Location For Larger Cooler?

[ButchW]

Hi guys... Kinda new here, and to motorhomes.. I've had a 5th wheel for years, and did some desert boondocking and week long, beach camps with it.. I carried a 120qt cooler in the front storage compartment (where the gennie is on some fivers)... Enough ice and drinks for the whole family for a week... My new motorhome has quite a bit of storage, but the compartments are smallish, and with small doors... I have a hitch mounted carrier that I could transport the cooler with ( but would prefer to use it for other things... I don't have a toad yet,and maybe never will, so that, for now, is not an option... I really don't like leaving the cooler out for the local hooligans to go through... I thought of trying to make a storage compartment into a cooler, but that is beyond me.. Wife says no big cooler inside the living area.. So any thoughts or suggestions?... Thanks for any help, in advance..
Butch

 

[ziplock]

I have a hitch mounted carrier that I could transport the cooler with

That is how we do it.

Maybe a built in electric fridge from Lowes in a compartment would work. Take a drink out, add a drink back each time.

We have been pondering that set up.

 

[Laura & Charles]

We put ours outside by the front passenger side tire. Have a cable lock that we can lock it to the tire. We’ve used that lock maybe three times. Cooler itself can be locked closed, but we’ve never done that. In our sixth year and have never had a problem.

 

[SeilerBird]

New wife.

 

[John From Detroit]

That is how we do it.

Maybe a built in electric fridge from Lowes in a compartment would work. Take a drink out, add a drink back each time.

We have been pondering that set up.

Years ago the campground I stayed at the most started charging like 3 or 4 dollars a day for Electricity. SO I went to (back then) Sears and spent $100.00 Came home with a "Dorm/Apartment" size fridge... used it for several years. Way superior to an ice chest cooler... Sold it to another RVer for 25 bucks when I got the Class A

IN the class A I had a 45 Liter compressor driven Fridge/Freezer (It coudl be either) It lasted 14-16 years and now I have another that's both A large freezer with a "Warmer" comprtment at the rear that's smaller. It's my Emeergency cooler.

 

[ButchW]

We put ours outside by the front passenger side tire. Have a cable lock that we can lock it to the tire. We’ve used that lock maybe three times. Cooler itself can be locked closed, but we’ve never done that. In our sixth year and have never had a problem.

This is probably what I'll wind up doing... One of the campgrounds I frequent has been known to have some of the local teenagers raid the unlocked coolers looking for beer... I haven't heard any problems the last couple of years, though, so maybe not a problem... The 120qt cooler is just too big for handling and would take up all of the space on the hitch mounted carrier... So the quest for good cooler that will fit and that I can get in 1 week (trip planed then)... Online is gonna be tough, because of the time frame... Oh, well... Thanks for the suggestions..
Butch

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Get a couple smaller coolers that will fit in your compartments. Maybe not ideal, but you have to work with what you got.

 

[Ex-Calif]

I'm with Gary. I like to be able to store things efficiently. I also don't like the idea of coolers outside at night.

We were invaded by raccoons at one park and those b@stards can get into most anything. They even got the food bag suspended by 3 feet of rope from a 10 foot limb.

I think I even saw one with a lock picking set - LOL...

 

[FunSteak]

We keep our beverages in a cooler at all times. Usually have the fridge pretty full of food, and I try to avoid going in and out of it as much as I can. We keep the cooler inside, behind the cockpit seats. It's no trouble for us getting around inside, and provides a handy extra seat for guests or putting boots on.

 

[ButchW]

There really isn't a good spot inside the MH, and the outside compartments are too small for anything other than a day cooler... So outside it is, transported on the carrier... I am still getting a smaller more movable and efficient cooler... Probably a roto-mold to handle the banging around and exposure to the elements...

 

[ButchW]

Resurrecting my old post.... I used two smaller coolers in the under side storage(Outside)... I used this site to find the outside dimensions of the coolers... Kinda cool how you can click on whatever is important to you and rearrange the list...

Cooler Dimensions and Capacity - TheCoolerZone.com

A listing of the external dimensions and storage capacity of many of the top cooler brands out today.

www.thecoolerzone.com

Butch

 

[LMHS]

... We were invaded by raccoons at one park and those b@stards can get into most anything. They even got the food bag suspended by 3 feet of rope from a 10 foot limb.

I think I even saw one with a lock picking set - LOL...

Must have been related to the masked criminals at Jonathan Dickinson SP (Hobe Sound, FL). Back when we first started tent camping, the little buggers hit us repeatedly. We ended up keeping the cooler in the back of my car. I had put a draw catch on the cooler that I had a hard time opening and the little buggers popped it open. I got really tired of seeing their grubby little paw prints all over the cooler. They apparently had a fondness for beer and marshmallows.



I keep a 150qt cooler in the back of my jeep all the time. It's one way to get frozen food back home in triple digit summer temps. The other way is to turn on the refrigerator/freezer on in the truck camper and take it to town.

 

[Ray-IN]

I got lucky, found a 12V Coleman fridge/freezer at a yard sale in FL for $35. During summer months it resides in the truck-bed under the bed topper. I added a cigar plug back there for convenience.

 

[Old_Crow]

I spend my summers in bear country. It's really educational when you see what a bear can do to a "bear resistant" Yeti cooler that somebody left in the back of their truck instead of putting it in the bear box.
Last season, we had a bear rip the reefer access panel off the outside of an RV and enter the fridge through the outside. It wasn't pretty.

 

[Kirk]

I used two smaller coolers in the under side storage(Outside)..

Like in the basement storage of a class A motorhome? I once saw diesel pusher rig with 2 deepfreeze units in a slide out tray for access. His were both electric and propane but I don't remember what brand they were.

 

[ButchW]

Like in the basement storage of a class A motorhome? I once saw diesel pusher rig with 2 deepfreeze units in a slide out tray for access. His were both electric and propane but I don't remember what brand they were.

Yes, in the basement storage of my class A... I have no slide out openings... All the doors are smallish... To get the coolers in or out, I open the cooler lid, insert the cooler upside down, with the lid hanging out, then roll the cooler in and close the lid... The cooler is too tall to fit thru the opening with the lid in it's normal position... Even after you have it installed, you can only open the lid about 45 degrees for access to the drinks or ice... To empty the melted ice water, I use a piece of hose to siphon it out... A bit cumbersome, but it works...
Butch

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The amount and opening-size of exterior strange is an oft-overlooked criteria when evaluating any RV purchase. Most diesel pushers have good sized storage bays, made possible by their raised rail chassis and the rear engine, but gas class A's are typically less accommodating. Don't forget to figure out where all your toys, tools and patio accessories are going to go.

 

[ButchW]

The amount and opening-size of exterior strange is an oft-overlooked criteria when evaluating any RV purchase. Most diesel pushers have good sized storage bays, made possible by their raised rail chassis and the rear engine, but gas class A's are typically less accommodating. Don't forget to figure out where all your toys, tools and patio accessories are going to go.

You are very correct in saying that Gary...
Butch