Series1Rangie
Adventurer
Time passes and we’ve been loving the flippac and tundra, but wanted a bit more.
It broke a front shock while the wife was driving it (she swears she just turned right ) so that was an excuse to upgrade. Purchased shocks and front springs from accutune and archive garage heavy duty rear springs in anticipation of future projects.
How she sat after install
It’s been a great turnkey camping setup, and the impetus for the change (aside from I really wanted a flatbed) was that with the previous build I longer had a pickup. Is built the interior out for camping, but the still a pickup feature of the flippac was gone. The flippac is still the best camper on or off the market for my family, but I didn’t want to drive an RV.
Then I saw an ad for a mid size Norweld tray and canopy from a Colorado that would fit a 1st Gen Tundra perfectly. I’m not a fan of the tray sticking way out on the sides, so this was right up my alley. Much back and forth and months later due to multiple trips by both parties, this ended up in my driveway.
Full weekender with the drawer, under boxes, and water tank.
Now the canopy was never going to work for us. It would mean buying a trailer and more compromises that I didn’t want to make. I decided (like an idiot) that what I needed to build is a flatbed slide out flippac. In hindsight I should have built the flippac base first, but I didn’t. I was too excited and went ahead and did this:
That was my Christmas present to myself and that became this!
I love how close it matches the truck.
Got the frame coated in a lanolin coating to help keep her alive for another couple decades. I recommend this as the last step for anyone. 8 months later and I still get black everyone I look at the frame wrong.
Added the boxes:
Adapted a fuel filler from a step side tundra, as the vents come out at different angles.
The flippac isn’t long enough to cover the whole tray, so I was presented with an opportunity. To maximize storage I decided to add a ”garage” to the front of the tray, replacing the headache rack. I also wanted to keep my tailgate but have an easier time getting in to the flippac. We came up with the following design:
The tailgate looks like a normal tailgate when closed. Where’d it’s open the short angled portion sits against the flatbed vertically leaving the rest of the tailgate pointed down at an angle. On the inside of the tailgate are two inset steps to allow easy access to the flippac. The overall height inside is reduced slightly by the height of the base sides, but the angle of entry vs getting into the tailgate and ducking should be better. Original plan from my partner in crime, read fabricator, was to have the doors shut against the sides. That didn’t really appeal to me. I wanted flush inset doors, and had to figure out a good sealing system. Decided to use Z channel (thanks JL) and a good bulb seal.
Test fitting the the garage
Sides cut and bent. Test fitting the frame
Early mock up to make me feel better
The rear cabinets still need a little tweaking front to back but it’s looking good.
Finally got all supports welded in with the z channel.
Bending up the tailgate.
Test mounting the sides and mock up for tailgate install and alignment.
If all goes well we’ll be welding the tailgate this week.
I’m super excited to get the flippac back on and the camper interior installed. I’ve lost half a camping season, hope to go strong through thanksgiving. Just need to have it ready for Labor Day. Deadlines are good, right?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It broke a front shock while the wife was driving it (she swears she just turned right ) so that was an excuse to upgrade. Purchased shocks and front springs from accutune and archive garage heavy duty rear springs in anticipation of future projects.
How she sat after install
It’s been a great turnkey camping setup, and the impetus for the change (aside from I really wanted a flatbed) was that with the previous build I longer had a pickup. Is built the interior out for camping, but the still a pickup feature of the flippac was gone. The flippac is still the best camper on or off the market for my family, but I didn’t want to drive an RV.
Then I saw an ad for a mid size Norweld tray and canopy from a Colorado that would fit a 1st Gen Tundra perfectly. I’m not a fan of the tray sticking way out on the sides, so this was right up my alley. Much back and forth and months later due to multiple trips by both parties, this ended up in my driveway.
Full weekender with the drawer, under boxes, and water tank.
Now the canopy was never going to work for us. It would mean buying a trailer and more compromises that I didn’t want to make. I decided (like an idiot) that what I needed to build is a flatbed slide out flippac. In hindsight I should have built the flippac base first, but I didn’t. I was too excited and went ahead and did this:
That was my Christmas present to myself and that became this!
I love how close it matches the truck.
Got the frame coated in a lanolin coating to help keep her alive for another couple decades. I recommend this as the last step for anyone. 8 months later and I still get black everyone I look at the frame wrong.
Added the boxes:
Adapted a fuel filler from a step side tundra, as the vents come out at different angles.
The flippac isn’t long enough to cover the whole tray, so I was presented with an opportunity. To maximize storage I decided to add a ”garage” to the front of the tray, replacing the headache rack. I also wanted to keep my tailgate but have an easier time getting in to the flippac. We came up with the following design:
The tailgate looks like a normal tailgate when closed. Where’d it’s open the short angled portion sits against the flatbed vertically leaving the rest of the tailgate pointed down at an angle. On the inside of the tailgate are two inset steps to allow easy access to the flippac. The overall height inside is reduced slightly by the height of the base sides, but the angle of entry vs getting into the tailgate and ducking should be better. Original plan from my partner in crime, read fabricator, was to have the doors shut against the sides. That didn’t really appeal to me. I wanted flush inset doors, and had to figure out a good sealing system. Decided to use Z channel (thanks JL) and a good bulb seal.
Test fitting the the garage
Sides cut and bent. Test fitting the frame
Early mock up to make me feel better
The rear cabinets still need a little tweaking front to back but it’s looking good.
Finally got all supports welded in with the z channel.
Bending up the tailgate.
Test mounting the sides and mock up for tailgate install and alignment.
If all goes well we’ll be welding the tailgate this week.
I’m super excited to get the flippac back on and the camper interior installed. I’ve lost half a camping season, hope to go strong through thanksgiving. Just need to have it ready for Labor Day. Deadlines are good, right?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
