I have been tossing the idea around, the space below the bed is waisted and I don't want anything to take up my already limited cargo room. I found the pic above online of exactly what I'm looking to do. The only trouble I've had is finding a 12v A/C or Cooler unit to mount to a custom box. I'm not looking to buy an entire cooler and then gut it if I don't have to. I'm heading out to pismo soon and I always try to add a few mods before then. And I'm almost finished painting the fiberglass dash piece I made. Just need to perfect the texture and stop it from scratching so easily (any ideas?).

Let me know what you guys think, and if any of you have any knowledge or experience feel free to post.

 

That's awesome. There's lots of 12v coolers out there.

 

dude, that would be bad *** !!

As for ideas.... not a clue. I would just make a water proof, cooler type box, mount it, make cover, fill with ice. Maybe make a drain on the bottom, or just make a cradle for a big *** cooler that you can plop down in there, maybe custom lid that sits flush with the bed ???

 

What I meant is I don't want to buy an entire electric cooler and then take the guts that cool the ice chest out, just to put it in my box. Would rather by the barebone parts. BUT, I may have to do that, we'll see. Just looking into the idea, I hate saying I'm going to do something and never do it. Going to check out the bed right now, I don't use the spare tire holder so that crap can go.

 

fckin sick idea..

this is what i would do.. not even worry about an electric cooler thing..

if you do it right, (atleast this is how i would), set your cooler/box over the area of your spare tire, and make it like 2.5 feet across sideways and like 1.5 or 2 foot long (tailgate to cab) and then about 10 inches deep.. (all inside demensions..) and then have a drain **** on it so that it can just drain, and just pack the btch with ice..

it would deffinately work, and deffinately cost effective..

the thing that i would be kina hesitant on would be the top or lid or whatever.. how would you did and make it work, look good witht he rest of the bed, and still be strong?

 

^^^^^x2^^^^^

 

I have a bed rug, so I am just going to mount the bed rug over it. I want it to be flush like MT said, and I'll probably shoot foam on the underside of the lid to keep it insulated. Any ideas what I can make the box out of? I'm going to insulate it, but sheet metal is the first thing that comes to mind as I don't think it will be too heavy. I really want my lid to be HARD to see, that way I can store other "possible valuables" inside.

 

Custom make it out of 1/4" laminate or something and then fiberglass it. That would work, wouldn't it?

 

ever consider contacting and a/c shop and make use of the trucks own a/c system?

the compressor can run and cool both the truck and the cooler

a good a/c shop should be able to construct a tap on the a/c system and probally the valving to isolate when you do not need the cooler

there was a fellow outside of Mobile, down in Bayou La Batre' that delivered fresh seafood to some of the resturants who did this to his Dodge trucks that he used

we are not talking about big coolers, they probally held a 300 lbs of seafood on ice.

an no he didi not use a seperate system.

I saw the system once and I remember seeing where he tapped the system for the freon to split off to the cooler

I might add that he used R-12 system on his trucks.

the trucks must have been about 15 years old in 2005.

the owner's seafood business was destroyed by the Katrina storm surge in Bayou La Batre'.

he closed the business and retired to north alabama, so I can not easly ask him mabout the trucks

the kast I saw of his trucks were about a month before Katrina

I might add that the seafood industry in south alabama as well as the rest of the gulf coast was suffering before Katrina, the storm just accelerated the fall of that business in the gulf.

fuel cost are now out of sight and the boats are docked

any way back to your question, have you considered useing the trucks a/c system

if apparently for the fellow in the seafood business


edit: the boxes were up in the bed
the boxes were made by a shop in the bayu who specialized in building coolers for boats that were custom made them for on ship application and they were well insulated

 

There ya' go! Damn good idea

 

Great idea. Unfortunately my A/C works like crap, if I were to use it it would have to be on even when I am not using my A/C in the cab. It seems like a lot of work, routing high pressure lines all the way to the rear of the truck. I also would hate to lose any performance out of my already subpar A/C.

I have never worked with laminate. A fuel cell type of contraption made out of sheet metal sounds easy to mount. The welds should seal well, and it should weigh less. It would also be easier to mount. However, fiberglassing the inside of a laminate box would be fun and should turn out well. How similar to MDF is laminate as far as working with it goes? Unfortunately the frame crossmembers limit the width of the ice chest to about 1.5ft or so. However I can make up for this in length.

 

personally, since I work with metal, I'd go sheet metal, make a container/cradle, holder type boxe. Make custom lid, insulate lid with foam, and maybe a water proof type weather seal, and a latch that holds it firmly down. Then I'd buy styrofoam (sp?? it's late) and use that as insulation. Cheap, and easy. Make a drain in the box for an easy clean out. When ya down need it as a cooler, then you have a metal cargo box with a weather proof seal to it. Could work as double duty. Thats originaly what I was tossin around in my head..... now I like the cooler "feature" too !!

 

Yeah, screw the a/c idea, it would be neat but problematic. The craddle and cooler idea sounds good

 

-Make a five sided box out of sheet metal and line it with the styrofoam insulation that is used for insulating houses (big blue or pink sheets that are 1/2 inch thick from hardware stores).
-Then make another box that fits inside the first one, put a drain in it and make sure to coat this one with something or the water will eat through it in a week.
-Cut a hole in your bed where you want the cooler to be at
-Attach the cooler to the underside of the bed making a flush surface.
-Coat the underside of the piece you cut out of your bed and use it as a lid.
-Attach some sort of handle so you can access the inside of the cooler.

I hope these instructions make sense. My buddy made a cooler like this that is flush mounted to the floor of the loft in his room.

 

is there a common corrosion proof spraypaint @ the local Home Depot. I'm not sure if Rustoleum would do the trick or not. Nice ideas.