Flippac torsion bar

[DVexile]

I'm about to get a brand new Flip Pac and I would actually be interested in a group buy just to have a spare that was hopefully "made right" in case mine breaks at some point in the future. I hope to have my Flip Pac for about twenty years (it will be relatively low use and stored indoors between trips) so storing a spare part now might make sense given the history of torsion bars and FRP.

 

[Dave Bennett]

I would be in on a group buy.

In.

 

[WOODY2]

I'm in for qty 2 replacements

 

[Forrest Thorniley]

I am hoping to purchase an FP in the next few weeks, and would be interested in a group buy as well.

 

[tacoluv]

I talked with Gary at Schroeder today - owner I believe. He said to ship him a bar and said he would prefer a broken one so he can do some tests that may be damaging. Mine broke on passenger side next to splines. The Tacoma bar is just over 5 feet. I don't know what the length on the full size Flippac is. I will send this week to get this process started and keep forum updated.
Tom

 

[homemade]

I talked with Gary at Schroeder today - owner I believe. He said to ship him a bar and said he would prefer a broken one so he can do some tests that may be damaging. Mine broke on passenger side next to splines. The Tacoma bar is just over 5 feet. I don't know what the length on the full size Flippac is. I will send this week to get this process started and keep forum updated.
Tom

The bar is the same for all of them because the flip part of the roof and the tent is the same for all of them - which is why there is only one size SLO rain fly.
My bar hasn't broken but I would be interested in one as a spare. Thanks for checking this out.

 

[springsyeti]

I would also be interested in a group buy. I have had mine for 10+ years and have replaced 3, last one just over 2 years ago so I am probably due soon..

 

[Dave Bennett]

I talked with Gary at Schroeder today - owner I believe. He said to ship him a bar and said he would prefer a broken one so he can do some tests that may be damaging. Mine broke on passenger side next to splines. The Tacoma bar is just over 5 feet. I don't know what the length on the full size Flippac is. I will send this week to get this process started and keep forum updated.
Tom

All Torsion bars and hardware are the same. The tent, lid and hardware is the exact same size and weight whether it's on a 5ft Tacoma bed or an 8 ft F-350 bed... same same.

 

[brian90744]

It appears this only happens on Toyota's. Maybe listing the vehicle make would help figure out why this is happening?? FYI=brian

 

[tacollie]

They break on any truck. There is a guy here in town with and old Chevy with a broken torsion bar. There are a lot of Toyotas with Flippacs so it can seem missleading.

Once again Flippac lied about shipping my order. They told me if they have new units to complete they will do that instead of sending one to me. So I e-mailed Schoeder and am planning on going that route. Makes me want to start planning for other replacement parts.

 

[DVexile]

Once again Flippac lied about shipping my order. They told me if they have new units to complete they will do that instead of sending one to me. So I e-mailed Schoeder and am planning on going that route. Makes me want to start planning for other replacement parts.

That's just remarkable. Is there just a single one armed man who makes the torsion bars and often on sick leave with the flu or something? How do they not just order more and have them show up? Their manufacturing is still limited by the production rate of torsion bars? It boggles the mind...

Oh, and apologies, I'm one of those new units so they probably stole your torsion bar for my build. Or more likely they don't even have one for mine yet either and haven't gotten around to telling me it will be late

 

[faulke]

It's been iterated before, but I highly recommend some sort of torsion bar delete mod. I tried to get a replacement bar for six months before giving up. The first time I called FRP about a replacement, they took my name and phone number and said that new bars would be in by the end of the month. If I didn't hear from them by the end of the month, then I should give them a call. That seemed perfectly reasonable. The end of the month rolled around, and I got the exact same spiel. In fact, I had the exact same conversation five more times over the next five months until I decided to take matters into my own hands, so to speak. Don't get me wrong, I love my Flippac, but it bothered me that every time I called the person on the other end either had no clue what was going on or was blatantly lying. If they had just said production is generally slow or they were behind on orders, I probably would have had more patience. Not to mention, a new bar was going to cost twice what I paid for my used shell.

For those on the fence about a delete mod because the you're afraid the roof would be too heavy or difficult to open (like I was six months ago), here's a video of me opening my Flippac with a push pole. I'm not exactly the biggest guy, but it's fairly easy so long as it's not really windy or I haven't had too many beers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xnpvDaL5A8&feature=youtu.be

For those waiting on a replacement bar, best of luck and kudos to your patience!

 

[WOODY2]

We need to stay on top of the Schroeder progress. There is no better solution to crappy service and deceit that competition. The concept is to good to let it fade away because of bad business practices. :victory:

 

[ripperj]

I'm surprised about two things,1) that people still shell out thousands for a new Flippac, and 2) the manufacturer does not get a new source and mark up the price if needed. I'm sure most people would rather pay an extra couple hundred up front so they would not have to worry about failure. It can't be that complicated, there are lots of cars and trucks with torsion bar suspension, but i suspect they don't twist as much.

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Camelfilter]

I'm surprised about two things,1) that people still shell out thousands for a new Flippac, and 2) the manufacturer does not get a new source and mark up the price if needed. I'm sure most people would rather pay an extra couple hundred up front so they would not have to worry about failure. It can't be that complicated, there are lots of cars and trucks with torsion bar suspension, but i suspect they don't twist as much...

Flippacs aren't FRP's primary business, it seems to me more of a "keep folks busy" in between the other projects they have. Probably why adventure trailers dropped them, they just just don't take there own Flippac business seriously - as far as most folks are accustomed to these days.

Hit the nail on the head in regards to the torsion bar, it's the amount of twist at 90 degrees & the amount of stress involved with that.

They have a very nice niche market though, smaller/lighter/cheaper than slide-ins, yet still spacious when opened up.