Fridge in the cargo area with rear bench up

[entropy]

Hi all. Has anyone been able to fit a small fridge in the rear cargo with the bench up? I have a bearproof resistant cooler I generally take in the back of my teardrop trailer. I've been contemplating buying a small fridge I could use for short weekend trips so I don't have to deal with an oversized cooler for these short trips. Due to regulations this cooler needs to stay in the Jeep, as I don't want to sleep with it in the trailer. I also have an 80AH battery in my wrangler, a jackery 500 and a 100watt solar panel, so I have the power.

We use the rear bench when we travel and have a carseat back there so I can't just flip the bench. Any small fridge that fits in the miniscule cargo area?

Sponsored

 

[GATORB8]

You have like 10" of depth, right?

I checked the manufacturer I sourced the 12 V upright fridge for our trailer from, and they have a Mini that's less than 10" wide: https://www.bodegacooler.com/products/9-quart8l-ep8-mini-12v-portable-refrigerator-freezer

 

[entropy]

You have like 10" of depth, right?

I checked the manufacturer I sourced the 12 V upright fridge for our trailer from, and they have a Mini that's less than 10" wide: https://www.bodegacooler.com/products/9-quart8l-ep8-mini-12v-portable-refrigerator-freezer

That might do it. Ill go out and measure. The issue is the rear bench slopes towards the rear as it comes up. So I have to make sure I have 10 inches at the fridge's max height. It does look really small but if that's what I can get, that's it lol.

 

[GATORB8]

That might do it. Ill go out and measure. The issue is the rear bench slopes towards the rear as it comes up. So I have to make sure I have 10 inches at the fridge's max height.

I kind of slow played my first sentence, I looked it up for you before I posted the fridge. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/2-door-jl-cargo-space-dimensions.70031/post-1469594

 

[entropy]

So I took my 19quart fishing engel cooler and put it back there to take a couple measurements. I think you could fit something thats 12inches wide. The 19 quart cooler I have is supposedly 11inches length but I measured about 10inches. I think anything under 12 inches in length will fit there, as long as it isnt too tall.

Anyway. Engel makes a 15quart fridge that will for sure fit back there. I personally decided I am gonna just keep using my rotomolded 35quart Engel that fits nicely in the back of my teardrop trailer. For short trips all we have to do is throw some icepacks in there and the thing stays cold for days. Dealing with power would be more of a hassle and those fridges are pretty pricey. The tiny 9 quart by bodega might be nice for 1 night trips and the price isnt too bad.

https://engelcoolers.com/products/md14-ems-ambulance-fridge

https://engelcoolers.com/products/19qt-drybox-cooler?currency=USD&variant=33008307601541&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8t2eBhDeARIsAAVEga0hyAnPKFHO8ZtOyevucTER8Rxp0UtOnnu7RUpwTHAFAKor-IFLXpcaAon8EALw_wcB

 

[gregeast]

We bought this Alpicool fridge on Amazon almost 3 years ago, which has worked great and does fit behind the rear seat when upright.

 

[SH556JL]

We bought this Alpicool fridge on Amazon almost 3 years ago, which has worked great and does fit behind the rear seat when upright.

Any pics? I’ll be ordering for sure.

 

[gregeast]

I posted a pic in the thread and a link to Amazon?

 

[entropy]

We bought this Alpicool fridge on Amazon almost 3 years ago, which has worked great and does fit behind the rear seat when upright.

Can you please post a couple pictures? In the jeep? Did you get the 16 quart or the bigger one.

 

[SH556JL]

I posted a pic in the thread and a link to Amazon?

I met in the Jeep with the seat upright… But thanks.

 

[gregeast]

Ah, ok, sorry, I wasn't tracking, thought maybe the pic didn't post.

I will try and remember to take a pic when I get home from work.

We have the 20 quart version.

 

[jjvincent]

Look into what truckers do. Many use coolers that they ride with. Another option is to locate one of your existing coolers elsewhere and get dry ice. When I had my Eurovan, I got a Pelican cooler at a great deal. I'd just buy dry ice, store it in plastic bags, then vacuum pack and freeze my food before hand. That thing would run at -35F for about 3 days and by day 5 was around 20F. Everything was dry and you had to open up the drain to relieve the pressure. That was stored outside though.

 

[SH556JL]

Look into what truckers do. Many use coolers that they ride with. Another option is to locate one of your existing coolers elsewhere and get dry ice. When I had my Eurovan, I got a Pelican cooler at a great deal. I'd just buy dry ice, store it in plastic bags, then vacuum pack and freeze my food before hand. That thing would run at -35F for about 3 days and by day 5 was around 20F. Everything was dry and you had to open up the drain to relieve the pressure. That was stored outside though.

Seems overkill for day to day use or even weekend trips. I’m actually not sure where to buy dry ice, although I’m sure it’s not difficult.

 

[jjvincent]

Seems overkill for day to day use or even weekend trips. I’m actually not sure where to buy dry ice, although I’m sure it’s not difficult.

I was feeding a family of four. You could do it for much less dry ice. The prep ahead of time is key. As for dry ice, look into a place that sells things like welding equipment and gas. Then get a cheap styrofoam cooler to get it from them. After that, transfer it with oven mits into zip lock bags.

 

[gregeast]

Ok, a few pics of the fridge in the back of our '21 JL Rubicon. As you can see, we have a tailgate table installed as well, but still able to close the tailgate w/the fridge in place.

BTW, we also recently bought a Goal Zero Yeti 200 battery, which has run this fridge for 13 hours on a charge.

Sponsored