Flip-pac camper build

[Bella PSD]

Here are a few shots of the storm cover from Flippac. It will defiantly keep you dry. To deploy the cover all you have to do is attach the front of the cover to the flip when its closed. As you open the flip up the storm cover unfolds right on top of the Flippac tent area. Tie it down in the corners and on in the center and that’s all there is to it.

The storm cover does not fit over the back of the camper corner, as you can see in the above and below picture. This is part of the area I enlarged for the rear door and now the cover is about 5” to short. The good news is, even though the cover does not fit the way it was meant to fit from Flippac, the cover does not leak and works perfect as is.

Here you can see one of the openings on the storm cover for ventilation.

And from the inside look out of the storm cover ventilation opening.

Below is a picture of the inside. Please keep in mind that I finished most of what you see inside in a few hours. It is temporary and will be coming out soon for the permanent interior. I wanted something inside the camper so I could at least use it while I built the outside. This also gave me a chance to charge things around to see what worked and what did not. Like the bed, seat area. That did not work very well. Its too hard to set up the bed and difficult to get to the storage under the bed/seat. I am planning on a 12V Norcold 60L in the spot to the left of the door as you are coming into the camper.

The blue cast in the pictures is from the storm cover. This is the queen size sleeping area above the cab or the part that flips open towards the from of the truck.

Its got to be every bit of 9 feet to the top of the tent!!

 

[Travelmore]

I think this build is great. The concept and execution are amazing. The only thing that could make it better is if you could use the FlipPac without it being attached to the truck.

 

[Bella PSD]

I think this build is great. The concept and execution are amazing. The only thing that could make it better is if you could use the FlipPac without it being attached to the truck.

Thanks!! And stay tuned for more info on the removal of the camper AND camping in it....Its in my planning to have the camper off the truck, like a base camp, while the rest of the truck goes off to play.

Louie

 

[UHAULER]

Nice work. I love these kind of builds. Sometimes doing it yourself is the only way to get what you want if you don't have big $$ to spend.(Like me)

Do you get people questioning why ?? I know I do on my truck, they just can't understand why I didn't just buy a used cabover camper.

 

[allochris]

Great job!

2 questions:

-How much are those 4 legs? The legs i made for my camper can't go up & down with the camper on & i really envy your camper being able to be lowered to the ground on a dolly.

-Can you take some inside pictures with the tent close. I want to see how / where those fabric drapes/flaps inside the camper. (i.e. In situation like when it's real storming/cold out & you want to still use (cook) inside the camper without burning out your tent fabric.

thanks

 

[Outback]

Absolutely beautifull!

 

[Bella PSD]

It's going down to 34 degrees tonight. Wish it was getting colder, but that's it. So I am heading out to pop open the flip, with the storm cover on it to see how warm(or COLD) it stays inside overnight. I will keep a 1,500 watt electric heater set at 65 degrees as a test to see how my 20,000 BTU propane RV heater will do once installed. Although the small electric heaters is nowhere near 20,000 BTU's of the propane heater, the little electric heater should keep the camper warm. And most likely the propane heater will do more than fine, once it's installed. That's the plan anyway. My main test tonight is to see what kind of heat lose I will have because of the tent.

I will sleep out in the camper tonight and post the results in the morning.

Louie

 

[Bella PSD]

Great job!

2 questions:

-How much are those 4 legs? The legs i made for my camper can't go up & down with the camper on & i really envy your camper being able to be lowered to the ground on a dolly.

-Can you take some inside pictures with the tent close. I want to see how / where those fabric drapes/flaps inside the camper. (i.e. In situation like when it's real storming/cold out & you want to still use (cook) inside the camper without burning out your tent fabric.

thanks

The jacks are 2000 lbs camper jacks. They are standard issue on slide on truck campers. The mounts for the jacks are custom, I made them to attach like a receiver hitch, locking pin and all. The jacks can move in and out to any spot I need. Or I can pull the pin and remove them in about 2 minuets for all four. Same goes for installing them, just takes a few minuets.


As for cooking inside when the tent is closed. I planned from the beginning that I wanted to have some kind of stealth mode. When it came time to build in the jack points and plan the rear door, the camper got raised 5 ¼”. This was just what I need to give me enough room to “get by” if I needed to in stealth mode. Stealth mode would of course be with the flip closed. Now I can sleep with the flip closed, wash my hands at the counter high sink, toilet, even do the dishes or make a sandwich. But as far as cooking on the cook top with the tent closed, I just don’t know?? Maybe it could work, there is about 14” clearance. Maybe if I built some kind of heat shield. Not thinking this would be a good idea really. Maybe if I had one of those diesel cook tops like in the Earthroamer. It works with no open flame, so maybe.

 

[Bella PSD]

Turned out I got what I wanted. There was a hard frost last night. So I would guess the low temp was about 30 degrees.

