Post your Flip pac Torsion bar failure or success

[dman93]

I'm also on the Central Coast (Santa Cruz) and though I don't know the history of my FlipPac, which I acquired with a broken torsion bar, I suspect it's been local for a long time based on some stickers. OTOH my own truck (which I did not get with the FP) has a surprising amount of rust, so I suspect parking by the ocean and having wet surfboards on the rack take their toll. We took a week-long road trip recently and my perspective on the FP changed a bit. Even with two of us, my wife was very uncomfortable doing the lid flip with our t-bar delete. Without a fly it was surprisingly cold when temps dropped to freezing at Crater Lake. At our last 2 night stay, we wanted to use truck, so we just set up our tent and it seemed faster and warmer. We had no rain, but without a fly it will really limit our fall/winter/spring camping, and securing the fly with the t-bar delete flip method seems tough. There may be one for sale cheap soon ...

 

[austintaco]

I mentioned in another FP thread that I think the conditions that they are kept in does contribute. You have your geographic locations, where it is stored, how its maintained, and age that can contribute to early failure. Mine, at some point, traveled up in the Pacific NW area. There was a sticker on the window, or I should say a decal with an "I survived the Pacific something Highway". However, it ended up in Arizona and that's where I bought it. Now its in TX.

 

[DVexile]

New FlipPac Purchased April 2015, installed on 2015 DCSB Tacoma at FRP
Torsion bar broke October 2015 after less than 20 openings
Replaced by FRP and installed at their facility under warranty Nov 2015, waited about 4 weeks for the new bar to be ready at FRP.

Truck and FlipPac are in Nevada and So. Cal. in nice dry climates.

 

[Overlanerd]

Wow. Broke already? Mine did after 5 months with minimal use. We've used it about 60 - 75 times in the last 2.5 years with no issues, so there's some hope.

 

[kpherzog]

RE: Post your Flip pac Torsion bar failure or success Your Message

Truck: 1997 Chev K1500
Flip-pac: 1997
Torsion bar broke: 2006

After ten years of use the torsion bar broke loose from the mounting as I was unfolding the top. Without the
weight of the folding top (which the bar more-or-less equalizes) the full torque of the bar transferred directly
to the handle, which was ripped out of my grasp, spun 180 degrees and whacked me on the forearm.
I lost a couple of square inches of skin and felt very lucky my arm was not broken!
I was luckily vacationing in California when it happened so I phoned the factory in Los Angeles and they were
able to fix it for me on short notice. The top remained folded, and I did not attempt to unfold it. I think the big
problem would be folding it back up and then trying to get the fabric all tucked in around the edges.

Took about an hour at the factory and cost $300 (2006 prices!) plus the drive from Yosemite to L.A. and back.

We use our Flip-pac a lot.. I would guess more than 30 nights a year. Still have it, still use it, though the top
fabric is getting pretty worn around the attachment to the top, from the repeated folding at that point, I guess.

. . Kurt

 

[labboy]

I first noticed that the 2010 flippac torsion bar was broken in Nov 2015. The bar broke inside the aluminum tube while in the closed position.
The aluminum outer tube is twisted and bent in a goose neck but it hasn't split open. I haven't been able to raise the top with the lever.
This is the model made for the 6 foot bed Nissan Frontier. I can repair almost anything if I can get the parts. But my dealings with the company in Ca. were the worst experience I've ever had with any vendor so a solution that doesn't involve them is vastly preferred.

 

[dman93]

Labboy, here's a thread with my t-bar delete details plus some info from others.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/129940-Flippac-torsion-bar-delete-modification
After a year and a half, I've come to the conclusion that it works well (function and reliability) with two people but is to too hard and unsafe for me to flip it over solo without a spring assist. I've started the calculations on a gas-spring assist with some great I put from some other ExPo inmates.

