ARB Freezer Fridge—for the ultimate overlander

  • Like
Reactions: Starrs and Chris
Saw this today and thought it was pretty cool!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Q1INDM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I'd never use it personally, but if you have a big, dedicated overland rig, I could see how it would be very useful!

I’m looking at the smaller size (35 I think) with the sales tactic with my wife that it can be a spare fridge for my office when not in the Jeep. It’s definitely more expensive, but the multi purpose is pretty convenient.
 
I’m looking at the smaller size (35 I think) with the sales tactic with my wife that it can be a spare fridge for my office when not in the Jeep. It’s definitely more expensive, but the multi purpose is pretty convenient.

35's are a good size for an LJ; that's the reason I own one (Dometic, not ARB, because I got a good deal on it). You won't want to load/unload it often, but if you leave it in the rig, grocery shopping in August becomes easy, even if you buy ice cream.
 
35's are a good size for an LJ; that's the reason I own one (Dometic, not ARB, because I got a good deal on it). You won't want to load/unload it often, but if you leave it in the rig, grocery shopping in August becomes easy, even if you buy ice cream.

I don’t see what you are running in your profile (I may be overlooking it), but are you keeping the rear tumbler in with the fridge or did you delete? I’m planning for both cases as my kids grow up but plan to delete the rear for most “me” trips.
 
35's are a good size for an LJ; that's the reason I own one (Dometic, not ARB, because I got a good deal on it). You won't want to load/unload it often, but if you leave it in the rig, grocery shopping in August becomes easy, even if you buy ice cream.

And the quality is very similar as Dometic makes the fridges for ARB to their specs. I’ve been split between the two but it’s really gonna come down to price and the best deal.
 
I lean more to this, solar powered.

The total price is pretty scary, plus the solar collector, batteries, controller... but pretty nice off grid if the collector is on the roof charging while you drive. Pretty amazing what technology can do today.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01GOXCVU8/?tag=tjforum-20

this is my RV..

77589
 
  • Like
Reactions: ac_
I don’t see what you are running in your profile (I may be overlooking it), but are you keeping the rear tumbler in with the fridge or did you delete? I’m planning for both cases as my kids grow up but plan to delete the rear for most “me” trips.

You didn't miss it. There are no rear seats in any of my Jeeps; if you keep the rear seat in an LJ you're going to be hard-pressed to fit ANY fridge in there in a convenient place.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rasband
You didn't miss it. There are no rear seats in any of my Jeeps; if you keep the rear seat in an LJ you're going to be hard-pressed to fit ANY fridge in there in a convenient place.

I took mine out for my move and it’s amazing how much space is back there now. Definitely will put it in/out as needed for family duties
 
50 is big; very big. A 35 will fit nicely in an LJ and easily hold the refrigerated portion of two weeks of provisions for two people. 50's are JKU territory.
Yes, 35 is a great size for my LJ but it does take up a bunch of space.
I can’t believe I don’t have a picture of my older Engel in the Jeep but here is one that was taken when I was mocking up the cross bars on the used slide I bought.
77724


This pic shows how much room the slide takes up in my LJ so at least it gives you some idea.
77725



Another plus is that my wife loves using it as a spare fridge for parties etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ac_ and rasband
I run a 50 in the 4Runner. It will hold enough food for five people for a solid week. It’s massive. We have a diabetic son so need to keep insulin cold on trips. It was not cheap but go on a week long trip and count how many bags of ice, ruined soggy food you go through and it suddenly becomes much more affordable. 😂

It’s not for everyone but we love ours. And I use it in my house for drinks. So it gets used 24/7.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jamesval035
I have an older ARB MT45 (re-badged Engel MT45). It will fit in the back of an LJ but for the past several years it has resided in my Bantam trailer. It is always plugged in. In the summer I use it as a second fridge for preacher beer and barley pop. In the winter I crank it up and use it as a secondary freezer. It has served me well for at least 15 years.

77870


77732


77731
 
Last edited:
I have rhe older 35 I think that was made by Engel for arb when I drove to Alaska it want cheap but to nice to have
 
I have a Dometic CFX50 and it fits well in the back of my LJ. I mounted it parallel to the center line against the passenger side wheel well. I used Dometic's slide (which is pretty decent). It can slide out with just opening the tail gate and not unzipping the back window which I like. The slide comes out far enough that the lid can be opened completely.
 
I picked up an Engel 35 in 2003 or 04 and did the math about 4 years ago and at that time if it quit it would have cost me a solid 5 bucks a month to own. However it’s still going as strong as the day I picked it up and it’s been plugged in either 12v or 120v for at least 85% of the time since I bought it.
 
I'm running the 82 QT in my rig. It's WAY more space than needed for a TJ, but it's convenient and eventually I want to move it to a trailer or my truck and add a small fridge freezer, to be a dedicated Freezer.

I'm going bigger due to hunting trips and I add a couple of frozen 2 Liters because of the amount of energy that needs to be removed from larger game. And it's a lot for the compressor to remove, especially if your AUX battery isn't massive. Its certainly a luxury. It's often too warm in my area to not get game cooled down fairly quick. Sometimes it is cold enough, but often it isn't during early fall or Spring.

ARB Fridge and Table.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: lindsey97 and ac_