Tripping Truck Cooler Work

[Guest]

I am happy enough with the tripping trucks Igloo cooler, which lives in the truck bed full time. That cooler perfectly fits either the Solar Bear or DIY dry bag daypack coolers, and some of the truck bed outfitting is built dimensionally around it.

P9053897 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

P9053898 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

But that Igloo is no Yeti, and needed some insulation help.

PA183916 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Exercise flooring minicel, contacted cemented top, bottom, front and back. I even leveled off the top, which had a useless to me indented fish measuring scale.

I like it. The back of the tripping truck is starting to take on an industrial diamond plate look.

 

[dougd]

That pack was bought in Burlington, VT back in 1984! Glad you found a good use for it!

 

[lowangle al]

That looks real nice Mike, I hope you never have to put a leakey wag bag in it

 

[Guest]

That looks real nice Mike, I hope you never have to put a leakey wag bag in it

No, I have a nicely sealed, vinegar fresh bucket for that.

I do, obviously, love that minicel exercise flooring for a variety of uses. It is hard to beat 24 sq ft of three eights inch thick minicel for 20 bucks.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/6pcs-Int...oor-Gym-Mats-for-Yoga-Black-24-x-24/287242046

The latch on that Igloo is a replacement for the flimsy original plastic version that came on the cooler. Those OEM latches fail after a few years on every Igloo cooler I have ever seen. Igloo sells replacements for every part of their coolers; the replacement latch has an actual hinge, not just a soon to fail bendy piece of plastic.

https://www.igloocoolers.com/collec...oducts/9010-universal-latch-and-button-orange

I guess that is one way to sell a 7 dollar latch; make the original part so flimsy that it invariably fails.

 

[latremorej]

Nice work Mike, do you actually notice any extra insulating properties with just the one side and top foam? I would think that the foam would have to be completely around the cooler to add any R-value.

Jason

 

[Guest]

do you actually notice any extra insulating properties with just the one side and top foam? I would think that the foam would have to be completely around the cooler to add any R-value.

I have not noticed any ice retention difference as yet, mostly cool temps though. Perhaps next summer will tell. I use a soft side cooler when tripping, and with the Solar Bear or DIY dry bag cooler inside the Igloo for transport between the last ice and provisions and a distant put in I figure I am well insulated.

One reason the cooler lives year round in its truck niche, if I am grocery shopping, and making hardware and etc stops, and a diner visit for breakfast on the way home, I put the bag of refrigerated or frozen stuff in the cooler. Even the ice cream is still firm.

The only difference I have found with the additional insulation is that, on chilly nights when my toes poke out from under the sleeping bag, I am not resting them against cold Igloo plastic.

One design fail on the Igloo is the lack of any gasket material between the lid and body of the cooler. That area probably presents the biggest loss of cold retention, and I added thin foam weather stripping to the groove on the lid.

The minicel insulation can not hurt. I added exercise mincel to the top, bottom, front and back.

The truck has a full bed length exercise flooring layer, the thin synthetic truck bed having done nothing for hot or cold prevention in sleeping mode. With a minicel layer on the bottom of the cooler it resting two layers on minicel. The sidewalls of the bed are covered with that exercise flooring as well, so two minicel layers in the back as well.

I did not want to minicel the cooler sides due to the handle recesses and drain hole. In any case the sides of the cooler are sandwiched between a carpeted wood shelf at the front, and the minicel padded tailgate at the back, so there is essentially added insulation surrounding the cooler on those sides as well

That minicel application started out simply as a desire to eliminate that superfluous fish measuring recess and make the top of the cooler lid level. And that mostly because in the summer I rest a nine inch high velocity fan there, aimed to blow gustily from my feet to my head. With the uneven lid top that fan was a wobbly fit.

But, while I had the exercise flooring, contact cement, brush and heat gun out, why not keep going. I even beveled all of the exposed minicel edges.

 

[Odyssey]

I'm guessing this a dual purpose cooler and storage locker. Cool. The minicell protects against knocks and such? Is it fastened in for the bumpy ride?

 

[Guest]

I'm guessing this a dual purpose cooler and storage locker. Cool. The minicell protects against knocks and such? Is it fastened in for the bumpy ride?

No, the secure storage locker is the fully enclosed shelf on the opposite side with hasp and padlock hinged door. It is hard to fit a shotgun inside an Igloo cooler, much less paddles and sails and tarp poles.

The cooler does not get knocked around much, or even budge from place. While travelling it is wedged in place by the shelving, the tailgate and the foam mattress. Even without the foam mattress it does not move, the minicel to minicel bottom grip helps hold it in place.

I know. I dropped off a couple trash cans at the top of the road and drove the twisty back roads to the store with the tailgate down. Still had a cooler.

One thing I do kinda miss. My early 80s Hilux longbed Toyota truck had an all metal SevenUp cooler in the bed. This one very model in fact.

https://www.google.com/search?q=old...Lk-AKHZpODXUQ9QEIqAEwBg#imgrc=KoB6a0dhCm0c5M:

That was an awesome cooler, well ahead of its time in insulation and tight fitted lid.

With that cooler stationed at the very front right of the bed. I could reach through the cab and cap sliding windows and access the cooler while driving.

That upfront position necessitated a drain hose through the bed, rather than drag the cooler out through 7 feet of truck bed and gear. And a pet cock so I could at least retain cold water until the next ice stop. The drain tube hole was drilled through the bed, positioned directly below the gas cap on the side panel.

I am a bad man. Every single shift driving cross country companion stopping for gas for the first time suddenly experienced fluid pouring out at their feet while they pumped. Oh how they danced.

A bad, bad man.