 

[willgocamp]

mine just broke a month ago, my flip pac is twenty years old. this is the first time:

First proble after 20 years. Not the challenge of getting it repaired. I cannot live without it

I first noticed that the 2010 flippac torsion bar was broken in Nov 2015. The bar broke inside the aluminum tube while in the closed position.
The aluminum outer tube is twisted and bent in a goose neck but it hasn't split open. I haven't been able to raise the top with the lever.
This is the model made for the 6 foot bed Nissan Frontier. I can repair almost anything if I can get the parts. But my dealings with the company in Ca. were the worst experience I've ever had with any vendor so a solution that doesn't involve them is vastly preferred.

 

[austintaco]

For those that have dealt with FRP, has anyone had them do a R & R on their flippac. My torsion bar is still intact (knock on wood and fiberglass), and our big Summer trip is coming up. We'll be heading out for a few weeks and we'll be in CA with the flippac.
I had the idea of dropping it off with them and getting a rental car for a day or two, if I thought they could get it done. Basically, since they do build them, have them adjust and replace anything that needs it.

I would most likely have them replace the current torsion bar and keep the current one as a spare.

 

[billy bee]

I had the idea of dropping it off with them and getting a rental car for a day or two, if I thought they could get it done. Basically, since they do build them, have them adjust and replace anything that needs it.

I would most likely have them replace the current torsion bar and keep the current one as a spare.

This seems like a good idea if FRP follows through. I have noticed my FP is slightly out of alignment at the clamps, mostly b/c the lid is a little twisted from the constant torque on it. But I'm not sure how FRP might remedy that. New lid is the only thing I can think of...

bb

 

[billy bee]

I never posted my torsion bar experience up here:
2003 FP, bought used in 2009
Currently on a 1996 Chevy K1500 Z71 (XCSB, 3-door)
Never any problem during my ownership.

It has been on three different trucks and been off-roaded some. I was most concerned about cracking the camper shell in cross-axle articulation. Lots of of creaking, but the shell seemed to flex pretty well with the truck. And, obviously, the torsion bar is fine. (Hope I don't jinx myself by saying that...).

bb

 

[austintaco]

Thanks Billy bee,

I'm going to email them now and I'll start a new thread with the reply and what they can or can't do.

 

[Jeep or Tacoma]

post some pictures

What do they look like when they break?

 

[kpherzog]

Torsion bar problem - not broken

I have had my Flippac 20 years; the torsion bar "broke" at 10 years. As I was opening the top the handle suddenly whipped out of my hands, spun around and whacked me on the forearm. I lost a few square inches of skin and felt lucky my arm was not broken! I happened to be in Southern California at the time and Flippac was very accommodating in fixing it, contrary to most reports about their customer service. I think I just happened to hit them at an opportune time as they had an extra unit on-site that had to be delayed in shipment for some reason. They took the torsion bar "out of that unit" and "put it in mine". (As it turned out they may have just ripped me off.. read on).


The bar "broke" again in the fall of 2016 (almost exactly 10 years after the first failure). Again, the handle was jerked out of my hands, spun around and this time whacked me in the face. My glasses were broken and I had a real "shiner" for a week or so. I could have easily lost an eye.. but it got me thinking about the whole mechanics of the failure. I discovered that the torsion bar was not actually broken.. it appeared to just have slipped out of position to where the splines on the driver's side had disengaged from the hinge arm. Engaging the handle with the end of the bar and pulling on it yielded a "springy" resistance.


A friend and I took the truck to a car wash that had a bay for washing motor homes. A feature of this was a raised walkway on both sides of the wash bay. I pulled the truck up as close to the side of the bay as I could get, my friend stood on the raised cat walk and I lifted the top up to vertical by pushing up from inside. He held it in position and I was able to drive the torsion bar back into position with a heavy hammer. Was super-easy. Others going the actual replacement route might find the car-wash technique easier than using cranes, second-story windows, etc. as ways to hold that top up when installing the new bar.


. . Kurt

 

[MagicMtnDan]

This thread (and all the others) provide a depressing overview of the ownership, use and, in some cases, the dangers of this product's apparently consistent failure.

It looks like a good product but this spring issue is the massive underside of the iceberg in Flippac ownership.