Is FRP (FlipPac) still in business?

Dave

Dave

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Got an interesting question from Mario at AT today.

He suspects FRP is dead. They have received many calls in recent weeks from people trying to reach them. They thought it was their same old MO but their 800# is dead, 951# only rings, no answer and e-mails not being answered. I'm not surprised as I had a hunch it was only a matter of time.

Has anyone heard anything?
 
I haven't heard anything but I can drive by on Saturday, I'll be going through there anyway. In the past there were times they would shut down the whole shop for everyone to go on vacation.
 
RoamingRobertsons said:
I haven't heard anything but I can drive by on Saturday, I'll be going through there anyway. In the past there were times they would shut down the whole shop for everyone to go on vacation.
Click to expand...

Could be. Homer (the owner) is getting up there in years too. Let us know!
 
RoamingRobertsons said:
In the past there were times they would shut down the whole shop for everyone to go on vacation.
Click to expand...

This is my new company's favorite way of managing operating costs when sales are down - full plant shutdowns. I'm pretty flexible so a bit of extra time-off wouldn't normally bug me too much, except that since I'm new I haven't built up a vacation bank, so it's been unpaid. Hopefully that's all that's up. I don 't think I have the patience to be an FRP customer, but I'd hate to see them gone from the landscape altogether.
 
Good to know, I am about to purchase a spare torsion bar! Hopefully I didn't wait too long!
 
I stopped by the parking lot today. There was a car parked there and a couple of forms for shower enclosures in the lot. There were also a couple of shower enclosures. I didn't get out but what I could see of the rear yard gave no indication they weren't still open for business. The sign was still on the building and everything looked generally how I last saw it several years ago. Every time I've stopped by there have been a few projects here and there in the customer parking lot. If someone goes through there during the week, maybe stop in to see what's up.
 
Hi, a newbie here. I just confirmed with AT Overland that FRP, the parent company of the Flippac, is out of business.
I have been trying to reach them for sometime, hoping that they were on a company wide break, as theorized above, but today, the # responded as disconnected.
I have a broken torsion bar, so I have a useless Flippac. AT had no advice on where to source a new torsion bar. I know this will become an issue for more and more Flippac owners as time goes by, so I am hoping that someone can point me in the right direction to find the source.
I have inferred from previous web posts, complaining about FRP's lag time in sending out torsion bars for repairs, that it seems unlikely that they were manufactured in house.
Any help is much appreciated!
 
I also spoke with AT and can confirm they have no interest in Flippac or our torsion bar dilemma. My second bar broke and there is no one in the US of A that will make them because the design is flawed - prove me wrong and I'll buy two. I just completed the delete option build and it works just fine. I sure like the Flipac and will keep mine going on my 02 Tacoma. I am considering an upgrade but what to do is the big question.

RIP Flippac
 
I never owned a Flip Pac but everyone I know that did sure seemed to like it. Seems like a tweak to the product here and there and it would have been bullet proof. Too bad there is no interest in keeping the design going.
 
Greasy said:
Hi, a newbie here. I just confirmed with AT Overland that FRP, the parent company of the Flippac, is out of business.
I have been trying to reach them for sometime, hoping that they were on a company wide break, as theorized above, but today, the # responded as disconnected.
I have a broken torsion bar, so I have a useless Flippac. AT had no advice on where to source a new torsion bar. I know this will become an issue for more and more Flippac owners as time goes by, so I am hoping that someone can point me in the right direction to find the source.
I have inferred from previous web posts, complaining about FRP's lag time in sending out torsion bars for repairs, that it seems unlikely that they were manufactured in house.
Any help is much appreciated!
Click to expand...
You might try contacting John at Ursa Minor. He worked the torsion bar for jk habitat so he may be able to get you the company info that made that torsion bar.
 
Wow! This makes my decision easy...Flip Pac or AT Habitat? Habitat for the win! Now I just have to be patient and wait for the 1st gen Tacoma A-dapter kit. Thanks for the info y'all!
 
Bummed to hear AT has to interest in helping owners of a product they sold.... (mine came from AT not FRP) Ursa has said in another forum they can not help FP owners. Really too bad.... I love my FP and we use it over 40 nights a year.
 
The torsion bar issue has been debated at length on the net across many sites. I myself looked high and low for a source for replacement parts with no luck. I talked to Mario at AT and he too is annoyed with the way this played out - truth be told he was annoyed for years by the lack of professionalism at FRP in general. So IMHO we can't and shouldn't fault AT because the producer of a product that they were a dealer for has disappeared and taken the source of their proprietary torsion bar with them. AT can't give what they don't have and can't get.

