘s trained eyes!

I also gave it more thought and really want one that opens from long side to long side, so that it takes up less space vertically with it open, and so that I can open it easily from inside and outside. I also haven’t given up on a metal one either. When metal gets hot it’s really hot but after the fridge has been running for a while, and after a nice air conditioned ride, I am thinking it will be a nice cool surface to lay on.

I bought a tape measure from dollar tree so I will go back to the drawing board and start there. That might be Tigers new favorite store this summer because 1 dollar ice cream!

Those with the 2 compartments like the ones in those images are technically dual zone. The smaller area above the compressor stays warmer than the main compartment. You can set it to 20 degrees and it will keep things at the bottom of the main compartment frozen and things at the top and the small compartment cold. Although not a true dual zone, it can function as one with some planning.

Not sure if these guys will be cheaper but they are really good about doing group buys. I bought the TB-51 which is an Indel B which had the Dan Foss compressor at the time for about $400 shipped through a group buy on the 4runner forum. Might be worth a shot.
Truck Fridge

 

[SharpeCat]

Cooler is 17 inches wide, 17-18 inches tall and 21 inches long. Bed is about 15 inches off the floor in back but a few inches higher in front, which is why I’m flexible on height (I can raise back bed height later with a single drawer).

If i take out 3rd row seat on passenger side I only gain about half an inch for width.

So ideally I want:

17 inches max width
29 inches max length
14-18 for height, but a little flexible.
Door that opens sideways (long side to long side)
Prefer metal, but will consider plastic.
Good compressor (5 year warranty like Danfoss/Secop)
~$400-700 range

Ideally I want to find a vendor that will consider giving us a decent “mud” discount if we purchase 10 or more. If not then I’ll just get 1 and call it a day.

By the way, the charge backpack is working out great. Now my power banks, laptop and USB devices are getting way more charging time and I have not had any issues running out of power, not even close. Being able to quickly unplug and plug everything in, as well as it being easy to transport, makes it something I can easily integrate into my routines. I’ve also done some wire tucking using the pockets inside and it looks much more neat, maybe a few Velcro straps and the temp solution backpack can become permanent! Will add a small USB fan and might move the strip to the waterproof compartment where the laptop is, not that I ever intend on leaving this out where it is wet.

They can be chained so that I can plug the fan into the 12v from the Jackery, all 3 power banks have to drain before the fan shuts off.

 

[SharpeCat]

I must’ve gotten bit by the same bug that got @1world1love , because I woke up today and had an urge to pull everything and take better measurements of the back, so that I could start building a drawer and sliding platform for fridge from scratch. It’s time for the 3rd row to come out and time for a good cleaning while everything is out.

I logged on to tell @1world1love I was going to borrow his idea of using just a board on the floor for the fridge side, only to find that the bug got him too and that his 3rd row is now gone. Must be a sign. Reading his post definitely gave me a sense of Deja Vu.

mine will be similar to yours, @1world1love. I’m combining your temp solution with your permanent solution and building it raised on left side and only using a board on right side for sliding mount. This is because I want the fridge to be able to slide, but I also want to put my chargepack on top of the fridge and want it to serve as cool surface to lay on, and so I will not be raising it. I’m making it a point to leave everything out of the car until the drawer is done so that I don’t get distracted.

just assume I know nothing, so any advice or ideas is greatly appreciated. The third row is coming out tomorrow then I’m doing measurements.

 

[1world1love]

Good luck!

You may consider even a small drawer or something under the fridge. The reason is that if it sits close to the floor, you are limited in how far over you can mount it because of the wheel well. By raising it up even a couple of inches, you gain a few inches of space that you can use for your sleep platform (or whatever). The area around the wheel wells tend to be dead space anyways. Here is a crude diagram, but you get the idea:

You can probably find a sweet spot where you can still use the top of the fridge as you intend and also gain more flat real estate on your platform side. Think about a small cubby for your stove, or other low profile things you could store under the fridge. Food for thought.

 

[1world1love]

This pic best illustrates it. You can see how far over off-center my fridge sits and how much space is open next to it.

If it was on the floor, it would be exactly where the outer edge of the drawer on the left would be. Obviously this is higher than you want to go, but you can see it in practice:

 

[grinchy]

Pulling the third row: Fold seat down a couple inches so it unlatches from wall. Hold the latch closed and fold vertical. You want to prevent the latch from re-engaging on the wall. There will be a warning buzz, ignore it and it goes away. Pull trim firmly. Attached are some pics of the back of the trim so you can see where they interlock.
Four bolts and the one plug and you're done.

