Flip-pac camper build
- Thread starter Bella PSD
- Start date
Bella PSD
Explorer
The Flippac arrived today from CA. I have it on the truck and it does need some adjustments to fit. The Chevy truck that this Flippac came from are smaller, that's for sure. I am working on getting it to fit. Right now there is a 1” gap up front. I have it on the forward flip way but have some ideas for a reverse flip. That way I can keep the roof rack and when its flipped open, it will act as a big awning out the back. Or just leave in on the forward flip way....Here is the photoshop image of what I want to do.
The support rods are not to hold the flip tent part from crashing down. They All they are for is to keep the tent from folding back up. The Flip-Pac has a torsion spring system. I will try to mount the Flip-Pac in reverse for a test fit and see how it goes.
If the reverse-flip works out I think this will be like having the best of the Wilderness cap and the Flip-Pac all rolled into one unit!!!!
Louie
The support rods are not to hold the flip tent part from crashing down. They All they are for is to keep the tent from folding back up. The Flip-Pac has a torsion spring system. I will try to mount the Flip-Pac in reverse for a test fit and see how it goes.
If the reverse-flip works out I think this will be like having the best of the Wilderness cap and the Flip-Pac all rolled into one unit!!!!
Louie
Last edited:
Bella PSD
Explorer
Here it is $725 shipped!!
NONE of the old attached files show up anymore so here is one to make up for the lost attached images....
This was before I started the build. A short bed Chevy full size Flippac on a Superduty Ford. As you can see, there is a gap up front between the cap and cab and when it is flipped open, there is no clearance over the cab of the truck. All this tells me is the bed of a Chevy comes up as higher than a Ford and Chevy does not have as long a bed as Superduty.
View attachment 5316
With Storm Cover. No Rain gonna get past this cover!
View attachment 5317
Flipped up
View attachment 5318
Getting an idea of how it will work as rear flip
View attachment 5319
Side view showing gap. Shows how much longer and taller a Ford is to Chevy
View attachment 5320
Front. It does not touch the roof.
View attachment 5321
Inside with a few items I would like to fit into the camper.
View attachment 5322
Inside lower view
View attachment 5323
Looking down from bunk
View attachment 5324
Standing up looking to the front bunk
View attachment 5325
Side view showing the 2 awnings that also came with it.
Here is a list of what I have to build into the Flippac
Louie
NONE of the old attached files show up anymore so here is one to make up for the lost attached images....
This was before I started the build. A short bed Chevy full size Flippac on a Superduty Ford. As you can see, there is a gap up front between the cap and cab and when it is flipped open, there is no clearance over the cab of the truck. All this tells me is the bed of a Chevy comes up as higher than a Ford and Chevy does not have as long a bed as Superduty.
View attachment 5316
With Storm Cover. No Rain gonna get past this cover!
View attachment 5317
Flipped up
View attachment 5318
Getting an idea of how it will work as rear flip
View attachment 5319
Side view showing gap. Shows how much longer and taller a Ford is to Chevy
View attachment 5320
Front. It does not touch the roof.
View attachment 5321
Inside with a few items I would like to fit into the camper.
View attachment 5322
Inside lower view
View attachment 5323
Looking down from bunk
View attachment 5324
Standing up looking to the front bunk
View attachment 5325
Side view showing the 2 awnings that also came with it.
Here is a list of what I have to build into the Flippac
- 3 way Refrigerator(12V, 110 and LP)
- gas cook top 3 burner
- LP furnace with thermostat and blower
- 12V and 110 elec. converter with 30 foot line cord
- 20 gal fresh water tank
- sink with pump
- removable table and base
- Battery vent box with RV battery
- Honda Eu 2000 Gen
- Rear entry door
- LP tank
- 4 Mechanical lift jacks if I close off the inside.(make it a slide in)
Louie
Last edited:
Just a few of recommendations:
Again Highly recommend 12v Frig. Check www.novakool.com and www.deckboatdealer.com/nova-kool/nova-kool-refrigerators-freezers/R3800-DC.htm. The Engels that are reported here are more portable and may work if you don't have have a built in.
I would mount a portable stove such as Bunton, Coleman, or the nice model that Scott has. I really try to cook outside as much as possible (smell fried walleye all night) and with my camper have to carry two stoves. Just put two quick connects( inside and outside).
If the flippac is not super air tight check on the Olympian catalytic heaters. I have some reservations on their usage, but an alternative to check.
Again Highly recommend 12v Frig. Check www.novakool.com and www.deckboatdealer.com/nova-kool/nova-kool-refrigerators-freezers/R3800-DC.htm. The Engels that are reported here are more portable and may work if you don't have have a built in.
