How good is access to cooler/fridge on a drawer system? Any real-world examples of how accessible your cooler is on an ARB Drawer System or similar? (1 Viewer)

[Patassa]

Alu-Cab makes a good tilting one. Here's mine with a large fridge/freezer. Perfect clearance from the top hatch and allows full opening of doors.

View attachment 3548327

How are you liking those drawers? You still like the fridge access this way? I'm considering this exact same setup. Is there an easy way add more drawers on the left side?

 

[spazzyfry123]

How are you liking those drawers? You still like the fridge access this way? I'm considering this exact same setup. Is there an easy way add more drawers on the left side?

I’ve flipped the fridge 180 so that the fridge can be accessed from the right side instead of the left. Was a bit cramped with the tire swing out.

I suppose you could fab something up to put another drawer on the driver side on top of the other one. That’s a lot of stuff

 

[Patassa]

I’ve flipped the fridge 180 so that the fridge can be accessed from the right side instead of the left. Was a bit cramped with the tire swing out.

I suppose you could fab something up to put another drawer on the driver side on top of the other one. That’s a lot of stuff

I camp with two girls...so yeah. It's a lot of stuff.

 

[spazzyfry123]

I camp with two girls...so yeah. It's a lot of stuff.

Girl dad here. I get it.

Maybe something similar to this could work unless you need three drawers. In which case, a standalone mounted to the typical side-by-side would work.

If you have a fridge mounted on top of a drawer, the tilt is a must. It works perfect in my 80, but if it didn't tilt, I would need a step stool each time I wanted something out of it. Something like below, you may be able to get by without any tilt (and may not really have an option to tilt with a tailgate).

 

[Patassa]

Girl dad here. I get it.

Maybe something similar to this could work unless you need three drawers. In which case, a standalone mounted to the typical side-by-side would work.

If you have a fridge mounted on top of a drawer, the tilt is a must. It works perfect in my 80, but if it didn't tilt, I would need a step stool each time I wanted something out of it. Something like below, you may be able to get by without any tilt (and may not really have an option to tilt with a tailgate).

View attachment 3847047

Oh very nice, hadn't seen that set up yet.

 

[spazzyfry123]

I just realized I didn't have enough coffee by the time I responded back to you earlier this morning and was a bit selective in my response...

I DO like the drawers. I like them a lot. The drop-in bins make it a breeze to grab a bin of like items (recovery gear for example) to just pull the bin out and rock and roll for whatever task. I use the flip-up work surface all the time.

Only "complaint" is I wish the drawer lock-out system (not the locks themselves, but the mechanism used to keep the drawer in an extended position) was a bit more robust. Don't get me wrong, it totally works. It just feels a bit "meh" for what it is. Certainly a function-over-form scenario. Fit and finish is great and I've had zero issues. They've been installed for probably four years? I'm considering another set for our 200 even though it's just a glorified Mom Mobile. Big Country makes a good product.

 

[Pipewhiner]

I went with an MSA drop slide for our setup.

 

[alia176]

Hi all,
I have spent hours searching different drawer system photos regarding fridges or coolers. 90% of these photos are just glamor shots of the fridge sitting inside the rig all tucked away on the drawer system. I just picked up a used ARB drawer system in the classifieds (thanks!) with the drawer slide, but its so high I don't know how accessible it would be if I bought a fridge. I see there's now a mini-revolution of slide/tilt brackets to angle the fridge down a little, as my setup already has a slide I am wondering how (at least for the last 10 years) all of these fridges on the ARB style or Dobinson style drawer systems were accessed.

I guess my main question is: how much room do you have when your fridge is opened to access your cooled goods? does it hit the hatch or body? does using a strait slide improve access for something like the 50qt ARB fridge? Anyone with photos of an opened fridge that they can share to show how much access they have?

thanks in advance!

your question is an excellent one, and the answer is directly tied to your height and your vehicle's lift Additionally, if your partner is shorter stature, that's a huge consideration that you need to take into account.

The pic below is from my 4runner cargo buildout process, and i got lucky when I found out i can use the rear hatch to hold the lid open

The second pic is from the 80 where the fridge lives in the second row and uses no slides. When I was dating a 5'5" lady, she needed the step stool to grab/see inside the fridge. When I was dating a 5'8" lady, she had no issues but now I might be dating a 5'3" so guess I'll find out on our first camping trip

Enjoy the research!