Did the math on the electric heaters BTU so I can have a direct comparison for my test. The 1,500W electric heater I used to test the campers winter camping comfort is 5,119.5 BTU’s.( 1 kW is 3,413 BTUs) That’s not much compared to the 20,000 BTU heater I plan on installing later on. This still made for a good test, even with the lower output of 5,119 BTU’s.
I started out at 11:30 at 49.3 degrees inside the camper and ambient. Within 5 minuets the inside rose to 53 degrees without a heat source. Ran the 5,100 BTU heater for ½ hour and by midnight the inside rose to 70 degrees.
As I went to sleep around 12:20am it was a toasty 73.8 degrees inside the camper. All reading for the inside temp’s were taken from the front of the camper, inside the flip. Basically, as far from the heat source as I could get. That’s just to warm, so I turned the thermostat down on the heater and feel asleep. Feeling confident I would stay warm, I even took my socks off!

Here is what happen.

Inside the Flippac camper measured as far from the heat source as possible
49.3 degrees@11:30pm (Start Up Temp)
73.8 degrees@12:20am (High Temp)
65.1 degress@4:50am (Low Temp)

Ambient temp measured just outside the camper and off the ground about 8 feet
49.3 degrees@11:30pm (Start Up Temp)
49.3 degrees@11:30pm (High temp)
33.1 degress@4:20am (Low Temp) more like 30 degrees with the hard frost

So what did I get from all of this? I think I can camp on some mild winter nights in the mid 20’s and be comfortable. And that’s with the camper un-insulated. I have not insulated the camper in any way yet. Once the 20,000 BTU heater is installed I should be even better off as the 5,100 BTU heater ran non-stop for the most part. I am thinking I may need to vent the heat out in 2 or 3 spots in the camper to get a more even heat as well.

I would guess I have a tremendous amount of heat loss though the tent because that 1,500 watt heater can heat my 2 car garage to 60 degrees no problem when its 30-35 degrees outside. The heater was turned off at 6:50am (69 inside/38 out) and by 7:30am the inside temp was 51 degrees. So most of the heat dissipated pretty quickly.

Bottom line for me; I slept in a light weight sleeping bag, without socks, in a tent with a low of 30…. Comfortably.

Louie

 

[allochris]

The jacks are 2000 lbs camper jacks. They are standard issue on slide on truck campers. The mounts for the jacks are custom, I made them to attach like a receiver hitch, locking pin and all. The jacks can move in and out to any spot I need. Or I can pull the pin and remove them in about 2 minuets for all four. Same goes for installing them, just takes a few minuets.

Thanks! Sorry, i meant how much $ for those legs, b/c i'm tempting to get some ... really.

 

[Bella PSD]

Do you get people questioning why ?? I know I do on my truck, they just can't understand why I didn't just buy a used cabover camper.

Thanks and Yep. All the time. I just tell them that no one I went to wanted to build it or do any of the fiberglass work so I just did it myself. Well I take that back, one fiberglass shop quoted me $5000 plus to do the back of the camper and door area.:Wow1:

I have been following your build. I want those big windows you installed for my camper!!

Louie

 

[Bella PSD]

Thanks! Sorry, i meant how much $ for those legs, b/c i'm tempting to get some ... really.

The 2000 lbs jacks came from my donor camper. page 5 post 41

Or click here for Rieco Titan web site.
http://www.riecotitan.com/camperjacks/fourcorner.html
These heavy duty steel jacks are of durable construction. They include large heat-treated gears, four bearings and heavy walled tubing. 2000 lb. capacity per jack. Features a full 36" plus lift (Most in the industry) and a large foot pad for added stability.

The 1000 lbs jacks are on sale here, $429(US), set of 4
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-jacks/truck-camper-jacks.htm
The 2000 lbs look to be around $790(US), set of four

Hows your camper coming?

Louie

 

[Northern Explorer]

I don't think you're going to have any problem heating your flip pac camper with an 18,000 BTU furnace. Just for comparison the Earthroamer Jeep has a 6100 BTU furnace and my FWC Finch has a 12,000 BTU furnace. I have also used a 1500 watt electric heater to heat my camper a few weeks ago when I did some work in it. This was more then enough to warn up the camper on the low (750 watt?) setting. I plan on bringing this heater with me for cold weather campground camping. The only issue I can see with your set-up is that with 18,000 BTUs your camper will heat up fast and then with the tent top it will cool off fast. In other words the furnace will cycle on and off a lot.

 

[Bella PSD]

I was hoping someone had tried this in a 4wheel camper. Glad to here what you reported. That leaves no doubt I will be fine with the heater I have.

And BTW, I don't have a 18,000 BTU heater. I have a 20,000 BTU heater. I just went back and fixed my posts. It's the Atwood Furnace-Everest Star 7920-II. I also check the paper work I have and it can be set up for front or side discharge. I will likely run a vent up to the tent area, and leave the front discharge on the heater as the main heat.

Thanks
Louie

 

[ScottBailey]

Heater thoughts

Since heat rises, it's probably unnecessary to run a vent. You might want to start simple: discharge into the lower, insulated body of the camper, allowing the heat to radiate/rise into the sleeping area. If that isn't enough, vent!

Something you might not like is the HOT cycle of the furnace blowing on you as you sleep. The hot is quite warm. Also, your furnace probably has both a pre-ignition and cool down cycle. Duration should be in your owner's manual... Maybe 10 and 30 seconds, respectively?

Consider a digital thermostat. The right one can help with setting and maintaining a more constant temp than the analogs might. (Here's a link.)

Your build is entertaining! Great ideas and execution!