Car fridge that fits length wise in the 2dr rear cargo area with rear seats up

In the past, I have generally only use a Yeti cooler for my camping trips. Having a 2dr means limited cargo space so a small'ish Yeti cooler easily fit and carried enough to get by.

A company recently sent me a free car fridge for review (why me? No clue - but they did).. It worked great but it was a bit to large for my little 2dr, especially when tossing all my camping gear in my topless 2dr Bronco.

Here is a shot of the one I received and how much of the rear cargo space it occupied. Once I also put my battery power bank back there, the entire rear cargo area was pretty much taken up.



Using the car fridge -v- the cooler was awesome so I began my hunt for something that would fit length wise, thus freeing up additional space in the cargo area.

I came across the Dometic CFX3 25 Liter fridge. The only bummer is the one above is a dual zone and the Dometic is a single zone. Fine by me, I don't need Ice Cream anyways, I guess...

Checking measurements for the 2dr cargo area and the Dometic fridge still said it was a no go. However they also list the size without the handles so I figured I'd give it a shot as it was close. The fridge is pretty lightweight and I don't really plan on taking it out of the Bronco when out camping so the only real need I have for handles would be to carry it to the Bronco at the start of my trip and out of the Bronco after the trip.

Since it's fairly small and lightweight, it's easy to carry short distances without the handles. If you wanted you could always bring the handles and take them off / put them on as needed as it's 4ea 5mm screws holding the handles onto the fridge.

It takes no force to close the tailgate and the fridge has about a millimeter or so of space between the front of it and the tailgate when closed. I assume if you have a tailgate table then this is not going to work.

Here are a few shots of it in the cargo area with the handles off.






The only other drawback is that the lid does not open fully due to the angle of the rear pass seat. It opens enough to get items out easily but it won't open fully. However, if I need to open it fully, all I need to do is release tension of the tie down strap and slide the fridge forward about 1".

I got it on sale for 20% off of the price, so while it was still kind of pricy, it was not as bad as it could have been.

The fridge in the 1st photo took up about 26.5"×17.3"×18" (8155 cubic inches) of space. The Dometic CFX3 25L takes up about 22.4"x13.2"x16.5" (4878 cubic inches). Taking the handles off the Dometic makes the size 19.8"x13.2"x16.5" (4312 cubic inches). While that might not sound like a lot, every inch (and cubic inch) counts in the 2dr. Even more so since I roll topless.

Anyways, thought I'd share for anyone who has been looking for a similar option. Going this route, has freed up some valuable space in cargo area in the 2dr.

Here are a few shots with the handles on and in a different orientation. In this configuration I have room for my Maxtrax Mini Traction Boards behind the fridge, the battery power bank (behind the backpack) and a backpack carrying first aid, small axe/saw combo, a shovel and an emergency tire repair kit. I didn't have room or space for the traction boards with the previous fridge so I left them sitting on the rear seats.

I still have some room between the front of the fridge and my Power Tank where I can fit my folding camp table, or my recovery and power tank gear, or my larger backpack that holds all my clothes. The lid will now fully open.

Not sure what configuration I'll use but it's nice to have options.