AdventureAnne
New member
Some of you may have seen my post a few months ago about wanting to buy a used/damaged Flippac.
After reading a ton of build threads and looking through pictures, I decided what ever Flippac I ended up with I wanted to make two major modifications. 1. Remove the torsion bar. Torsion bars are great, but not for this application. 2. Replace the tent with a waterproof one. I know you can buy a rain fly, but I have access to a sew lab and outdoor fabric so I can make a new tent for almost nothing. How does a $5,000+ outdoor product not have a waterproof tent?!?!
Well, I found exactly what I was looking for! The Flippac I bought was located in Cali, in really good condition, and has zero hardware. No idea what the story is behind it, other than that it came off a ford ranger. I think it must be fairly new because the fiberglass and all the parts are in really good condition.
After picking up the Flippac I swung through the FRP factory in Rverside to see if I could buy the 4 pieces that the lid hinges on and the two clamps for the lid. FRP wanted to charge $95 PER hinge piece and $60 PER clamp. Considering you can buy RV clamps off amazon for about $10 and I can fabricate my own hinge pieces for well under $400 I promptly left. Not impressed by FRP as a business, they seemed to have no idea what was going on with their own business
Anyway, since I decided not to buy their stock parts, I now have the opportunity to redesign how the Flippac hinges/opens. So, this is the start of my build thread. I have a few ideas, but would love to hear any thoughts you guys have! (Currently debating between doing a westy style pop-top or restoring it to the full 180 degree flipping Flippac glory).
Here are some pics of the Flippac currently:
The lid is attached on the inside via a bunch of metal strips with holes in them.
There was sealant over the hinge openings, which I took off to see how good of shape the tubing is in.
After reading a ton of build threads and looking through pictures, I decided what ever Flippac I ended up with I wanted to make two major modifications. 1. Remove the torsion bar. Torsion bars are great, but not for this application. 2. Replace the tent with a waterproof one. I know you can buy a rain fly, but I have access to a sew lab and outdoor fabric so I can make a new tent for almost nothing. How does a $5,000+ outdoor product not have a waterproof tent?!?!
Well, I found exactly what I was looking for! The Flippac I bought was located in Cali, in really good condition, and has zero hardware. No idea what the story is behind it, other than that it came off a ford ranger. I think it must be fairly new because the fiberglass and all the parts are in really good condition.
After picking up the Flippac I swung through the FRP factory in Rverside to see if I could buy the 4 pieces that the lid hinges on and the two clamps for the lid. FRP wanted to charge $95 PER hinge piece and $60 PER clamp. Considering you can buy RV clamps off amazon for about $10 and I can fabricate my own hinge pieces for well under $400 I promptly left. Not impressed by FRP as a business, they seemed to have no idea what was going on with their own business
Anyway, since I decided not to buy their stock parts, I now have the opportunity to redesign how the Flippac hinges/opens. So, this is the start of my build thread. I have a few ideas, but would love to hear any thoughts you guys have! (Currently debating between doing a westy style pop-top or restoring it to the full 180 degree flipping Flippac glory).
Here are some pics of the Flippac currently:
The lid is attached on the inside via a bunch of metal strips with holes in them.
There was sealant over the hinge openings, which I took off to see how good of shape the tubing is in.