Flippac help

Hi all!! I’ve been lurking for awhile and finally needed all the experts advice.
Bought a Flippac last month that has been modified to fit a dodge Dakota bed. I have a 2009 Tacoma double cab long bed. Obviously not a ton of these things around so I jumped at the opportunity when this one popped up locally. The beds are obviously different sizes.
After talking with a few fiberglass guys, they both told me they want nothing to do with the job. They are both boat fiberglass guys so they said it was outside their wheelhouse.
Can you guys give me some advice on what/who to speak with to get the back of this Flippac back to its original “verticle line?” Here is some pics of the extended Flippac on my truck.
Thanks a ton!!

 

Inside view

 

Also, any other Flippac owners know anyone that will do small repairs on the tent? Thanks

 

I had a FlipPac on my previous truck. I can think of a few things that would work but wouldn’t be very elegant. One would be a removable horizontal strip of plywood or aluminum, that Velcro’s to the carpet on the side flanges and bridges the gap between the top of tailgate and the bottom of the liftgate, with seals/weatherstripping on both surfaces as needed. Pop open the lift gate, remove the strip and set it aside for full access, then replace it before closing up. But I suggest going to expeditionportal.com ... there’s a lot of a FlipPac owners there in the popup camper section forum.
https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/forums/pop-up-truck-campers.75/

 

One more thing, somewhere on Expedition Portal are some photos of a cut up FlipPac. There are steel tube reinforcements that run front to rear across the the top, which the fixed part of the hinge slides into on each side. The rest is wood and fiberglass. Since don’t really want to shorten the lid (all FlipPac lids are the same length, the offset at the front of the cap varies depending on bed length, any shortening of the cap becomes complicated ... you’re not just removing a section of lid and cap. That’s why I suggested leaving the rear overhang and just sealing it. Also, I suspect that size FP should fit an 1st gen Tundra, T100, older shortbed domestics etc, as well as the Dakota, so you should be able to sell it easily if you end up doing that.

 

That’s awesome info buddy!!! Thanks so much.
I don’t want to mess with the cap. The cap actually is the length of the bed. It’s the 45 degree pitch on the main portion of the shell.
I’m not that great at glass work so I’d have to hire some one with experience. The only thing that freaks me out is the top of where we would have to cut. The tent track and hardware are all tied together right there. That would be fatal for the camper if it was cut.

 

What if cut here?

 

Here is the side view of the top and the pitch angle

 

Just FYI, in my posts when I wrote “cap” I was referring to the shell, not the lid. Your picture showing a cut to make the rear wall vertical looks promising. Good luck!
Here are some pictures of the steel at the front/top.
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/attachments/brokenhingeremoval-jpg.411764/

 

Also, as you probably know the FlipPac manufacturer is out of business, but these guys offer replacement torsion bars which is a known failure.
https://swayaway.com/product/flip-pac-torsion-bar/
I got my FP for free with a broken bar and did a “delete” mod with long poles to flip it over, a two person job, but sold it before SwayAway started selling the replacement bars.

 

Again, thanks a ton!! That rod looks like it’s going through the lid at the torsion bar site, no?

 

If you mean the round aluminum rod, I think he’s running it through the lid from the rear to drive the hinge out of the rusty tube at the front. I think there’s a similar tube in the shell but not as long, the steel tube in the lid runs full length to make the lid stronger. I’m pretty sure there’s no steel in the back of the shell.

 

I saw that! That’s great news! I’ve been wanting a Flippac forever and finally found this one. I bought it for 2500 bucks so I couldn’t pass it up. Everything works besides the length.

What do you guys use to clean the tent? It has some caked on dirt in some spots and I’m scared to use water on any of the tent.

 

You might ask a surfboard glasser in the the area (if you are costal) if they want to do it. They are masters of fiberglass, and that really doesn't look all that difficult.

 

Even if i got the FlipPac for free, I'm not sure I'd try to mod it to fit my bed

 

I should be doing something more useful but got FlipPac nostalgia from this thread, so I found this:
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/flippac-build-out.128820/page-3
check out post #43 ... it seems like the steel tube reinforcement does run across the entire top length of the shell similar to the one in the lid. You may be able to deal with it or avoid it altogether since your cut angles away from that upper end.

 

I think this is more than I can handle. Does anyone know of a truck this would fit besides the dodge Dakota? I was thinking early tundra or T100 but can’t get a straight answer on bed sizes off the internet. The sizes are easy to find but contradict each other depending on who you believe