Flip Pac bed supports

brian90744

American Trekker
Went camping last week, ended up in Quartsite,AZ. Setting up camp I broke one of the bed supports, use just one and it held wife & I at 350#. When I got home LA, CA I went to West Marine and purchased a pair of 3/4"ends for $5.00. Fit fine. I recommend carrying a spare pair, just in case. see pictures=
thanks brian
 

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x2 although I would like to upgrade mine to aluminum. If anyone has an online source to upgrade these assemblies with aluminum fittings please PM me :)

I'd recommend finding a source locally because the parts are slightly different from different manufacturers so the holes may not quite line up even though the look the same. The is especially true of the hinges. The two parts used are called deck hinges and internal eyes. You can substitute with external eyes, of course. When I was searching previously, I got some advice that I ultimately followed. That was to let these parts may serve as weakest points on purpose.

Sourcing with stronger parts such as aluminum or some other metal may cause the fiberglass shell to become the weakest point. Instead of these parts breaking if snagged on a tree or because of some major stressor when deploying you might break the shell instead which wold be much more difficult to repair, even if it just strips the screws and the parts pop off. I don't know if FRP did this on purpose but it seems to make sense to me.

I ended up finding the right sized eyes and deck hinges at Bass Pro so I bought a handful of each and keep them in my truck. Living in the desert, combined with the extreme angle of the supports for my FP, I've replaced them many times. Ultimately, I bought some galvanized 1/2 inch conduit, cut it to length and flattened the ends at the appropriate angle, and drilled holes in the end. I haven't had a problem since them and it is rock solid. I have had to replace the deck hinges and they remain as the weak point in the system on purpose. They are much easier to replace than the eyes anyway.
 

haulindave

Observer
I'd recommend finding a source locally because the parts are slightly different from different manufacturers so the holes may not quite line up even though the look the same. The is especially true of the hinges. The two parts used are called deck hinges and internal eyes. You can substitute with external eyes, of course. When I was searching previously, I got some advice that I ultimately followed. That was to let these parts may serve as weakest points on purpose.

Sourcing with stronger parts such as aluminum or some other metal may cause the fiberglass shell to become the weakest point. Instead of these parts breaking if snagged on a tree or because of some major stressor when deploying you might break the shell instead which wold be much more difficult to repair, even if it just strips the screws and the parts pop off. I don't know if FRP did this on purpose but it seems to make sense to me.

I ended up finding the right sized eyes and deck hinges at Bass Pro so I bought a handful of each and keep them in my truck. Living in the desert, combined with the extreme angle of the supports for my FP, I've replaced them many times. Ultimately, I bought some galvanized 1/2 inch conduit, cut it to length and flattened the ends at the appropriate angle, and drilled holes in the end. I haven't had a problem since them and it is rock solid. I have had to replace the deck hinges and they remain as the weak point in the system on purpose. They are much easier to replace than the eyes anyway.

I bought my Flippac used and the the bed supports had been torn off the top , so I made the support arms out of 1/2 inch conduit also .filpac008.jpg I used a old folding table leg attachment and the clip part that the folded leg sets in for parts to attach the support leg to the top of Flippac . filpac007-1.jpgfilpac003.jpgThe pics show that the conduit flat-end and drilled , after I took these pictures I welded the end where flattened closed then grinded it smooth and dipped it in liquid rubber you use for tools and got new clip pin . It works great and haven't had any problems with it .

I do like the plastic ended pieces Brian came up with , to carry with you for emergencies for the inside support arms in case you break one when out camping . The marine hardware for top canopies , has most of the pieces needed for fixing our flippacs .
 

brian90744

American Trekker
x2 although I would like to upgrade mine to aluminum. If anyone has an online source to upgrade these assemblies with aluminum fittings please PM me :)

Hi doc.
West Marine carries both the plastic $5. and alum $ 10 ends. and thanks for your build F/P ideas. I guess the plastic bed support end become brittle in the Calif sun and after some time =break.
brian
 
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Harp

Adventurer
I removed the poles all together and put the west marine stainless fittings on both ends of better poles, put a quick connect on the top of the flippac and store the poles behind the seat in my truck. Works great
 

RHINO

Expedition Leader
i wanted to park in my garage, the only thing stopping me was the supports in the stock config. i dont really like them anyway, size mounting ect so i fixed it.
photobucket-4594-1326660458152.jpg
 

Shurppa

Observer
Any auto/boat apholstery shop will have all the parts you need. In plastic or aluminium. I had 4 made for me, two of witch will be extras.
 

austintaco

Explorer
I had to replace one of mine and I bought both, the type in the original post and the original type. I kept the black ones that slip over the pole as spares and used the same type as a replacement. I had to drill out the hole that the hood pin slips into, and I used a small self tapping screw to attach the piece to the pole. I pre drilled the hole for the screw even though it is self tapping. So far, so good.
If you buy the same style replacement to keep as spares in case one breaks on the road, pre drill the holes for a screw and for the hood pin to go into. BTW, search for Bimini tops to find dealers for these parts. That seems to be what they are used for the most.
 
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brian90744

American Trekker
i wanted to park in my garage, the only thing stopping me was the supports in the stock config. i dont really like them anyway, size mounting ect so i fixed it.
photobucket-4594-1326660458152.jpg

Clay.
Great idea. Do you remove the posts and store on deployment?? like your rock sliders.
brian
 

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