ARB fridge/slide install & wiring questions (1 Viewer)

[fireball]

Guys,

In prep for a summer of fun trips culminating with an 18 day adventure out west including 100s in the Hills, we just bought a new ARB 63 qt fridge. I debated for awhile the 63 vs. the 50 and in the end decided a little bit of extra space would be nice, and the 3" lower height would allow my wife to see into the fridge whilst standing on the ground.

I purchased the fridge, insulation cover/transit bag and tie down kit from the folks at Slee OffRoad. @sleeoffroad

I also purchased the ARB slide, off of Amazon because I may end up building my own and returning it, or selling it. Some folks are happy with it, some say it rattles and others say it's overpriced. At $375 it's definitely expensive.

Here are a few pics of the install, first the fridge and transit bag sitting in the living room awaiting install:

The fridge and slide will sit on top of the driver side cargo box, the one that stays permanently mounted in the vehicle and contains all the wiring, switches and subwoofers. I installed the slide to the cargo box using 1/4-20 tee nuts and 3/4" machine screws. I need to buy some 1/4" washers and lock washers to complete the install.

Here is what it looks like all in place:

And here is where the 3" shorter height of the 63 makes all the difference:

 

[fireball]

Here is a quick shot showing how far you can open the lid. Plenty far to see and access everything inside, and the lid does slide/twist off if need be:

And now onto some wiring questions. I have my aux fuse panel hidden behind the OEM subwoofer grille, so wiring is nice and close:

I put a dedicated Bluesea 12V plug before I built my cargo system. Good idea, poor execution. The 12v plug from the fridge sticks out directly in that cubby, where we stash our camps chairs and small duffels and other junk when we travel.

If you remove the 12v plug at the end of the ARB cord, you will see this:

I am planning to run wires directly from the fuse panel to tie into this. Do I need to put female spades on the wires and tie into this, or can I cut it off and solder directly into the wires? (Reason I am worried about cutting it off is that I once had a Garmin GPS I did this too, only to find out the 12v receptacle also housed a fuse and something else, so my attempt to cut and direct wire left it inoperable)

Last question is what nifty solutions have you found to tidy up the wiring in the back and keep the cord from getting hung up in the slide mechanism?

Thanks!

 

[TrekboxX]

I cut the end off and used a powerpole. From there it goes to the fuse box. I anchored the cord with cable clamps after wrapping them with electrical tape to give some extra protection. I use a length of shock cord tied to the center of the cord. It pulls the cord out of the way and keeps it from rattling around. I also use a bit of the same cord and a bungee hook to hold the fridge lid open with the inside hatch handle. Hopefully the pics will help...

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

I drilled a hole in my rear cup holder and put a blue sea cig lighter jack. It's hidden when not being used & It works great!

 

[LTrain0800]

I cut the ARB cord and soldered it to my 10 ga wiring directly off of the battery. Works perfectly.

 

[DJWUZJ]

I went with a similar set-up as @TrekboxX ... used a 10 GA di-pole trailer plug. Sockets, etc are susceptible to loosening. This allows firm connection, with ability to move fridge to another vehicle if I wanted to.

 

[fireball]

Well I managed to make another relatively simple task decidedly complex!

I cut off the end of the plug and hardwired into my aux fuse box. 15 amp fuse at the aux panel as recommended by ARB. Soldered and heat shrunk the connections, then wrapped the entire wire in powerbraid:

Used some handy cable clamps to route the cord around the back of the storage box (note openings for 2x8" subwoofers, still haven't purchased those yet!):

Routed this way the cord is in perfect spot, no worries about it getting tangled up. Fully extended, the cord is zip-tied to the ARB tie down, and the last cable clamp is offset to the other side, this forces the cord to make a nice little "S" shape when opening and closing:

And now closed:

 

[OregonLC]

Birlliant!

View attachment 910158 I drilled a hole in my rear cup holder and put a blue sea cig lighter jack. It's hidden when not being used & It works great!

 

[mobi-arc]

I'd scrap those blue-sea connectors and switch to Powerlet.

 

[fireball]

The Bluesea 12v connection and the ARB fridge plug was not near as secure a connection as I would like. I uploaded photos to the post above on the fridge wiring.

Also tweaked the jerry can holder and shelf setup. Should be ready to go!



Added a bevel to the top shelf mainly for looks, and to each side support to allow the fridge/transit bag to slide back into place easily.



The side supports are built so as to allow full access to the vents/cooling fans at the back of the fridge:

 

[kennyao30]

Looks awesome! Wish I would have done this when I built my drawers.


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