inTech RV MAX Flyer Review (5 months)

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inTech RV MAX Flyer Review (5 months)

Postby G-Mac » Fri Aug 18, 2017 11:39 am

Hey everyone,

The inTech RV series of campers is relatively new to the industry, at least from the consumer’s perspective. Many of us have seen them here or there and looked all over the internet with only a few smatterings of information beyond the manufacturer’s website. I know I ran into the same issue and it made it a lot tougher to pull the trigger without a lot of third-party review.

So, I figured I would do my best at a review of my MAX Flyer, in case anyone is shopping and wondering how they hold up to scrutiny and use. (Written 18 Aug, 2017 with about 5 months of use and over a dozen trips.)

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We purchased our MAX Flyer in April 2017, at a local dealer. We had seen them at Overland Expo East last fall and toured the displays a couple times at the dealer. Over time, the unique layout and potential benefits of a fully open cargo area began to grow on us. Once we determined that the Flyer would work for our needs, we negotiated a deal and put our money down.

The dealer didn’t have any “unsold” stock, so we had to wait for a shipment from the factory. This worked in our favor, as the dealer had an order due out in just a couple weeks with a couple Flyers on it that weren’t spoken for. In addition, the dealer normally ordered their campers with AC only, and we wanted a vent for boondocking and for better ventilation. So, the request was made to add the MaxAir fan at the factory, just before shipping.

When our camper arrived, we jumped in the Jeep and headed down to pick it up. I had taken measurements and was prepared with an adjustable drop hitch and the appropriate 2” ball. We were incredibly picky with our receipt inspection. We noted a single, light mark on the window on the door that was about 1” long. In addition, we could not get our refrigerator to turn on using either 110 VAC or 12 VDC. The dealer swapped the unit with another RV and we verified it’s operation before hooking up. (We learned it was a blown fuse on the original refrigerator that was preventing it from turning on.)

After hooking up, I was a little disappointed with the sag in the rear of the Jeep. My Jeep has a custom lift and I had actually set it to ride a little high in the rear so that it would sag to level when towing. It went below that… the tongue was apparently pretty heavy.

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Although the tongue was heavier than anticipated, the drive home (about 80 minutes of mixed highway and city roads) was uneventful and I was very pleased with how stable the Flyer towed. I’ve pulled many trailers of varying types and this one followed with no issues.

If you look in my build thread (http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=67873), you’ll see that I just can’t leave anything well enough alone. The Flyer has been a great product to work on and modify. A normal thing for me to find when modifying a vehicle is all the “mistakes” or “shortcuts” that were taken. I normally fix these and make them better so that I don’t have to deal with them later. With the inTech, I found almost nothing that I had to “fix” and I found the platform to be a very well-built and solid one to build on. If you would like to know more about what I have done to my Flyer and why, please read my build thread (http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=67873).

Now, to the actual review: I’m not going to give a lot of specific measurements and weights, because inTech RV has a pretty diverse line of campers available and they have a TON of specs on their website. (http://www.intechrv.com) So, here are the pros and cons of our specific camper with a couple measurements in it for reference.

Pros:

- Small and easy to maneuver.
- Short! It fits in our garage! (Even with a 2.65” lift, AC unit and rack).
- Convenient access with the rear doors. Easier to load/unload, make the bed, more flexibility than a traditional teardrop.
- Well-thought out kitchen. We love the stove and storage, but moved the refrigerator to add a sink. This was a personal preference that we wanted, but the stove/refrigerator setup works for those who don’t mind doing water another way.
- Low overall weight. Fully loaded and modified, our Flyer is still below 2K pounds.
- Very quiet inside. We don’t get kept awake by neighbors when in the campground. It’s very well insulated from sound.
- Warm! The AC has a heat position and there is a knob that lets you set the temp. Unfortunately, the knob does not have actual temps on it. At first it was way to warm, but we finally adjusted it to where we were able to sleep comfortably. It kept us toasty warm in 28 degree weather this spring.
- Good storage space for clothes, personal items, etc. inside. The space above the kitchen is a storage shelf and it holds quite a bit.
- Full Queen width interior. A standard mattress fits perfectly side-to-side and leaves about 17” of free space at the end between the mattress and the doors.
- Ability to use the trailer for cargo. The Flyers are actually marketed as “Micro Toy Haulers” and the double doors in the rear allow you to forego a standard mattress for an inflatable, and then pull a four-wheeler or bikes inside.
- 2” receiver hitch as standard equipment. You can’t tow another trailer, but you can use a multitude of accessories to carry bikes or other items on back of the camper. This would also help offset the tongue weight.
- All doors are held open with gas struts. This means you don’t have to mess with door holders overtime you open a door and don’t want it to close on your leg.
- Good quality wheels and tires. These guys don’t use “camper tires”, they use a standard auto tire and aluminum wheel. They ride smooth, quiet and have very little flex. The larger size means they don’t spin as fast as many smaller trailer tires, so there is less wear on bearings.
- Speaking of bearings, the axles have bearing-buddies standard.
- Fantastic build quality. The frame is welded aluminum, the structure is welded 1” aluminum square tubing, the outer skin is aluminum sheet and the interior is insulated and lined with carpet-covered plywood. (This carpet also adds sound insulation and covers holes/oops when mounting or moving things inside.) Using wood makes it easy to add things inside without using special fasteners. The floor also comes standard with coin style rubber matting edge-to-edge.

