What fridge size fits best in the 100?

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I have the ARB 50 qt, and it's a good size for my use. I have built cargo drawers that are about 11" tall, and it sets on top of them just fine, with enough room to still access the contents. Remember that you want to leave some space open around the vents of your fridge, and not to block them to keep your motor cool.
 
I have a Waeco CF-50 which is roughly the same capacity as the ARB 50. I think it has the perfect capacity for 2-3 adults for 3-5 day excursions. Of course you can accommodate more days with packing more carefully and swapping in/out drinks more often. What is nice, it can handle pretty much all tall bottles with even a little extra room on top of that for a bag of lettuce or whatever you don't want crushed. The ARB 63 can fit most bottles upright but not all.

Lately I've been thinking about moving to the ARB 63 for increased capacity (growing family) and the 3" lower height. It is a really good fitment for the 100. I can mount it on a slide on the rear floor and can access the contents without jumping on the tailgate. Two stacked drawers next to it and a full width shelf above it would make for a nice set-up. Only problem is, it takes versatility away from the 100. The length of the fridge is close to the depth of our trunk at the 18" height line. The few extra inches can accommodate a cargo barrier, water tank or both.

Edit: maybe stating the obvious but theoretically, there will be less "digging" for food in the 63 as it is shallower and you'll have more open access. Bigger is okay when it comes to the fridge. Whether you store beer inside or outside the fridge, it's still going to take up room. :beer:
 
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Get the big one. A 45 quart Engel will barely hold a case of beer and a bag of grapes. Hoser makes a good point about "digging," too, the taller fridges start to get irritating after day 2 of a trip, when you know there's one more juice box down there somewhere but have to spill all kids of salsa to find it. I just sold my Engel, my next fridge is lower, bigger one.
 
It's primarily myself and my girlfriend... I'm interested in a week or so worth of provisions. The 63 interests me because it's lower profile and easier access. Right now we use a 70qt coleman cooler with block ice and the size of it doesn't bother me. I was thinking the ARB 63 is close to that.

My side by side drawer system is in progress and the top deck is 40" deep so I think I can make either size work. On the flip side the whole world is set up for the 50 in terms of accessories and what nots.
 
Anything bigger than 50/52/55L is overkill IMHO unless you are doing a 2 week trip without restocking. Remember that you can use a smaller fridge than cooler because you wont have any ice (except the stuff you make for cocktails along the way :) )The NL 50L fits great. I routinely carry enough food / wine / beer for a 2-3 day trip with no issues and all of my camping gear for 2 adults 2 children, 1 dog.

See the bottom of this thread for pics of NL installed on LoadSpotter.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series...lutions-arb-drawer-install-review-2011-a.html

The LoadSpotter increases the footprint by 50-60% but provides protection for the fridge and ensures air flow.
 
For two people, get the 50. Also consider mounting it in the 2nd row, on the 1/3 side like a few others. So much easier to access.
 
I realize that the ice takes up room in my cooler and that's why I was looking at the 50 and comparing to my 70qt ice. One thing I did notice in the specs on the 63 is that the "dairy" area height is 3" shorter than the 50 but the area is 20% larger. Do I care if the dairy area is shorter? The main storage is still 12" high.

70 qt extreme cooler 31.5 x 18.25 x 16

Arb 50 27.75 x 20 x 15

Arb 63 33.27 x 16.85 x 17.75
 
Dairy compartment should be fine... and the tallest dairy product is usually milk which would reside in the fridge section.

If one really wanted to maximize space, I'd look into a different brand. The ARB's seem to be big on the outside compared to the interior volume. Could be better insulated than others, I'm not sure. i.e. the Waeco/Dometic CF-50 is SMALLER on the outside than the ARB 35... but 40% larger on the inside.
 
50 works great in my hundy. I ran a constant hot 12v plug to the inside of flip up storage area on the passenger side of the cargo area just to run the fridge.
 
Well I scored on Craigslist this past weekend... picked up a Norcold MRFT460. this is the big Norcold, same fridge as the Engel MT60. i was talking to a good friend today about fridges- he was stoked I got this, as he also saw it on CL. but he made a comment worth repeating, I'll paraphrase: Fridge space is the most valuable space there is. You can always shove other stuff somewhere else, but cold stuff can only go in the fridge.

Was almost profound, and that really sold me on the big guy.. I've lived the 45 quart life so I'm ready for the next level. Yup, it takes up half the back. I can put a small tool bag, portable 12v air compressor bag, few other things ahead of it between it and the back seat. My plan is to build a drawer system on the other side for all tools and recovery gear, with a height equal to the height of the fridge. So easy to still see over, and when I move a card table, big stroller, TV, it'll just rest on top of the fridge and drawers. I also want to be able to remove the drawers, so I can pop the 3rd row seat back in for those special times the kids need to take friends, or the wife needs to drive 7 women to bunco... :rolleyes:


My last rant on fridges is they should be easy to access without a slide- you want grabbing something to be a 5 second deal, not 30. So this one is staying on the floor, so the door can open all the way and you can easily access all of it from the outside, with the tailgate closed. On with the pics.. behold the 60 quart and all its glory. :D
fridge1.webp
fridge2.webp
fridge3.webp
 
Nice find. That fridge is huge.
 
mine is a 63L, a bit more in quarts. It is very nice to have the extra room in. For instance, I freeze bottles of water at below zero F just before going out, put those in and the fridge works much less which helps with the battery when stationary. (I've seen the bottles fully frozen still after 3 days+). Helps with cooling and then you can drink those, wash with them, or use them for your cooling system. So less need for water storage elsewhere. May not be able to do that with a smaller fridge if you want a lot of food in the fridge. It does look pretty imposing in the truck, but what a pleasure to have good food on the road.
 
nakman said:
Well I scored on Craigslist this past weekend... picked up a Norcold MRFT460. this is the big Norcold, same fridge as the Engel MT60. i was talking to a good friend today about fridges- he was stoked I got this, as he also saw it on CL. but he made a comment worth repeating, I'll paraphrase: Fridge space is the most valuable space there is. You can always shove other stuff somewhere else, but cold stuff can only go in the fridge.

Was almost profound, and that really sold me on the big guy.. I've lived the 45 quart life so I'm ready for the next level. Yup, it takes up half the back. I can put a small tool bag, portable 12v air compressor bag, few other things ahead of it between it and the back seat. My plan is to build a drawer system on the other side for all tools and recovery gear, with a height equal to the height of the fridge. So easy to still see over, and when I move a card table, big stroller, TV, it'll just rest on top of the fridge and drawers. I also want to be able to remove the drawers, so I can pop the 3rd row seat back in for those special times the kids need to take friends, or the wife needs to drive 7 women to bunco... :rolleyes:

My last rant on fridges is they should be easy to access without a slide- you want grabbing something to be a 5 second deal, not 30. So this one is staying on the floor, so the door can open all the way and you can easily access all of it from the outside, with the tailgate closed. On with the pics.. behold the 60 quart and all its glory. :D
Click to expand...

I've been using one of these for the last 7 years and never once have I wished I had the smaller one. I don't know how people make it with the 45 quart/liter. Heck, I'm wondering if I should move up to the 80 something fridge, LOL.
 
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