I would mount a portable stove such as Bunton, Coleman, or the nice model that Scott has. I really try to cook outside as much as possible (smell fried walleye all night) and with my camper have to carry two stoves. Just put two quick connects( inside and outside).
If the flippac is not super air tight check on the Olympian catalytic heaters. I have some reservations on their usage, but an alternative to check.
Louie, You may want to check out something like the Rieco titan jacks to lift your camper. Make sure youget the extensions so that you can lift it off of a 4X4. The other suggestion is to use it more than you work on it. Easier said than done. But the rig looks great. - Brad
Bella PSD
Explorer
Rieco Titan jacks...That's is what I have. They are the 2,000 lbs mechanical jacks. Painted white. I will be building my own mounting brackets for the attachment points. The front two jacks will need to mount out away from the truck a bit to clear the 35” tires.
Use it more than I work on it.... All I have done so far is work on it!!
BUT the first big trip planned is to the outer banks. We will start out near Bodie Island and travel as far South as Cape Lookout on the Core banks. Not sure how many miles yet or how much is beach driving? I do know it will be several Ferry rides that are well over 2 hours. Hoping to find info on camping on the beach. This would be mostly South on Cape Lookout National Seashore.
The camper needs to be READY for this trip leaving on June 9th!!!
an update.
The flip Pac is in the process of a transformation! From cap to camper. Camper as in slide in, with a fully enclosed interior and the ability to be removed with 4 2,000 lbs mechanical jacks at each corner.
The jacks will have custom receiver hitch style mount so they can be removed for off road trips. The back glass will be removed and a rear door added. Not sure if the rear door will flip up or open to the side. I like the flip up door but I want a screen door so I will see what I can come up with. I will try to keep the door as big as I can. The sides are being reinforced and raised 5 ¼”. This will allow the roof rack to clear when the Flip is open.
Still planning on adding the gas cook top 3 burner, LP furnace with thermostat and blower, 12V and 110 elec. converter with 30 foot line cord, 20 gal fresh water tank, sink with pump, removable table and base and 12V battery. The 3 way Refrigerator (12V, 110 and LP) is OUT. Way too big and no good way to vent. You all are right on the 12V fridge idea. I will get a Norcold, Engels or Waeco 40-60 size.
The goal here is to camp with some comfort with my growing family. Three kids and wife. Sleeping should not be too bad. The flip is HUGE. I am 6’2” and head to toe; I fit up there when I lay down!! So two up there. The Flip Pac comes with a hammock sleeping area over ¼ of the floor area, so one more there. The other two will sleep on a bench bellow the hammock that pulls out into a large bed for two. So that’s sleeping for FIVE!! Now were do the 2 dogs sleep??
The full size 35” spare tire will have to be moved from the roof rack to a swing out tire carrier on the rear bumper. This will complicate the camper door build.
The camper will mount to the truck with turnbuckles inside the bed. So it will be nice and clean from the outside.
When the Flip Pac is finished, It should weigh in UNDER 1,000 lbs. And that’s loaded with a full fridge and fresh water. (but not including the 4 mounting jacks, they are heavy and not going to travel with the camper)
I will try to post some pictures as it comes together. Most of the planning and drawing are done so I will start out in full force this weekend! Starting with raising the sides and building in the support for the corner jacks. So any last minute ideas or thoughts???? Please speak up!!! I appreciate all the comments very much!
Louie
Use it more than I work on it.... All I have done so far is work on it!!
BUT the first big trip planned is to the outer banks. We will start out near Bodie Island and travel as far South as Cape Lookout on the Core banks. Not sure how many miles yet or how much is beach driving? I do know it will be several Ferry rides that are well over 2 hours. Hoping to find info on camping on the beach. This would be mostly South on Cape Lookout National Seashore. The camper needs to be READY for this trip leaving on June 9th!!!
an update.
The flip Pac is in the process of a transformation! From cap to camper. Camper as in slide in, with a fully enclosed interior and the ability to be removed with 4 2,000 lbs mechanical jacks at each corner.
The jacks will have custom receiver hitch style mount so they can be removed for off road trips. The back glass will be removed and a rear door added. Not sure if the rear door will flip up or open to the side. I like the flip up door but I want a screen door so I will see what I can come up with. I will try to keep the door as big as I can. The sides are being reinforced and raised 5 ¼”. This will allow the roof rack to clear when the Flip is open.
Still planning on adding the gas cook top 3 burner, LP furnace with thermostat and blower, 12V and 110 elec. converter with 30 foot line cord, 20 gal fresh water tank, sink with pump, removable table and base and 12V battery. The 3 way Refrigerator (12V, 110 and LP) is OUT. Way too big and no good way to vent. You all are right on the 12V fridge idea. I will get a Norcold, Engels or Waeco 40-60 size.