Cons:

- HEAVY tongue weight. Our tongue was over 400 pounds when we picked up our camper. That was with a full, 25# propane bottle and a battery in front and nothing in the back to offset that weight. The front kitchen makes it heavy and there isn’t a lot that can be done to change that in the design. There are things that can be done to fix it though, and we have dropped our tongue weight to 300 pounds when loaded.
- No mattress. This could actually be a pro, as it allows you to choose your own mattress (we went with a cheap ($300 on sale) memory foam and have slept better than ever.
- Noisy AC fan inside. Some will like the fact that the AC unit gives a decent amount of “white noise”, but I am one of those that sleeps best when it is completely quiet. So, nights when we are plugged-in and running the AC, its a constant sound inside that I would love to do without. (I readily admit that it would be almost impossible to remove this noise, but a quieter/slower setting on the AC fan would sure help.)
- No option to mount propane or spare tire behind the wheels. As-stated, the tongue is heavy. Moving the spare tire to the rear (still on the side) and/or the propane tank would help in shifting that weight balance and removing some from the tongue.
- No exterior storage. As mentioned above, the interior gives great space for storing clothing and personal items above the kitchen or at the foot of the bed, but there is no place to store those items that are covered in dirt or water. (Wheel chocks, chairs, axe, etc.) There are three options for those items: Either store them in containers at the foot of the bed, or add storage to the outside using a hitch carrier or storage boxes like we did. (See my build thread for details - http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=67873)


Summary:

If you can’t tell, we are very happy with our inTech RV MAX Flyer. The build quality is fantastic and it is something that will last for many years to come. The fact that I can not only tell you “Nothing has broken yet”, but I can also tell you that “In modifying and laying hands on almost every aspect of this camper, I haven’t found anything that is even LIKELY to fail or break anytime soon.” speaks volumes.

The unique configuration of this camper makes it a head-turner when you pull into the campground and allows a more flexible use of space than most other campers. Although we didn’t opt for an air mattress and toys to haul in it, we are acutely aware that it is a possibility and adds to the resale potential when we move on to our next RV. Between the flexibility and the build quality, this little camper is as close to a “good investment” as you can expect to find when buying an RV.

We have had some dealings with the manufacturer. As you might imagine, the modifications we made and posted on social media caught their attention. Although we haven’t benefited financially in any way, they were nice enough to send me new decals in the same color as my graphics and have been incredibly receptive of my thoughts (and a few minor criticisms) and have been a pleasure to work with.

If I missed something or you have a specific question, please feel free to ask. I hope this review helps others who are considering the inTech RV series of campers as a potential RV for their needs.

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Gary
InTech RV MAX Flyer
Build (Mod) Thread: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=67873
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G-Mac
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Location: Virginia

Re: inTech RV MAX Flyer Review (5 months)

Postby bobanette » Tue Nov 14, 2017 11:29 pm

Love what you have done with your Flyer. Do you remember when mounting your foxwing if you used the bolts provided? My awning is on order & I'm wondering if I need longer bolts. Trying to have everything ready when it gets here. Any suggestions you have from your experience is appreciated.

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Re: inTech RV MAX Flyer Review (5 months)

Postby G-Mac » Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:23 pm

I don't recall for sure, but I believe I had to get longer bolts. I found T-bolts on Amazon and ordered them for some other projects as well, as they fit my roof rack. It wouldn't hurt to order some and not worry about the length. You can always cut them off and the price difference on a 2" is negligible compared to a 1.5".

bobanette wrote:Love what you have done with your Flyer. Do you remember when mounting your foxwing if you used the bolts provided? My awning is on order & I'm wondering if I need longer bolts. Trying to have everything ready when it gets here. Any suggestions you have from your experience is appreciated.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Gary
InTech RV MAX Flyer
Build (Mod) Thread: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=67873
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G-Mac
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Re: inTech RV MAX Flyer Review (5 months)

Postby crttaz » Wed Nov 22, 2017 3:41 pm

Friends/customer of mine has a 5th wheel car trailer built by inTech, so they are on my "easy button" list, maybe going with a bigger unit from them.
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