 

[SharpeCat]

This pic best illustrates it. You can see how far over off-center my fridge sits and how much space is open next to it.

If it was on the floor, it would be exactly where the outer edge of the drawer on the left would be. Obviously this is higher than you want to go, but you can see it in practice:

View attachment 2333833

That could solve another big problem I’ve been having, which is that my width restrictions because Of wheelwell pretty much forces me to drop to a smaller fridge.

What I am trying to work out is that if I raise it to clear the wheelwell, then it will end up being as tall as yours? You are just clear of the wheelwell yourself, are you not? Then it will be too high to use as extra bedspace.

One thing I am considering, is removing 2/3 of the 2nd row and raising the entire left side, so that I can go higher on right side without the fridge being too much higher than top of bed. if I go this route I was thinking build another drawer perpendicular to the left side/bigger drawer, that slides out the back left door. It will be a slim one but tall, so that it can level out the bed. The 2nd row seat is tilted so replacing it with a drawer would solve that issue as well as the issue of leveling the bed with the fridge, if the fridge was raised to clear wheelwell. It would also give me a massive drawer on left side lol and raise my bed about 4 inches from where it currently sits.

Anyone here removed the long part of the 2nd row before?

 

[SharpeCat]

Pulling the third row: Fold seat down a couple inches so it unlatches from wall. Hold the latch closed and fold vertical. You want to prevent the latch from re-engaging on the wall. There will be a warning buzz, ignore it and it goes away. Pull trim firmly. Attached are some pics of the back of the trim so you can see where they interlock.
Four bolts and the one plug and you're done.

View attachment 2333854

View attachment 2333855

@grinchy you read my mind brother. Thank you!

 

[grinchy]

If you remove the second row seat there are bright yellow plugs. These are for the airbags. Only unplug or plug if negative battery disconnected for 3 minutes.
You'll get a dash light from srs system that can be resolved long term with a resistor. I forget the value but is been posted a few times.

 

[1world1love]

That could solve another big problem I’ve been having, which is that my width restrictions because Of wheelwell pretty much forces me to drop to a smaller fridge.

What I am trying to work out is that if I raise it to clear the wheelwell, then it will end up being as tall as yours? You are just clear of the wheelwell yourself, are you not? Then it will be too high to use as extra bedspace.

One thing I am considering, is removing 2/3 of the 2nd row and raising the entire left side, so that I can go higher on right side without the fridge being too much higher than top of bed. if I go this route I was thinking build another drawer perpendicular to the left side/bigger drawer, that slides out the back left door. It will be a slim one but tall, so that it can level out the bed. The 2nd row seat is tilted so replacing it with a drawer would solve that issue as well as the issue of leveling the bed with the fridge, if the fridge was raised to clear wheelwell. It would also give me a massive drawer on left side lol and raise my bed about 4 inches from where it currently sits.

Anyone here removed the long part of the 2nd row before?

The thing is that you only need to go as high as me if you want tp completely clear the wheel well. You can do some basic geometry to clear only as much as is needed or just take a couple of straight edges at a 90 degree angle and you can approximate pretty easily to see how high you need to go to gain as much space you need for the size.

 

[SharpeCat]

The thing is that you only need to go as high as me if you want tp completely clear the wheel well. You can do some basic geometry to clear only as much as is needed or just take a couple of straight edges at a 90 degree angle and you can approximate pretty easily to see how high you need to go to gain as much space you need for the size.

Understood boss, and Once I know which fridge then I can figure out what height it needs to sit in order to fit the width and be comparable with bed height.

Current puzzle that I will sleep on, is figuring out how I want to build the 2nd row drawer that will be used for extra storage as well as for supporting and raising/leveling the exped in the mid region (to accommodate taller fridge). I never really use but 1 of the 2nd row seats, and extra storage is more valuable so I think I’m pretty set on taking out a 2nd row seat.

Would be nice to have it be modular/attach to the third-row drawer, so that it can use the bigger drawer as an anchor. There is also that curve in the floor that I have to account for, which Is the main reason I want to do it in 2 modular pieces rather than 1 big Flat piece. I am thinking it might be good to have it open upwards like the seat would, and I would lift/fold the exped to access it.

Im keeping things simple tonight, and looking forward to making some progress with you guys tomorrow. Thanks again for your time and expertise, and hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the night!

 

[grinchy]

Draw and plan for sure. If you are pulling a second row seat you can put the fridge up there and access via side door under your awning. Then the load floor for drawers and sleeping all work easier. it also makes it easier For a water tank On the floor behind front seats or even behind driver seat.

