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Old 10-20-2015, 06:14 PM   #1
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Houston Area
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First Impressions of the Chaparral 360IBL

Recently, my wife and I purchased the Chaparral 360IBL. We searched high and low for the perfect fit for our family. The deciding factor that swayed our decision was the location of the bunk house. Over the past two months we have camped in the trailer for 19 days pulled the trailer from Houston, Tx. to the Smoky Mountains. Here is my assessment:
PROS -
1. Sleeping accommodations. We have had 7 adults and 3 grand grandbabies comfortability in the trailer.
2. Whether its just me and the wife or the whole gang the floor plan is great.
3. Storage is great..
4. Two A/C is a must.
5. Tow-ability. I researched the heck out of this to make certain by 2012 GMC Duramax would pull it comfortability. After pulling to the Smokies and back I had no problems pulling or stopping. Although the near 40 ft. length can pose a problem if you're not careful. Average MPG on the trip was 11.3.
6. Love the island.
7. Construction. For a trailer in this price point I would say its above average.
More on this below.
CONCERNS/PROBLEMS -
1. The blower to the fireplace did not work when needed. This should have been caught during the final inspection before we took delivery. Partly, my fault.
2. Cabinet door hinge has come off. No big deal an easy fix.
3. A/C units are noisy. This is typical for a trailer in this price point. The whisper A/C units would be nice.
4. Regulating the heat is difficult. The front of the trailer gets hotter than the living area. Still trying to work this out. The fire place blower may have helped.
5. The storage tanks (black and grey) do not shut all the way. This can lead to a sticking mess. I will have to take it in for a fix.

Overall, we are pleased with the trailer. The problems will work themselves out. Would I like to have had a Mobile Suite 5th wheel? You bet I would. But not at $90,000+. Get what you can afford and head to the great outdoors.

Sorry for the long post.
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Old 10-20-2015, 06:25 PM   #2
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Location: Iowa
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As far as your dump valves not closing completely, perhaps this is your problem. Many of us owning FR trailers have found that when the holes were cut through the floors for pipes leading into the black & gray tanks, the wood floor that was drilled/cut out is allowed to drop into the tank below it and is not removed. This can become lodged in the dump value causing it to jam and not close completely. If this is your problem, the fix is to take the valve apart, remove the wood debris and reassemble. Good luck!
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Old 10-21-2015, 09:03 AM   #3
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I have the 360 IBL for about 11 months. I change my heater vent in the bunk room to an adjustable vent. This way I can block off some of the heat to the bunk room when the door stays closed at night. Haven't had a problem with the front bedroom with too much heat. My main issues have been the a/c units. In the shop to get the main a/c replaced again. This will be my third one. The front bedroom a/c had to get the thermostat control box replaced. I do like all of the room that this trailer has and pulls better than my last 30' fifth wheel camper did. Click image for larger version

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Old 10-23-2015, 10:37 PM   #4
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We've had ours since February but didn't start camping until after Mother's Day cos that's when we got the truck. We took the bunks out and made it my scrapbook room. We've only done camping in Texas with only three days where we needed heat and only in the early am. DH ran the furnace one day just to see if it would work and it worked very well. Then after that he used just the fireplace which worked well, too.

We had some concerns that maybe the a/c in the livingroom wasn't working right but after doing research and finding out that the a/c will normally keep it only 20 degrees less than the outside temp (which was over 100), I guess it was working as normal. We do know we have to run both a/c units starting early in the am if it's going to get hot during the day (I consider hot to be 95 or above). Kinda noisy but like you said, we didn't buy one with the quiet units--just not within our price reach--but we sure have been enjoying it.

We've had breakfast for 9, played LCR with 9 of us around the island, had lots of company. Just having a great time.
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Old 10-23-2015, 10:53 PM   #5
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I had the same exact issue with the grey/black tank the last 2 times i camped... dumped the tanks, did the flush, closed everything up.. went home.

Leave to go camping again, remove the cover to the pipe to hook up the sewer hose and get surprised by a major rush of sewage.... all over the ground.. loved the smell.

Have dealer looking at that as well. Only has happened the last 2 times we've used it. Also noticed on the 2nd to last trip, could not get the primary grey tank to empty. Pulled it open and nothing.. level was showing 1/4 full (had emptied it once during the trip so knew there was sink water in there). left it as is as we were going camping the following weekend and we were able to get it to dump then.

Dealer threw it out there that because these cables can be such large runs sometimes, they can kink and not fully close or open. Interested to know what they find.

I have found that if you keep the fireplace blower on HI throughout the night.. it will keep the camper at a comfortable 71-72 degrees without having to use the furnace. It will maintain this temp down to about 40 degrees outside. We camped Columbus Day weekend and we hear the furnace kick on once each night more like around 4am and then the fireplace continued to maintain the temp. The trick to this though is you need to keep the master bedroom door open about 1/3 of the way and the mid bedroom opened slightly to allow the heat to travel in.

Between the electric fireplace and electric water heater.. we barely use any propane. Will be interested to see how many years I get on the initial fill.
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Old 11-19-2015, 09:46 AM   #6
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The sewage valves not closing must be a common problem with this trailer. Just yesterday I got the surprise (not bath) of the raw sewage, taking the cap off. The cable looks to be closing properly on the valve, so I believe something is blocking the valve from closing completely or the valve has a nick in it allowing the liquid to come through. The band aid was a twist on valve to be able to take cap off without getting the surprise. The other issue I have ran into was not being able to get HD channels on our satellite. Had a technician out and he narrowed it down to the wiring in the trailer. He then brought the coax in through the slide weather striping and directly to the receiver and we had HD satellite channels. I love this trailers floor plan, the quality of workmanship not so much, the more we are in it the more things i find wrong. Being on the road makes it difficult to get things fixed or I fix what I can and band aid the rest or live with it. When we return this spring I will be trying to get it in to the factory repair facility with a long list of things to be repaired. Until then we will enjoy it, and it is the best pulling trailer I have had some times I have to remind myself how big it is since i forget its back there it pulls so easy.
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Old 11-23-2015, 09:47 AM   #7
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After talking to the dealer for the last couple of weeks trying to get a dealer close to set up an appointment to get the air conditioner working that the selling dealer installed, they wouldn't. I finally bit the bullet and worked on it myself, started tracing down where I had electricity and found it every where except at the air conditioner. Found where it should have been connected and no wire going to the air conditioner, it was alive just not connected. Opened up the air conditioner and found it was connected to some wires in the roof but they had no 120 voltage. Disconnected them and when they touched a small spark flared and the 12v lights in the hall way went out (what?????). Yep they hooked the air conditioner up to the 12volt lights in the roof, no wonder it did not work (my fault I trusted them, that they installed it correctly and did not operate it when we picked it up), won't ever do that again. Wired it up correctly to the 120 that was there, turned it on and we now have a working air conditioner in the front bed room. I am Posting this to remind every one to always check, never trust your dealer to do it right, always check, I will from now on.
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