The goal here is to camp with some comfort with my growing family. Three kids and wife. Sleeping should not be too bad. The flip is HUGE. I am 6’2” and head to toe; I fit up there when I lay down!! So two up there. The Flip Pac comes with a hammock sleeping area over ¼ of the floor area, so one more there. The other two will sleep on a bench bellow the hammock that pulls out into a large bed for two. So that’s sleeping for FIVE!! Now were do the 2 dogs sleep??
The full size 35” spare tire will have to be moved from the roof rack to a swing out tire carrier on the rear bumper. This will complicate the camper door build.
The camper will mount to the truck with turnbuckles inside the bed. So it will be nice and clean from the outside.
When the Flip Pac is finished, It should weigh in UNDER 1,000 lbs. And that’s loaded with a full fridge and fresh water. (but not including the 4 mounting jacks, they are heavy and not going to travel with the camper)
I will try to post some pictures as it comes together. Most of the planning and drawing are done so I will start out in full force this weekend! Starting with raising the sides and building in the support for the corner jacks. So any last minute ideas or thoughts???? Please speak up!!! I appreciate all the comments very much!
Louie
Last edited:
Bella PSD
Explorer
Quick update. The floor is built. The walls are done. 3 of the 4 jacks are welded up. This weekend I will put the floor together with the walls. Then start on the back door. Some good news is the camper is lifted up far enough to allow a 6" roof rack on the flip or on the top of the truck(most likely). On Monday I will try to post pictures of it all coming together. I will also have a trial run of lifting the camper off the truck with the jacks.
I have to have it done in 35 days now for my Outer Banks Cape Lookout National Seashore trip !!http://www.nps.gov/calo/planyourvisit/camping.htm
Louie
The donor camper that was hit by a tree
Welding the Jack mount
Jack test fit
Floor
On the truck. Notice that it is now up 5 1/4" higher.
I have to have it done in 35 days now for my Outer Banks Cape Lookout National Seashore trip !!http://www.nps.gov/calo/planyourvisit/camping.htm
Louie
The donor camper that was hit by a tree
Welding the Jack mount
Jack test fit
Floor
On the truck. Notice that it is now up 5 1/4" higher.
Last edited:
Bella PSD
Explorer
I NEED to get some more pictures up. I am still moving forward to enclose the Flippac and on to the door built. No turning back now!! I am going with a door like the one in post #13 in this thread.
I went with a smaller door for two reasons.
1) Dropping the tailgate and opening the lift glass would cause a tremendous amount of Heat loss in cold weather.
2) And in the summer, I will be trying to keep the bugs (mosquitoes) out, especially at night. I will have a main door and a screen door. The screen door will be one of those retractable types. Rolls into itself from left to right.
Planning the sink/cook top/heater/fridge location now that I have the camper all closed in. I have 18 days till I leave for the OBX trip, so I am only working on the necessities for now.
Louie
I am going with a door like the one in post #13 in this thread. I went with a smaller door for two reasons.
1) Dropping the tailgate and opening the lift glass would cause a tremendous amount of Heat loss in cold weather.
2) And in the summer, I will be trying to keep the bugs (mosquitoes) out, especially at night. I will have a main door and a screen door. The screen door will be one of those retractable types. Rolls into itself from left to right.
Planning the sink/cook top/heater/fridge location now that I have the camper all closed in. I have 18 days till I leave for the OBX trip, so I am only working on the necessities for now.
Louie
Last edited:
Bella PSD
Explorer
Bella PSD
Explorer
Well its been a long time since I updated this thread. I wish I could say I have it all finished but you know how it goes.
I should first update anyone reading this for the first time or for those visiting after my long break in updating. I am building a slide in style camper out of a Flippac. Its that simple. Easy to say and type here….But in reality, I am going on 2 years working on this.
My intent here is to update a little every few days or so. Even though I have done a lot of the work in advance of what I post here, I will get caught up quick on the post. Easier to post than do the work, if you know what I mean.
I last left you with the floor in two pieces resting on the ground. As you can see in the picture I posted above. This is where I will pick back up with the thread.
Before I get to the floor, maybe I should explain the sides being raised up 5 ¼”. This is to make room for the Rieco Titan jacks that will raise the camper up so it becomes a true slide in truck camper. I needed the room for the 1 ½” steel tubes that go 6” through the sides at all four corners. I was thinking that I needed a lot of strength here. I am sure this is over built but was considering this a safety issue so I over built it. I am planning on adding a 8” wide 3/8” steel plate later on that will be fully welded to the jack openings. This will tie the jacks to three surfaces and the steel plate will have three bends.