 

[SharpeCat]

Pulling the third row and the big 2nd row seat today! After that I will try calling IceCo again to inquire about group discounts and their Secop compressor lineup, and will call other vendors to see if they will entertain the same.

Another thing I am trying to do is figure out if there are other Chinese vendors who use the Secop compressors. Maybe I can try calling Alpicool as well? Basically after seats come out and dimensions are in, the search for the right fridge continues. Just a heads up, I will be calling manufacturers as a rep for “ih8mud”, so if that’s not okay please let me know and I’ll stop.

@grinchy I think the 2nd row fridge is a great idea, and will consider it today. If I go 2nd row then I can pretty much go any size.

One thing I would LOVE to do is find us a vendor who will make a custom size that will fit 80-200 series easily, and let us rebrand it as a “ih8mud” fridge in addition to giving us “wholesale” discounts. I know it’s very ambitious but I’d much rather try and fail than fail from not trying. Main reason for this is to help pave the way to make it a little easier for members after me to find the right fridge for the right price, while also helping to establish the mud community as a legitimate “vendor/customer base”, so that it will be easier to setup “group buys” and get “wholesale prices” in the future. This is a small part of my bigger plans to one day become a non-profit mud vendor, in order to hopefully save our members some money while helping them find products. We can all help by calling as representatives of Ih8mud when we buy from a big vendor, rather than as individuals, and after a while we can be recognized as a organization by said manufacturers, which makes us eligible for business to business discounts.

A custom size would make fitting it in the third row easy, even with it on the floor and not clearing wheelwell. If that doesn’t work out then 2nd row placement will become very appealing.

I will fire up the stream when I get to the warehouse ( Twitch.tv/sharpecat ), in case anyone wants to stop by and help keep an eye on things and offer advice through chat. I will likely need help with removing 2nd row. You are welcome to just hang out as well and chat.

2.2 ohm resistor to Prevent SRS airbag warning lights, and disconnect negative terminal 3 mins before pulling the yellow plug. Can you post a picture of how your resistor is taped on there? I have never put in a resistor before so a picture is worth a million words here. Thanks @grinchy and @Markuson for leading me to the SRS solution.

and by the way, the floor isn’t that bad I actually had a nice long sleep! Wasn’t used to having all that width to roll around in which was nice.

 

[1world1love]

I agree that the fridge in the removed second row sounds the best solution. You could build a full platform and have room for pretty much all your stuff in the drawers underneath. You have plenty of room to spread out, and you have your fridge in a convenient location. There are a few folks on here that have gone this route and have pics.

Looks like you did a great job getting everything cleaned up.

 

[grinchy]

Just a heads up, I will be calling manufacturers as a rep for “ih8mud”, so if that’s not okay please let me know and I’ll stop.

Suggest you check with the site admin before you get too far down this path

 

[SharpeCat]

Suggest you check with the site admin before you get too far down this path

who are the site admins? I tried asking for the names of the people I need to get permission from once before but no luck. I will be glad to shoot them a message, and will play it safe for now and just inquire about group buy discounts, without saying I am a mud rep.

and thanks for the insight @1world1love , I will be stopping by their threads today to get some ideas! And thanks for the compliment, I love my little dewalt vacuum!

 

[SharpeCat]

I asked my dad if I could do the removal inside the warehouse today since it might rain, and he said NOPE lol. We have a lot of people coming in and out and they need the loading dock areas (where I normally work on the car) clear. I normally just use it on weekends when we are closed and I have free reign over the warehouse.

Anyways, the good news is when I came into the office he had a surprise waiting for me! Something about a FedEx promotion with us and they gave us some gift certificates, one being a TWO HUNDRED AND 50 DOLLAR CERTIFICATE TO LOWES!!!! Now I can go for high quality wood!!!! We will get to that later. I have to say this made my whole week, and it’s only Tuesday! I’d honestly be a dead little Asian man without my parents lol.

I found a good spot with nice WiFi for the stream, and will get to work soon!

 

[SharpeCat]

Up for donation. I really would love to find someone who can make use of these so that they don’t go to waste or take up space forever in my parents warehouse. I cracked the built in DVD Player display on the 2nd row seat by laying on it, but I can swap it out with one of my working ones since I don’t use it at all. Everything works on all the seats.

Ideally you pay for shipping but I can likely get you some good freight rates. Will add pics of 2nd row seat later After it is out. I will also shrink wrap everything to protect it while it awaits its next owner.