In-floor Storage bin mod?

[radon360]

As everyone is aware, there's two bins underneath the floor mats for the rear (center row) of seats. Chrysler likes to suggest that these will function nicely for holding a six pack and some ice. Okay, fine.

The other day I threw a rather large ice pack in one and my lunch. Well, my lunch managed to remain cool until noon, but in lifting out the tray, there was noticeable condensation on the plastic. The plastic doesn't offer any real insulation value, and the metal section of the floor pan which is plainly exposed on the exterior probably has even less. There is however, a reasonable amount of clearance between the two. What if this space were filled with foam?

I've considered two ideas that I might eventually try. The first would be to use styrofoam to surround the plastic tray from the metal floor pan. The other idea would be to get a can of the latex (water-based) expanding foam that is used for sealing and insulating gaps in homes. Either of these should improve the insulating properties of this storage bin.

Now, if one wanted to really get carried away, you could install a heat sink with a small fan inside the tray, thermally connected to a Peltier junction (see this image), which would then be thermally connected to the floor pan as the other heat sink. With a connection to the 12 volt line, you'd have yourself a small refrigerated area similar to that of one of those plug-in coolers.

Maybe the last idea would only be for those who regularly need cooled storage when the vehicle isn't running, since the "chill zone" is only good when it is. Then again, buying a plug-in cooler might be a simpler solution altogether. B)

[NiceTrip]

The other day I threw a rather large ice pack in one and my lunch. Well, my lunch managed to remain cool until noon, but in lifting out the tray, there was noticeable condensation on the plastic. The plastic doesn't offer any real insulation value, and the metal section of the floor pan which is plainly exposed on the exterior probably has even less. There is however, a reasonable amount of clearance between the two. What if this space were filled with foam?

I have to agree. I put some (already cold) drinks in there, and filled the remaining space with ice for an 11-hour road trip. By lunchtime, the ice was all melted and the drinks were barely cool. By dinner time, the water and drinks were distincly warm - I'd say ~85-90 degrees. Warmer than if they'd just been in the cabin the entire time. It's not just that the outside of the box is exposed to the outside air; it's under the car with the hot exhaust, etc., and no insulation to speak of.

I've thought about foaming the outside of the box, but I'm afraid it won't last long. If you look under the car, that box is about the lowest thing underneath, so if you added a layer of foam, it might be very prone to get knocked off. It might also trap waterm and promote rust underneath.

On the other hand, if it lasts a while, you can always re-apply as needed. So I haven't decided if I'm gonna try it or not.

[radon360]

I've thought about foaming the outside of the box, but I'm afraid it won't last long. If you look under the car, that box is about the lowest thing underneath, so if you added a layer of foam, it might be very prone to get knocked off. It might also trap waterm and promote rust underneath.

On the other hand, if it lasts a while, you can always re-apply as needed. So I haven't decided if I'm gonna try it or not.

I wasn't thinking about insulating the outside, but rather between the plastic bin and the metal well on the inside.

I'm willing to bet that in the middle of winter, keeping something cold won't be a problem...without ice.

[Justin Themonster Oney]

you could use high temp paint to cover the outside underneath then do something like plastidip or bed liner on the inside then foam around the inside that should work a lil better with no worrys about the foam on the outside falling off or anything like that

Edited November 8, 2016 by Justin Themonster Oney

[bramfrank]

A new record . . . . more than 8 years to get an answer . . . .

[jkeaton]

Holy cow....lol

[radon360]

And the best part is,  8 years later,  I still own my Journey with about 165k on the clock, no major problems. 

 

The can of Great Stuff did a nice job of filling  the area between the floor pan and bin,  and did make a big difference.   Still not as good as a Yeti cooler,  though . 

[jkeaton]

He lives!!! 

[probak118]

I have never seen this topic until now but, it is a common problem I bet. I too noticed melting issues, I will now try the spay can of the low expansion foam on the outside of the tray. Thanks radon 360 for the update, might even buy a can of that rubber spray seen on tv used for leaks to keep the foam sealed after it cures ? How has Dodge not addressed this issue after all these years ?

[OhareFred]

Its not a cooler.  If you look its described as a .storage bin

[probak118]

But I would bet, most of us never store anything in there. Why not have the option for use as something else then also ? No reason why it still can't be used as a " storage bin". Kuddos  for radon 360 thinking outside the box. Worse case we spent $ 25 on something we still rarely use.

[radon360]

Okay, to refresh people's memories (it was eight years ago, afterall):

 

The reason I did this was in the advertising and promotion of the 2009 model year Journey, pictures like this were used:

 

 

Look at all those cans of soda (pop) in there...and ice!   I figured this has to be the place to put something that I want to keep cold (or warm) without the hassle of a cooler sliding around in the back.   Nope,  my first experiment with this came real close to simmering my brown bag lunch, even with an ice pack.  It also led to a lot of moisture between the bin and floorpan from condensation, of course this is a big no-no with steel for obvious reasons.   Quickly recognizing the lack of insulation and ease of heat movement into this compartment through the floorpan, I set out to find a simple way to make what was implicitly suggested by this picture actually work.  

 

Let's say that I got reasonably close with my solution in the OP.   It works, but nowhere near as well as some of the nicer coolers out there.   If I had actually worked up the ambition to go all the way and add active solid-state cooling to this setup, I probably would have posted a follow-up post showing my work.   Let's face it, looking at pictures of applied conformal expanding foam isn't all that exciting, especially when it doesn't make more than a couple incremental gains.

 

 

Mind you, this isn't the first case where someone in Chrysler marketing has pulled this stunt.   One has to look no further than how many bottles or cases of beer a Ram box will hold.

[Angelcbr]

On November 14, 2016 at 5:03 AM, probak118 said:

But I would bet, most of us never store anything in there. Why not have the option for use as something else then also ? No reason why it still can't be used as a " storage bin". Kuddos  for radon 360 thinking outside the box. Worse case we spent $ 25 on something we still rarely use.

True, i have the weather tech floormats and am not moving it to storage something everytime