Flip Pac 09 Tacoma - Build

[abeaudin1971]

Hey folks,

I've posted up a couple of pictures on other threads but here's one specific to my build.

Truck is an 09 Tacoma 4x4 SR5 2.7l/5 speed. Only other mod is an ARB bumper on the front.

Fuel economy is only marginally affected by the top - over 40K miles of usage

Leer Topper average US MPG was 21.6mpg
Without Leer topper average US MPG was 22.8mpg
With Flippac topper average US MPG is 20 mpg - but this is typically driving at 75mph or so on the highway.

so there's a slight loss of fuel economy but that more than makes up for the usability of the top.

The weight on the back of the truck without gear is fine - if I add in my camping and rock climbing gear, food, water etc - the ride gets a little bouncy and I'll be looking to improve the rear suspension in the spring.

Wind noise is a little higher than before but that's to be expected. No real discernible handling difference in highway travel.

For clearance I haven't had any problems getting into parking garages etc - about 81" of clearance (6'7") does the trick.

The flippac came from Adventure Trailers and Mario was excellent in pre and post sale service. I'd highly recommend him.

The only mods I've done are minor - simple platform to place rubbermaid containers underneath for now - it'll hold 6 large containers, plus a cooler and my kitchen setup - plus it doubles at a sleeping surface for whomever is my road trip partner at the time.

The platform comes out in three pieces - two plywood pieces for the platform and a 2x3 ping frame that comes out in one piece so I can use it at a truck when need be.

I added in an LED third brake light just so I'm a little more visible - if you're doing this to yours, keep in mind that the over the top of the rear window is about 2-1/2" to 2-3/4" in thickness so I needed a couple of trips to the hardware store before I had what I needed.

As well I added in a Trucklite LED utility flood light and it's spectacular - makes seeing in behind you at night backing up simpler and I double switched it in the cab and again in the back so I can leave it on overnight and if I need to get see outside, I can.
The switch in the dash is an OEM toyota switch - needed a little trimming of the dash to fit but it looks like it belongs which I prefer.

Work to come:
Proper platform in the back - something like Tacodoc's (very nice job btw)
Dual Battery setup
Upgraded rear suspension - since I don't do much offroading - gravel roads to worst really I'm looking at either OME Dakars and if not Supersprings to help with the loading at the rear

and if the paychecks next year are good to me I might look towards an propex heater in addition to a fridge.

[Jeff Wanamog]

I only have one question for you. How can you live in Ottawa, Canada and "not do much off roading"?

Enjoy!

Jeff
:smiley_drive:

[abeaudin1971]

more of a hiker/climber kind of guy so the truck plus the flippac makes it easy to get to the trailheads in the adirondacks for instance and I'm a volunteer SAR responder here in the area too so the 4x4 lets me get to where I need to go on road in bad weather..

the 09 is just too new to start to scratch up :)

esp here with the salt.

-a

[TACODOC]

Nice job. Where did you get the LED brake light and the back up light?

For rear suspension I highly recommend the OME Dakars - best mod on my truck and a great value to boot.

[Overland Hadley]

Leer Topper average US MPG was 21.6mpg
Without Leer topper average US MPG was 22.8mpg
With Flippac topper average US MPG is 20 mpg - but this is typically driving at 75mph or so on the highway.


I definitely recommend OME.

Sorry to HiJack, but how are you getting such good mileage? Do you have a V6?

[abeaudin1971]

Overland Hadley - the mileage is courtesy of a 4 cylinder engine.

Tacodoc - the utility light is from Truck-Lite and the link is below - about twice the price as the regular halogen lights but less draw and it should last the life of the truck I hope - I paid $120 CDN for the utility light
http://tinyurl.com/yk5chha

the brake light is from Grote and it's only 3 LEDs but it's pretty bright and at night stands out nicely - you'll need 3" long screws for it and I ran a bead of silicone around the back side of it to create some sort of gasket against the back of the camper. This one was $37 CDN.
http://tinyurl.com/yj4gl6f

Both of them were sourced from a local big rig/truck shop called Malmberg's here in Ottawa - their service is good locally and they do good work - I had an old rover that I needed custom length driveshafts made up and they used the old yokes and made up a pair of shafts that were well made.

[AaronR]

Hi abeaudin1971,

I have an 07 Tacoma, a new (to me) Flip-pac, and I'm looking for mounting options. How did you secure your Flip-pac to the bed rails?

Aaron

[abeaudin1971]

Hi Aaron,

Welcome to the portal. I purchased my flippac from Adventure Trailers and Mario fabbed up some small plates that slide into the bed rails.

these plates have holes drilled in them and a piece of angle metal bolts to them..

