building frame around fridge

Hey Folks,

We have a fridge currently mounted in the back on a slide.
The slide is mounted on a marine ply board, with heavy duty carpet over the top - all neat and tidy looking.

We now need to build a frame over the fridge, so that when we're fully packed up, we can still get to the food/drinks.

So just wondering if anyone has any tips/tricks on this?

The plan: Marine Ply, angled brackets, heavy duty carpet, staple gun.
As the fridge is setup on the left, we're thinking or maybe attaching a panel to sit on top of the dicky seats mount, to make it level, and provide extra support for the frame. ... if that makes sense

Use some aluminium mesh from a screen door. It's light and the air can get through it for cooling.

My favourite one of these I saw was made from an old screen door like this.

Attachment 53867

Looked really good and would have been so light, I hope to do this one day. Wish I could track down the photo of it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BillsGU

Use some aluminium mesh from a screen door. It's light and the air can get through it for cooling.

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Sorry ... am i being dumb .... would that be on the sides?
I'm concerned about other stuff pushing against the mesh and damaging it, or stopping it moving freely

I one that I saw was bent in such a way that it covered whole fridge.

I'll try track the photo down.

I'll post a picture of mine in the morning, when I turn on the laptop .... not a full cage, but should give you an idea

Mic

Here are a couple of pictures of my frame that I made up
Attachment 53873
Attachment 53872
Attachment 53874

You could use 12mm ply and use a hole saw to cut a pattern in the side , lightens it a bit as well
Plenty of different types of mesh around, depends as well what you want timber or metal.
Im in the process of making guards for the rear windows so I can pack up high, are you planning a top shelf
if so you could do a simple "T" design

Full 12mm ply, glue and screw, and add a half peice to the back so it allows plenty of circulation (so 1/4 top and bottom open) to supply sideways strength.
Inlaws did it with a second draw next to it. It is a good idea but can make packing that last bag up in the very top a bit harder..

I reckon a cage is a better idea than a box. It's one of those things on my list of things to get around to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

You could use 12mm ply and use a hole saw to cut a pattern in the side , lightens it a bit as well
Plenty of different types of mesh around, depends as well what you want timber or metal.
Im in the process of making guards for the rear windows so I can pack up high, are you planning a top shelf
if so you could do a simple "T" design

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Yeah - I think the idea of drilling holes in the wood is the best option.
Not really fussed about metal or timber - just hadn't really considered metal.

We have fridge on left, other stuff at the side of it, and the gazebo and tent go across the top of the whole lot, with blankets & pillows etc by the windows to prevent damage/movement. Would be keen to heard more about the guards :)

The main reason for building this is so that when the car is packed, we can still get the fridge open - so it would need to have a sturdy top that will take the weight. I like the idea of covering it in carpet, both to look tidy, and also the other stuff slides against it quite nicely (nothing to get caught on).

you could make up a frame using 20 x 20 x 1.5 rhs and
tack welding some mesh to the sides and roof , enabling you to pack on top as well
That was the "T" reference, gives you a top shelf for light gear like pillows and sleeping bags etc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

you could make up a frame using 20 x 20 x 1.5 rhs and
tack welding some mesh to the sides and roof , enabling you to pack on top as well
That was the "T" reference, gives you a top shelf for light gear like pillows and sleeping bags etc

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Welding .... this suddenly sounds way too complicated!
Never done any welding ... and while I would love to have a go, I think wooden frame might be the best option at this stage :)

Will have a play at the weekend and see what we come up with :D

screwed and glued will be fine, are you plannning on fully boxing in the fridge?.
Might be easier then bolt the fridge side to the box

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

screwed and glued will be fine, are you plannning on fully boxing in the fridge?.
Might be easier then bolt the fridge side to the box

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Fully boxing the fridge is the plan ... well, both sides, the top, and maybe a half-back as suggested for support - and lots of hols for venting :)
Fridge slide is mounted to the current base we have - but the plan is to build the box onto that ... but some way of making it relatively easy to remove, as we often use our Patrol for other stuff (moving big things or taking more than 5 people out).