I posted about the jack mounts briefly in a post above. This jacks mounts took over a week to build! Mostly because they were build on the fly. I did have a rough drawing here and measurements BUT things changed several times during the process. For the better I might add. I built these mounts so strong, the 2000 lbs. jacks should be able the not only lift the camper off the truck BUT could lift the camper and truck off the ground if I need to. This could come in handy if I get stuck.
The floor is being constructed separate from the truck and top half of the camper. This made it easy to screw and glue it all together. This part, like just about every part of the build takes about 100 measurements before you are happy with your next move. This is manly because all of the work on this camper is being done with no plans down on paper. So it is slow going as you plan your next move. As I finish up the floor, I head over to the truck and start thinking of how the floor and sidewalls will fit. And I also have to plan out how the turnbuckles will attach and where.
Back to the floor that’s not yet installed....I make a few cut outs to the sidewalls for access to the front turnbuckles. This also doubles as access to a ton of usable storage. I cut out the openings extra large, about 12x12. I also trim up both sides of the floor so they taper into the truck. Smaller up front and bigger towards the back. So when I am backing under the camper, I have a wider error of margin. Less likely to be off center so much that I run one of the corners into the rear wheel well. The walls also taper from the bottom out towards the top for the same reason. This is about a 3 degree taper. This gives me the most useable interior space I can get without running the risk of hitting one of the wheel wells while backing under the camper.
There was no need to cut access holes in the backside of the lower wall because I plan on having rear exterior access doors for the rear turnbuckles and storage. I thought about design the floor plan around the wheel wells for more interior room but in the end it made more sense to leave the camper walls flush. The end result is more storage space and there is room to store the jack. The jacks should slide down each side of the camper storage area and rest on the tops of the wheel wells. If I don’t have the room for the jacks they can travel on the camper in the up position.
I should first update anyone reading this for the first time or for those visiting after my long break in updating. I am building a slide in style camper out of a Flippac. Its that simple. Easy to say and type here….But in reality, I am going on 2 years working on this.
My intent here is to update a little every few days or so. Even though I have done a lot of the work in advance of what I post here, I will get caught up quick on the post. Easier to post than do the work, if you know what I mean.
I last left you with the floor in two pieces resting on the ground. As you can see in the picture I posted above. This is where I will pick back up with the thread.
Before I get to the floor, maybe I should explain the sides being raised up 5 ¼”. This is to make room for the Rieco Titan jacks that will raise the camper up so it becomes a true slide in truck camper. I needed the room for the 1 ½” steel tubes that go 6” through the sides at all four corners. I was thinking that I needed a lot of strength here. I am sure this is over built but was considering this a safety issue so I over built it. I am planning on adding a 8” wide 3/8” steel plate later on that will be fully welded to the jack openings. This will tie the jacks to three surfaces and the steel plate will have three bends.
I posted about the jack mounts briefly in a post above. This jacks mounts took over a week to build! Mostly because they were build on the fly. I did have a rough drawing here and measurements BUT things changed several times during the process. For the better I might add. I built these mounts so strong, the 2000 lbs. jacks should be able the not only lift the camper off the truck BUT could lift the camper and truck off the ground if I need to. This could come in handy if I get stuck.
The floor is being constructed separate from the truck and top half of the camper. This made it easy to screw and glue it all together. This part, like just about every part of the build takes about 100 measurements before you are happy with your next move. This is manly because all of the work on this camper is being done with no plans down on paper. So it is slow going as you plan your next move. As I finish up the floor, I head over to the truck and start thinking of how the floor and sidewalls will fit. And I also have to plan out how the turnbuckles will attach and where.
Back to the floor that’s not yet installed....I make a few cut outs to the sidewalls for access to the front turnbuckles. This also doubles as access to a ton of usable storage. I cut out the openings extra large, about 12x12. I also trim up both sides of the floor so they taper into the truck. Smaller up front and bigger towards the back. So when I am backing under the camper, I have a wider error of margin. Less likely to be off center so much that I run one of the corners into the rear wheel well. The walls also taper from the bottom out towards the top for the same reason. This is about a 3 degree taper. This gives me the most useable interior space I can get without running the risk of hitting one of the wheel wells while backing under the camper.
There was no need to cut access holes in the backside of the lower wall because I plan on having rear exterior access doors for the rear turnbuckles and storage. I thought about design the floor plan around the wheel wells for more interior room but in the end it made more sense to leave the camper walls flush. The end result is more storage space and there is room to store the jack. The jacks should slide down each side of the camper storage area and rest on the tops of the wheel wells. If I don’t have the room for the jacks they can travel on the camper in the up position.
Last edited: