Installing MSA’s Power Slide™ and Drop Slide Fridge Barrier gives you smooth access, secure storage and safer travel — a smart upgrade for serious touring and offroad trips.
A fridge is one of the most popular additions to a vehicle upgrade. Some might say it’s a must. Even with a fridge in the van, there are plenty of reasons to have a second one in the tow vehicle. For long-term travel and when camped remotely, having extra cold storage makes sense for stocking up on fresh food. Being able to keep a catch of fish is a constant hope, so I appreciate the option of using the fridge as a freezer since most caravan freezer compartments are fairly limited.
MSA 4X4 Accessories offers a variety of accessories for fridges, designed to make transport safer, access easier and the fridge better protected. Its fridge accessory range suits most brands and fridge sizes from 40L to 95L, with styles including straight and drop slides, and available with manual or powered mechanisms. You can add a slide-out table and a fridge barrier to prevent airflow blockage and maximise storage space.
It’s important to secure heavy items in a vehicle. In an emergency stop or if there’s a crash, projectiles can cause injuries. Therefore, an unsecured fridge poses a risk, and while safety is one of the primary reasons for installing a fridge slide, quick and easy access to a cold drink is also crucial.
MSA products are professionally engineered from powder-coated and stainless steel to last a lifetime of offroad use. The fridge slide features a locking mechanism to prevent inadvertent movement and includes a two-stage switch for the power slide. The slide operates on a 12V power supply for twin actuators, drawing an average of seven amps during the seven-second activation, resulting in very low power consumption.
Ease of use and extra protection with the MSA Power Slide with Table and Drop Slide Fridge Barrier
Installing the MSA Power Slide™ with Table
We chose the DS40 MSA Power Slide™ with Table for its ease of use and compact size, and I recently set aside an afternoon to install it in my 200 Series LandCruiser on top of my MSA Storage Drawer System (you can check out that install story here).
The slide arrived with a full complement of fittings, including stainless steel screws and bolts, an Allen key, a bottle of thread-locking agent and an instruction manual.
The slide is made to last and weighs 43kg. It’s a bit of an awkward shape, so I had a mate help lift it onto my drawers to avoid damage to me and the LandCruiser’s paintwork. Positioning the slide correctly and leaving room for the fridge barrier took a while because I needed to allow room to open the side storage bins. Once I worked out the correct location, I fixed a couple of screws at the front end to check it opened and dropped without any issues. To test that the location was correct, it first needed power for the slide. Although it was supplied with an Anderson plug power input, I had to make a lead with a matching plug, a 20A fuse and battery terminals to connect to the house battery.
Checking the location
Fitting the MSA Power Slide
That complete, I tested the operation and was pleased with the smooth and effortless action. From there, it was simple to screw the slide into place through pre-drilled holes.
The slide screws to the top of the drawers
Installing the MSA Drop Slide Fridge Barrier
The FBDS40N Drop Slide Fridge Barrier looks a bit like a cage for the fridge, and as mentioned, it protects it from damage and helps avoid airflow issues. It has six powder-coated lattice sections that assemble like a Meccano set, using predrilled holes and set nuts, making it a very straightforward process. It fitted over the slide neatly and screwed into place using more predrilled holes.
Assembling the MSA Drop Slide Fridge Barrier
Finishing touches and where to get it
With both the fridge slide and barrier installed, I loaded my Dometic chest fridge onto the slide and strapped it down with the supplied friction straps. Using the two-touch control, the fridge dropped 30cm and slid out smoothly, making it quick and easy to access the fridge’s contents. Much better than crawling into the back of the car and rummaging through a pile of stuff for a cold beer.
The DS40 MSA Power Slide™ with Table has an RRP of $1784. The FBDS40N Drop Slide Fridge Barrier is $440. Both are available on the MSA 4X4 Accessories website.
Two-touch control to operate the slide
The MSA Power Slide with Table and Drop Slide Fridge Barrier
THE NEXT STEP
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Installing MSA’s fridge slide and barrier for smooth, secure access