Tie down points/Anchoring a fridge without drawers
Since getting a second-hand 40L fridge I've been working out the best way to fix it in the rear cargo area without having the mounting points that you get with a fridge slide or set of drawers.
Searching this forum turned up a few good suggestions, in particular, I was inspired by a post by Lowie back in 2013 – Tie down brackets for fridge
That post informed me that there was a child restraint anchor point in the rear (which had a plastic plug in it in my car) and that you can get anchor points that can be covered to stop them damaging things and also look neat.
I went to the wreckers on the lookout for some of these anchor points from a Commodore sedan but found something similar in a 2001 Subaru Outback.
I picked these up for $5 each - anchor points, covers and bolts.
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They are roof mounted points in the Subaru which is why they have plastic covers.
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Firstly I tried a tie-down strap, then I thought I'd get a clip from a car seat and use that to secure to the anchor point, but I found those type of straps loosened slightly over relatively short trips. So that led me to think that the seat belt material would work best.
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I got a couple of car seat extension straps/child harness from gumtree for about $5 each. The safe-n-sound protecta ones I got have a quick release buckle with a push button.
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I tried various methods to fix the straps to the fridge by unscrewing and threading the strap around the handle.
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and even with a double J hook to make it easy to remove, but that hook didn't fit the handle well.
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So I bought a single ratchet strap from Bunnings for $9.95 and used the PVC coated S hooks from that.
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I cut the hook with a Dremel and treaded the strap into the hook and folded the edges under.
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These are the two straps with hooks.
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I put the second anchor point on the passenger side in the rear of the cargo area as I am using the anchor point located directly behind the seats for a child seat.
Note: this needed a different thread as the anchor point bolts don't fit, so I bought some high tensile bolts for these locations near the wheel arch (I put another anchor point on the right side too as a potentially useful tie-down point).
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It worked out that the far strap I can pull towards me to tighten, and the close strap I can pull down to tighten. So both can have plenty of force applied.
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This gives me the flexibility to remove the fridge when we aren't going away and use a rear cargo mat for everyday use.
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