One option is to watch Craigslist and grab one for cannibalization. You can find them on CL sometimes for quite cheap.
 
I fault AT for not trying to help service a product they sold.... I knew the torsion bar was an issue as they did... I wish they would develop a delete kit that used hydraulics or something like their top does, rather than wash their hands of a $6k product they sold for a couple of years.... I still prefer the FP design, the footprint of the FP over the truck. I use my FP as a changing room/bathroom/post race meal/recovery etc area at bike races where I could not flip over the back (into the parking lot travel lane or parallel parked cars)

Knock on wood my bar holds on.... really seems to be luck of the draw.... some last years, some break within weeks? One poor guy was third flip or something close to that....
 
Before we start thinking about who is scratching whose back here with all this absolving AT of responsibility talk, I want to share my conversations with them on the torsion bar topic. I did not buy my FP from AT but went to FRP directly. As so many have posted ad nauseum FRP customer service was very bad. As a customer of AT for some expensive fridge equipment I felt I could contact them last year when my first bar broke to see if they could help me when FRP could not say when they would have a replacement bar. AT would not acknowledge to me that they had an issue with the bars and could not help me with a replacement. So I waited 3 months for a replacement from FRP and when It was installed I sent the broken bar to Schroeder Racing (maker of specialty racing torsion bars) to see if they were able or interested in making these - their bars are shorter and they did not have heat treating capability for FP length bars Jim Schroeder communicated to me. I tried as others have to find alternative sourcing as the torsion bar postings on Ex Po verify.

After my second bar broke this July I tried to contact FRP and as stated they appear to be off line so to speak and no longer answer the phone or respond. Again I talked with Mario and he indicated they were no longer selling the FP and would not support any design changes or torsion bar issues and could not help me. Does AT owe me anything - no. Do they owe customers who bought a FP from them - yes. AT should starting by being honest and upfront and maybe do an air strut mod or how about a discount on a Habitat for their FP customer is a thought.

I 'm sort of venting on this topic but AT has some answering to do I believe.
 
grumon said:
Before we start thinking about who is scratching whose back here with all this absolving AT of responsibility talk, I want to share my conversations with them on the torsion bar topic. I did not buy my FP from AT but went to FRP directly. As so many have posted ad nauseum FRP customer service was very bad. As a customer of AT for some expensive fridge equipment I felt I could contact them last year when my first bar broke to see if they could help me when FRP could not say when they would have a replacement bar. AT would not acknowledge to me that they had an issue with the bars and could not help me with a replacement. So I waited 3 months for a replacement from FRP and when It was installed I sent the broken bar to Schroeder Racing (maker of specialty racing torsion bars) to see if they were able or interested in making these - their bars are shorter and they did not have heat treating capability for FP length bars Jim Schroeder communicated to me. I tried as others have to find alternative sourcing as the torsion bar postings on Ex Po verify.

After my second bar broke this July I tried to contact FRP and as stated they appear to be off line so to speak and no longer answer the phone or respond. Again I talked with Mario and he indicated they were no longer selling the FP and would not support any design changes or torsion bar issues and could not help me. Does AT owe me anything - no. Do they owe customers who bought a FP from them - yes. AT should starting by being honest and upfront and maybe do an air strut mod or how about a discount on a Habitat for their FP customer is a thought.

I 'm sort of venting on this topic but AT has some answering to do I believe.
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While I can understand wishing AT would or could do something to help you out with this problem, I fail to understand how AT should be responsible to replace a part on an item that they were a dealer for, and did not manufactur, especially when the business that created the product that AT WAS a reseller for, is no longer in business.




Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
grumon said:
Before we start thinking about who is scratching whose back here with all this absolving AT of responsibility talk, I want to share my conversations with them on the torsion bar topic. I did not buy my FP from AT but went to FRP directly.
Click to expand...

First off, AT does not pay to advertise on this site. Secondly, I've spent thousands of dollars with AT as a customer. So your thinly veiled attempt at suggesting that my comments have been bought and paid for is noted.

That said, I stand by my statement. This is no different than any other reseller who stops supporting a product once the manufacturer closes its doors.

Bottom line is that whether we like it or not, the Barr Top aka FlipPac is a circa 1977 design that is now nearing the end of it's life cycle. Anyone who owns one now is most likely on their own for repair parts, and if I still owned mine and the torsion bar were to break I'd get after a torsion bar delete mod and carry on smartly for another decade.

Or, if a guy was really motivated, he'd get a FP torsion bar and take it to Curry in Corona, CA. I'm standing here in Uwharrie with Casey Currie right now talking this piece and he says with an example they can replicate any torsion bar on the planet.

[drops the mic]
 
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