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2001 Mercury Sable, 4th generation, aka Taurus

I'm not concerned if a scratch the car, and I can use wood or something to help. I need to transport a regular household-size refrigerator. We don't have one, and occasionally people give them away on Craigslist. I also need to figure out a way to lift it to the position on the car.

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  • What are the dimensions of the refrigerator?
    – L.B.
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 14:14
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    Ignoring the legalities of what you propose, It's doable. I have personally moved a refrigerator from the second floor to the bed of a pick-up truck alone. It is bulky but really not that heavy. Take your time and slide it on blankets when you can. Use wood skids and pads to protect surfaces. You will have to carry it horizontally on that car so when you do get it to its destination and place it upright, let it sit for a day or two BEFORE you plug it in so the coolant can settle in the compressor or it will burn out when you start it.
    – Stan
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 1:53

3 Answers 3

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There is no safe way to do this. Please don't try. Either have a properly made hitch installed and rent a small trailer, or rent/borrow a suitably sized truck.

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  • If I could rent a truck and have a hitch installed, I'd just buy a refrigerator delivered. -- Certainly, it's possible.
    – Nehmo
    Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 21:53
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    $40 to rent a truck for a day isn't even comparable to $500+ for a refrigerator that the vendor will deliver. Doesn't change the fact that there's no safe (or, probably, legal) way to transport a full size refrigerator on/in that kind of car.
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Aug 21, 2017 at 11:01
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You need to get at least four healthy strong people to get it on the car. You get a couple of long pieces of material like 2x4's or 4x4 lumber. You place the wood under the reefer in a manner that allows you to straddle the car, just make sure the lumber is long enough and strong enough, and that you have enough people to get the reefer high enough for long enough to get it on the car.

I would be really apprehensive about the weight of the thing, and the pressure of securing it properly, collapsing your car roof leaving a huge dent. I would suggest you try using a mattress to cradle the reefer.

There is a similar post about securing loads on cars here. , it may give you some food for thought.

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Get a roof rack. Found one for a Taurus for $30 en ebay.

enter image description here

(this is an example of how not to do it btw)

Now, the roof rack comes with a manual in which is written the maximum weight. Mine can carry 70kg. Obviously, whatever you carry should be fastened properly. Please don't use rubberbands, or anything which has links made of plastic. Tough straps like this work very well:

enter image description here

For fragile materials (like sheetrock/gyproc) planks or a bit of plywood should be used to support it from below. Also, cardboard is needed to protect the sides and prevent the straps frop digging into the material. You should do this with your fridge, else the two beams of the roof rack will dent the edges when you fasten the straps tight.

You can put the flat plywood against the trunk of the car, lean the fridge on it, then slide the whole assembly onto the rack. It really helps to have some kind of ramp to haul the stuff up instead of just carrying it...

Now, the problem will be to put the fridge on the car. If you remove the shelves inside and unscrew the door, it will be lighter. This should be easy to do for 2 people.

And drive carefully, like 70 km/h...

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  • The question asked how to lift the fridge into the car, not where on the car to put it.
    – Chenmunka ♦
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 9:10
  • Like I said, if its too heavy, put a sheet of plywood against the car to make a ramp and slide the stuff up...
    – bobflux
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 9:48
  • Even if no one gets hurt and no traffic accidents result, this is very likely to result in significant damage to the car (passenger car roofs aren't built to take weight) and to the refrigerator (rendering the whole exercise pointless).
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 11:03
  • This sounds a bit weird. My car has hardpoints (threaded holes) on the sides of the roof on which the roof rack is attached with bolts. It's all designed in, and sold by the car's manufacturer as an accessory. My previous car didn't have the convenient hardpoints, but a roof rack could still be mounted. It's a very common accessory. I already put a fridge on it by the way, without any damage to the fridge or the car. So I'm puzzled by your comment. (Although the simplest would be to have a friend who owns a pickup-truck, because lifting the fridge requires some creativity)
    – bobflux
    Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 12:40
  • I have several ratcheting straps, and I've already used them to carry a couch, a washing machine, and a queen-sized bed. I put the cargo on top of the trunk and roof, strapped down through the windows, and went.<p>I'm a bit concerned about a refrigerator because of the weight it would place on the back of the roof or on the top of the rear glass. The car doesn't have hard points, but it does have the channels where a rack could attach. <p>A new roof rack requires cross bars first. Those added with the rack get expensive.
    – Nehmo
    Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 5:56

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