First I had the fridge on top of the cargobox, then I moved it to behind the drivers seat.
I moved the fridge becuase with it in the back, I could not lift the lid up all the way since these fridges lids open up the long way.
It took two hands, one to hold the lid, and the other one to grab the grub.
And I still could not see into the fridge or get the lid up all the way when I moved the fridge to the new location behind my seat.
On my trip to Mt. Rainier in August, it was a PITA to have to hold the lid open with one hand, and move the contents with the other hand.
Awhile back I came upon a thread on IH8MUDs forum about relocating the hinges so the lid will open from the side.
The creator of the thread ended up putting together a kit so one does not have to hunt around for the parts.
The kit arrived last week, and I could not wait to dig in on another project.
Total time was around a half hour or so.
While the instructions do not call for drilling a pilot hole for the self tapping screws supplied, I did drill a small 7/64th pilot hole.
I was careful to not drill into far.
I first put the hinge in place, and I went back in 1.5" from each end of the fridge to center the hinges.
I marked one hole with a felt pen, then drilled it.
I then put the hinge in place and used the 18v drill to put in the new screw.
Once it was in and tight, I then drilled one hole at a time and repeated with the self tapping screws.
So in other words, I did not drill all four pilot holes at once. Once the hinges were in place, I then took out the top screws I had just put in and took the lid all the way off.
You then have to remove the stock hardware from the lid and the fridge for the stock hinges.
Once you have done that, you reuse the stock bolts (these are not screws) to fill in the holes.
I put the lid back on again and put back in the upper screws for the new hinges.
I then snapped close the stock latch, and all is very tight.
I did not opt to install the new clasp/lock supplied in Kevin's kit, as the stock hinge worked out fine in its original position.
Plus I will not have to modify the thermal bag by cutting a hole in it for a new clasp/lock.
Picture one below shows me holding the lid open with the fridge in the rig.
The lid hits the ceiling and will not raise up all the way.
Picture two shows the hinge on with three screws in place and a pilot hole ready for the fourth screw.
Picture three shows the new hinges in place and the lid open.
Note that the lid stays open too.
It has an adjustment screw you tighten to cause friction in the hinge, thus allowing the lid to stay open in any position.
Way cool man ;)
Picture four shows the new hinges in place and the lid off ready for me to take off its hardware and the fridges hardware for the stock hinges.
Picture five shows the fridge back in its native environment, and the lid open as if I was going to access it for grub.
The lid clears the ceiling just fine too.
This retrofit will make an ARB or Engel fridge that more enjoyable to access the interior of it.
This kit gets the two thumbs up award   
  
Click here for the instructions and to order the kit
The thread on IH8MUD that started it all |