D-Day -7 till we head to Prescott to pick up our Flippac...

[Palehorse1]

Let me start by saying that each of you that have posted personal impressions, ideas, suggestions, and pictures of your trucks with FlipPac campers aboard have our thanks as it was each of you that helped us decide to get into the build que and order ours. Martyn sent us these teasers after the windoors were installed and before the retractable awning was installed.

 

[homemade]

"Let me start by saying that each of you that have posted personal impressions, ideas, suggestions, and pictures of your trucks with FlipPac campers aboard have our thanks as it was each of you that helped us decide to get into the build que and order ours."

X2 Thank you to those that have posted about their flippacs. I don't think that I had even heard of it before finding this forum. I recently found a flippac owners forum, it has very few posts but if it takes off some it could be a nice resource with information not as buried as in this one. The flippac is really complete and for the most part self explanatory which may be why relatively few people post about theirs. There isn't much to modify and not much to really accessorize other than common camping accessories. I ordered a SLO rain fly, stuck some velcro attached battery puck LED lights (the hook part of velcro sticks tenaciously to the carpet liner), bought a BedRug (same looking material as the camper carpet liner but on a closed cell foam base), got a Byer of Maine Easy Cot for use in the truck bed and treated the tent with 303 Fabric Guard and am calling it done. I am trying to figure out a safe way to remove it when I want to make a garbage dump run or a run to pick up a few yards of bark chips or gravel for yard work. And of course there is always the interest in a torsion bar substitute for when that inevitable day of need comes.

Have fun with your flippac.
Thanks to all.

 

[Funrover]

Congrats and have fun!

 

[Scott Brady]

Stop by the ExPo offices (next door to AT) and say hi.

 

[Palehorse1]

Stop by the ExPo offices (next door to AT) and say hi.

Thanks for the invite, will do.

 

[Palehorse1]

We have returned home with our Flippac and can honestly say that we love it. We had intended to have the largest awning that AT offered for it on the drivers side but its length would have interfered with the opening and closing operation so we had it installed to the passenger side instead. I regret not inquiring about a narrower awning to install on the drivers side while we were there as I have a feeling that we will want one eventually. Here's a camera phone snapshot we took while stopping in on family near Marble Falls, Texas on the return trip. Right side of awning was intentionally set lower as brother in law was tinkering with the adjustments on the legs. I think he wants a FlipPac now too.

For those that wonder how the FlipPac will affect how your vehicle handles I can say that we never really felt that it was on the truck until we hit the flats near Davis Mountain in Texas while traveling east on I-10 and the very high winds pushed us around a bit. In the defense of the FlipPac I have to say that everyone that was traveling that route that day was getting moved around by the wind so it wasn't an isolated event. Still sorting through my mileage notes scribbled onto the gas receipts I saved but it looks like my fuel economy took a hit of 1.5, to 2 miles per gallon with me always pumping mid grade gasoline to the truck. Octanes and ethanol content did vary by state so your mileage may vary. I did have the rear leaf spring TSB done some time before we started the trip and could tell that the leafs were a bit flatter than normal with the additional weight.

One of the highlights of our trip was meeting the Adventure Trailers, and Overland Journal teams as they made us feel like family and were genuinely excited about our future travel plans and we earnestly feel like we made new friends with everyone there. Sadly missed Scott at Overland Journal but met Brian and the others and dropped off some local flavors for them to enjoy. I apologize now for the lack of detailed photos of the whole experience but I always seem to forget to take pictures as I always want to make certain that I take time to shake the hands of people whom I appreciate and can say that I shook allot of hands that day in Prescott.

 

[oscarbob]

Wow that looks great! I also have a pyrite mica tacoma, how did the colors match up on the truck and FP? How long was the wait once you put in your order at AT? Were there any discrepancies with FPR? How much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Palehorse1]

Wow that looks great! I also have a pyrite mica tacoma, how did the colors match up on the truck and FP? How long was the wait once you put in your order at AT? Were there any discrepancies with FPR? How much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking?

1. The colors match very well which was surprising due to the inherent nature of Pyrite Mica paint.
2. The wait was allot longer than what current order will have to endure since we ordered ours during the "great torsion bar drought" of 2011/2012.
3. As far as discrepancies with FRP, I have no idea as I never communicated with them.
4. As to cost the current pricing structure is on the AT website in their FlipPac section.

 

[clcoyle]

Great looking FlipPac

 

[JoelCragAz]

Now that is a great color!

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[austintaco]

Hey Pale Horse, are you in TX? At least now I know that there are two of us floating around. Check out the Central Overland crowd for some routes around Marble Falls.

Does your awning extend past the flippac when it is rolled up? It looks great, and yes, Martyn and the AT crew do superb job at customer service. Hopefully, you stopped at the little restaraunt around the corner from the shop.

Be prepared for people to ask you about it when you open it up. It's a head turner.

 

[Palehorse1]

We are from Texas but actually currently living in Illinois. The awning does in fact extend past the front of the FlipPac, I measured the front of the awning housing to be 8.5" in front of the nose of the unit. FreddyBertos or something along those lines was definitely worth the stop. Great breakfast burritos. I can only imagine how it's gonna be when people see it open as I already get questions from observant people with it closed up.

 

[ETAV8R]

Looking good. Any plans for the interior?

...Still sorting through my mileage notes scribbled onto the gas receipts I saved but it looks like my fuel economy took a hit of 1.5, to 2 miles per gallon with me always pumping mid grade gasoline to the truck. Octanes and ethanol content did vary by state so your mileage may vary. I did have the rear leaf spring TSB done some time before we started the trip and could tell that the leafs were a bit flatter than normal with the additional weight.

Mileage sounds about right. I set my cruise at 68-70 and usually do ok, best was about 17mpg on a long haul to Utah.

Be prepared for people to ask you about it when you open it up. It's a head turner.

I see people checking mine out all the time. Just last week on the way home from a mountain bike ride I could see a couple in a Grand Cherokee talking about it. The man was in the passenger seat and thought it popped up from the way he was describing it with his hands to the female driver. I put my hands out (yes both) and cleared up the confusion. Next stoplight they rolled down the windows to ask about it. He looked like a little kid.

 

[Palehorse1]

We don't have any solid interior plans yet but Martyn did show us photos of some options that he offers that look great and are very tempting. We have heaps of gear here already and have our eyes on some other items that we've been reading about so I think we are going to follow his advice to get in the back of the truck with some masking tape and cardboard to sort out what would work best for us before we invest into interior modifications. I like that idea as it allows us time to sort out what we still want to drag along with us and what we may be able to do without or, replace with a multipurpose item. Right now I'm gathering items together to hopefully resolve the "reading in bed" demands that my wife has made of me with some dimmable LED components that were left overs from another project. If it works out I'll order more if needed and report my findings back here.

I have had some odd encounters with some very enthusiastic people already that struck me as humorous. I too have heard theories about how the top operates only to surprise them by explaining how it rotates on the torsion bar. I imagine it will only get funnier as the weather gets better and we can get out with it more often.