The best coolers for golf carts: the sizes that fit, and which YETI is the right one

How much room a cart has

Every cart cooler question is a dimensions question. Golf Cart Tire Supply's cooler guide puts the usable range at 12 to 24 quarts, installed “under the rear seat or in your rear cargo area,” and notes that 24-quart coolers often need a dedicated cooler rack rather than a bracket. It also flags the constraint people discover after ordering: a universal fender bracket is not compatible with a cart that has a rear seat kit fitted.

So there are three real places a cooler goes. The cargo bed or rear seat platform takes a hard cooler up to about 17 inches long. The footwell between the seats takes a soft bag and nothing rigid. A fender bracket takes a purpose-made 9-to-12-quart cooler, which is a drinks holder rather than a cooler in the sense this site means. Measure the space you actually have before you read a single review, including ours.

Which YETI fits

The Roadie 24's weakness on a cart is its shape. It is tall and narrow, so it tips on a hard turn if it is not strapped. Strap it. The same 5-year term and the latch, gasket and feet YETI sells as parts are what make it the buy-once choice for a vehicle that lives outdoors.

Sizes side by side

Mounting, strapping and rattle

A cooler on a cart is a loose object on a vibrating platform, and that is what kills cart coolers — not ice performance. Three rules. Strap it with a ratchet or bungee through the handles, not across the lid, so the lid can open without releasing the strap. Put something between the cooler and the metal bed: a rubber mat stops the scuffing and most of the noise. And never use the lid as a seat unless the maker says you can; the Roadie 24 is not rated as a seat, while larger chest coolers with flat lids often are.

For a beverage-only setup, a purpose-made fender cooler in the 9-to-12-quart range bolts on and stays on. It will not hold ice for a day, and no maker of those units publishes a test. If the drinks need to be cold four hours from now, put a real cooler in the bed and a frozen block under them.

Finally, size down rather than up. A 24-quart cooler wedged into a 20-quart space is why people end up with a cooler bouncing on the rear platform. If you are between sizes, the soft options here compress; hard ones do not. What size cooler do I need has the full sizing method.

Buyer's guide: the cart cooler

Measure the bed, then subtract two inches

You need room for the lid to clear and for a strap to pass. A 17-inch cooler in a 17-inch space does not open.

Weight matters more than you think

Loaded, a 20-quart cooler is 35 to 40 lb. An empty weight of 4 lb versus 13 lb is the difference between lifting it out at the end of a round and leaving it there to cook.

Hard for ice, soft for space

The Roadie 24 measured 4.3 days; the best soft option here measured 2.4. If the cart lives at a beach house and the cooler stays loaded overnight, go hard.

A cart cooler lives outdoors

Sun, rain and vibration, permanently. That is the argument for a long warranty and replaceable parts rather than the cheapest box, and it is why a $34 Playmate is the honest budget pick but not the buy-once one.

Check the bracket before you buy the cooler

Universal fender brackets do not fit carts with a rear seat kit. Order the bracket first, then the cooler it holds.