Yeah thats sounds like a great plan, looking forward to pictures

Gday. This is the frame I have for mine. Built it several years ago when we had a GU, now it resides in the GQ. Works well for the travel buddy as well.

We did it :)
Took us a while to measure it all up and cut the wood to size. We're shaped it nicely at to back, so the top part sits flush against the cargo barrier, but power down is open to give ventilation at the back of the fridge where the fan outlets are :)
We haven't cut the holes in the side yet - we'll do that in the coming weeks when we have a bit more time to cut the holes and glue the carpet around the holes to stop anything catching on it.

So we used 12mm marine ply, some small brackets on the inside of the joins, and metal strip along all horizontal joins, and also a half-height panel across the back to make it more rigid.
Attachment 54188
Finish thing:
Attachment 54189

We've tested it, and the gazebo and tent still fit nicely across the top, and the fridge opens nicely too :)
Pretty happy with the result - although it took us a while!

Now we're ready to fit the new water bladder in the back tonight and lift kit, snorkel and recovery points go on tomorrow at TJM ..... super excited!!! :D

very good job After you drill the 70mm holes etc
you could staple so mesh to stop gear going into holes

Two thumbs up good stuff ,and another job ticked off the list

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

very good job After you drill the 70mm holes etc
you could staple so mesh to stop gear going into holes

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Good thinking!! Hadn't thought of that!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

Two thumbs up good stuff ,and another job ticked off the list

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Yep - feeling slightly more prepared for our Adelaide-Oodnadatta-Uluru-MacDonnell Ranges-Adelaide trip in April :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tracemul7

We did it :)
Took us a while to measure it all up and cut the wood to size. We're shaped it nicely at to back, so the top part sits flush against the cargo barrier, but power down is open to give ventilation at the back of the fridge where the fan outlets are :)
We haven't cut the holes in the side yet - we'll do that in the coming weeks when we have a bit more time to cut the holes and glue the carpet around the holes to stop anything catching on it.

So we used 12mm marine ply, some small brackets on the inside of the joins, and metal strip along all horizontal joins, and also a half-height panel across the back to make it more rigid.
Attachment 54188
Finish thing:
Attachment 54189

We've tested it, and the gazebo and tent still fit nicely across the top, and the fridge opens nicely too :)
Pretty happy with the result - although it took us a while!

Now we're ready to fit the new water bladder in the back tonight and lift kit, snorkel and recovery points go on tomorrow at TJM ..... super excited!!! :D

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Good job.....

Probably don't even need to drill any ventilation holes if the motor vents already to the space at the back of the cabinet, as you will get natural draw though from the back doors of the truck, down the side of the fridge as well as venting straight out the back, as there is plenty of space by the looks of it

Mic

Seeing you're not a welder but another item on my to do list is a top shelf
about 200mm down from the roof, Good place for some soft light gear,
one end attaches to the cargo barrier,. From the driving position you can
put a decent size shelf there, Just an idea lol
I also am about to make side cargo window protectors, maybe just some 6mm
ply with holes that will fit in the window cavity, even use velcro to secure it there.
Again just an idea lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

Seeing you're not a welder but another item on my to do list is a top shelf
about 200mm down from the roof, Good place for some soft light gear,
one end attaches to the cargo barrier,. From the driving position you can
put a decent size shelf there, Just an idea lol
I also am about to make side cargo window protectors, maybe just some 6mm
ply with holes that will fit in the window cavity, even use velcro to secure it there.
Again just an idea lol

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With the shelf - where do you mean? I can't picture it :S

And yeah, the window protectors are a good idea. Our gazebo is almost the full width of the back (window to window across the top of the fridge, push right against the cargo barrier) and has wheels on one end of the bag. We use towels/pillows at either end to cushion it and hold it in place, and it works ok .... but I reckon some nice panels in there instead would look pretty cool!

About 8 inches down and about 12 inches from the back doors
one end attaches to the cargo barrier the other has tabs to pick up handle bolt holes
or seat belt captive nuts