Anyone Chop a flippac? Fiberglassers welcome

[lx450landcruiser]

Well I picked up a flippac at a good price. It needs some TLC here and there but over all its a good foundation. My problem is I have a 06 Toyota Tacoma double cab short bed. Width wise it seems to fit decent but obviously length wise its too long. I want to eventually weld up a flatbed for the rig but even then i don't want to add to much more length. Has anyone sectioned a flip pac? any idea whats involved? heres a few pics to illustrate what I'm thinking. I don't have much fiberglass experience but it's perfectly within my capabilities.

 

[Mc Taco]

This looks like it should turn out pretty cool. I know some members here have done some cutting and splicing of fiberglass tops, Wildernest IIRC, to mount to 4Runners.

Good luck. I will be watching this.

 

[herm]

you could do a reverse angle on it, and keep the top length, but shorten the bottom to meet up with you pickup bed. your bed up top will be pretty short if you go with that plan.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

you could do a reverse angle on it, and keep the top length, but shorten the bottom to meet up with you pickup bed. your bed up top will be pretty short if you go with that plan.

The shopped version above would keep the original bed length. it would be basically chopping the front bottom and moving it inward. The angled rear was another thought but a bit ugly. I love the flippac idea but damn they are ugly on some trucks

 

[Dave Bennett]

It would be less work and time (time=$) to just convert the bed to a tray or whatever and slap the FP on that. Cutting into that may prove to be a can o'worms...

YMMV

 

[RHINO]

LX i was going to do just that with mine, but a trade arrangement was made so i didnt have to in the end. structurally there is nothing going on there that a cut and rebuild like you want is totally do-able. lots of glass work and you need to do your homework.

 

[Mc Taco]

Wow! Both photoshopped shots look cool. Im guessing that the angled cut would be less work, but is the funkier of the two. Building the tray might just be the most prudent way to go.

BTW, where are you located? Any chance of seeing this in the SoCal area?

 

[k9lestat]

i like the angled rear because it allows over hang as you step up and well as a covered area in the rain. just my thoughts.

 

[JasonRedwood]

It would be less work and time (time=$) to just convert the bed to a tray or whatever and slap the FP on that. Cutting into that may prove to be a can o'worms...

YMMV

Can of worms is right. Has been for me. I would build the flat bed. Just my opinion though.

Out of the 2 photoshop versions I vote for the second with the rear of the camper modded.
The front of the camper will have a lot of stress on it with the torsion bar and sleeping platform.
Can't wait to see more about this project.

Heres a bad photoshop of another option I was playing with a while ago.

 

[jtolittle]

Hi
I haven't "chopped" my flippac but had to do pretty extensive repairs after losing it on the freeway at 75MPH. Shortening the fiberglass walls and roof shouldn't be too hard. I would be concerned about the tent and the windows. At that point you can always find different windows with bigger cutout dimensions or you could rebuild the walls to fit smaller windows, but it would involve a LOT more work...
The reverse angle would be a real time saver, as you could keep the roof and tent intact. It does look funny though...
The walls of the flippac are just regular monolithic fiberglass and the roof is a sandwich of 5/8" foam with a strong fiberglass skin on each side.
I have some pictures of the roof cut if you need to see how it looks. Let me know.
JT

 

[Ursa Minor]

I'd pull the torsion bar before you cut anything significant. This will take the stress off the shell. Let it cure for a few weeks after you've done the change before reinstalling. Otherwise it's a straight-forward slice & reglass...if you like that sort of work! - Cheers, John

 

[brianjwilson]

A couple things I wonder from looking at that....
If you cut the back end flush with the tailgate, is the flip over bed going to be at least six feet, or will you end up with a short bed?
Obviously you're looking at reworking the tent. Possibly a full tent redesign if the tent poles need to be shortened as well (hard to tell from the pictures).

Angling the back side would probably be the easiest even if it doesn't look too pretty.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

Non of the versions shown have any bed modifications or tent modifications. I would be modifying only the lower section of the flip pac. I think I may just have to bump up the flatbed on the priority list to make this all work out since I think the rear chop is terribly ugly and the front chop not worth the effort since Id like to go to a flatbed eventually anyways. Will see though.

A couple things I wonder from looking at that....
If you cut the back end flush with the tailgate, is the flip over bed going to be at least six feet, or will you end up with a short bed?
Obviously you're looking at reworking the tent. Possibly a full tent redesign if the tent poles need to be shortened as well (hard to tell from the pictures).

Angling the back side would probably be the easiest even if it doesn't look too pretty.

 

[RHINO]

some of you guys need to read things more thoroughly before you reply, nothing that he proposes is going to need tent work or shorten the bed.

LX, i know you'll have the ability once you get some knowledge about it. if your up for the work i say do it, not a big deal just gonna be messy and time consuming.

 

[homemade]

Or give yourself some time to think about it and just build a FWC type stepped bed box and make it a slide in like Bella PSD did but simpler because you don‘t really need to replace the back window with a full door. You could cant the back of the box up if you wanted or leave it boxy and make Dutch doors under the flippac rear glass . A one weekend job and be able to use your camper right away.
.