From there there's a hole drilled through the flippac to the angle metal and the cap is clamped down.

We did remove the plastic bed caps on both sides prior to installation - the reasoning there seems twofold a) I don't think the bed caps would have survived the weight of the flippac and b) it makes everything level with the front of the box of the truck.

The other option would be to drill up through the bed rails and bolt directly through.

Mine is fastened in 6 spots - three per side.

I'll take pics in the AM and post them up.

-a

[suntinez]

Aaron, welcome to Expo ...

FRP installed mine (2007 Tundra), drilled through the bedrails and bolts through that. However, I really like the trick clamp downs that Greg/Patti used from ARE on their topper, here (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32579) post #23 on that thread. I would do something like that assuming the Tacoma has the same bedrails as the Tundra.

I saw your pics on the other thread looks like a great build, congrats!

[springsyeti]

I have a Flip Pac on my 2000 V6 tacoma and my mileage is around 16mpg. I love the product but plan on replacing the torsion bar across the front every 4-6 yrs. I now need to replace another one, about 300 for the bar then add labor, and they can take up to 3mo to get.

Cheers,
Greg

[ALASKAN TACO]

I just received my FRP Flip Pac and had holes drilled into the bed rails for a more stable fit. When I had mine put on they said that the c-clamps were not as stable as drilling into the rails. As far as mpg I usually get about 21.5 mpg with the Flip Pac on 2010 Tacoma 4cly 4X4.

[abeaudin1971]

Aaron - here's the pics of what I'm using to attach the camper.

The small one are the ones from Adventure Trailers - they were set a little high - the top of the angle iron was flush with the top of the truck bed with the bedrails removed so it was difficult to really snug the camper down. This was mario's first attempt at these and we weren't sure that the bedrails would stay on or come off.

The larger one - the backing was machined by a buddy of mine and I used 1/4" thick 1.5x1.5 aluminum and drilled the holes in them so that I had about a 1/4" gap between the sill of the flippac and the top of the angle iron.I have these in the 4 corners of the truck and two of the smaller ones in the middle on either side.

Hope that helps,
-a

[Harp]

I used 3 5/8" bolts on each side with fender washers, 3 holes instead of 6 and had no problems. everything nice and tight.

[abeaudin1971]

ok - so for clarification - there are 6 bolts holding the flippac to the rail adapters... three per side, bolted through the center of the angle aluminum - there are two bolts per adapter to fasten them in place to the rails.

[mattsavage]

I have a Flip Pac on my 2000 V6 tacoma and my mileage is around 16mpg. I love the product but plan on replacing the torsion bar across the front every 4-6 yrs. I now need to replace another one, about 300 for the bar then add labor, and they can take up to 3mo to get.

Cheers,
Greg

I ordered up a torsion bar from FRP for 150 +30 for shipping. There's no way it'll be 300 unless you have one custom made. Labor is easy, all you need is a way haul the top up vertically while you slide the old bar out and new one in. I did it with a buddy hanging out of a 4th story condo window holding onto a 1/2" length of rope. Took 5 minutes. But.. getting one from FRP was the issue, took forever. The guy at AT Trailers is who I'd recommend for the future.

Sorry for the thread jack... FlipPac's are rad!

[springsyeti]

Hey Matt,

I do not suppose you have pics showing how you did it? That was the price FRP quoted me 2 weeks ago. They were supposed to get back to me but they have not!

[mattsavage]

Hey Matt,

I do not suppose you have pics showing how you did it? That was the price FRP quoted me 2 weeks ago. They were supposed to get back to me but they have not!

PM'd...

[ETAV8R]

Old thread time...

I have a similar light as you have mounted to the back of your flippac. Do you have any photos or advice/insight on how you have it mounted?
Thanks.

[abeaudin1971]

Power comes directly from the battery on a fused line - through the switch (it's LED so I wasn't worried about burning out the switch, hence no relay) and out to the back - ground comes from the taillight ground and I have another switch in the rear so I can leave it on inside the cab at night and be able to switch it on and off from the camper.

The only things I did different from just drilling a hole and tightening the lamp assembly was to cut out a gasket for the outside hole out of mountain bike inner tube (there was an old one in my toolbox) so I didn't mar up/crack the exterior, silicone to seal it up and swap the regular hex nut for a nylock nut.

That's a little temporary - I'll build a switch box for it later on in the springs once it warms up here.

The light only gets used around camp set up time - I don't use it so much for backing up anymore as I've switched the truck from an 09 Tacoma access cab to a 2010 double cab tacoma and the backup cam works wonders.