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Member
Posts: 34
| I have been very close to buying a Trails West trailer for the past several weeks. It has size, options, price, and looks I want. Two days ago I took a close look at the trailer and noticed that when standing inside the dressing room and inside the tack room I can see light around the edges of the door on the latch side. I then noticed that the doors did not close flush with the outside walls of the trailer. I am not concerned that dust and, to a lesser extent water, will get inside the trailer while going down the road, especially on dirt roads.
I went back to the dealer yesterday and looked at the other Trails West trailers on his lot. Each of them had the same issue with the tack and dressing room doors.
Do any of you with Trails West trailers notice the same thing on your trailers? Do dust and/or water get inside?
I looked in trailers of other brands, which use a different style of door, and I do not see light coming in around the edges of those doors. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402
Location: Valentine, NE | Might depend on whether it is a camper style (aluminum) door, or a steel door on the fix.
On some, you can adjust the "strike plate" (where the door latch goes into the door frame) to take out some of that slack..The plate has a top and bottom screw you can loosen and just slide the plate in towards the trailer, than retighten the screws.
One other thing is that that the weather stripping around the door might have a damaged area. Depending on age, some times the rubber looses it's expansion capablities. Real easy and fairly cheap to put on new weather stripping...just ideas...
Hopefully, the door has not been damaged..just find a straight edge (4-6' level or something like that) against the edge of the door to see if is bowed...
Gard proably has a better way to explain it. |
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Member
Posts: 34
| Thanks for those thoughts. I'll look into whether it's something that can be fixed with an adjustment of the strike plate/bar. These are steel doors and if I remember right they have a bar around which the latch in the door hooks when you close it. Kind of like a car door. Maybe that needs to be adjusted inward so that it's not, essentially, holding the door open slightly.
These are all brand new trailers I've been looking at, so there's no issue with the weather stripping. It's pliable and doing all it can to fill the gap.
Thanks again for responding. |
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Veteran
Posts: 123
Location: Bridgeport,wv and Gaffney,sc | I went and looked at my 07 and it doesnt have the light u can see but it does have the sierra comfort pkg in it |
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 Expert
Posts: 2453
Location: Northern Utah | You probably could add bigger weatherstripping to close up the gap, if everything else is OK. Bigger or maybe weather stripping that attaches in a different location would seal better |
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Expert
Posts: 5870
 
Location: western PA | On a new trailer, you should not expect to have to replace the weather seal or adjust the door striker to prevent a water leak. In fact, this should not be necessary until the trailer is much older and well used. If the factory built it this way, and the dealer hasn't yet corrected the problem, I would question the overall quality of the product and service you may receive. This is not a situation, the purchaser of an expensive new product should have to consider. One thing I would also be wary of is water leaking into, and laying upon the OSB flooring used in front of TW trailers. It is a manufactured sheathing that is "weather resistant", but not water proof. It can expand and soften if continuously exposed to water. |
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Regular
Posts: 83
Location: Minnesota | I have both a lq and non-lq Trails West and I have noticed the same thing on both trailers ... the doors into the side and mid-tack are slightly bowed and I can see a slight amount of light. However, I do not have a problem with dust getting in and we drive through and camp in some very dusty areas. The doors do latch tightly and sometimes I have to close them pretty hard to get them to latch, but apparently they're designed that way. We've liked so many features on the Trails West that we went with another one when we upgraded to a living quarters. The doors didn't bother me because I never got dust or moisture inside. |
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Member
Posts: 34
| Originally written by gard on 2011-02-04 10:25 PM This is not a situation, the purchaser of an expensive new product should have to consider.
My sentiments exactly. If it's just a matter of light getting in, and there's not dust and water getting in, I might be OK with it. The doors on TW trailers do seem to be heavier duty than the camper style doors I've seen on other brands.One thing I would also be wary of is water leaking into, and laying upon the OSB flooring used in front of TW trailers. It is a manufactured sheathing that is "weather resistant", but not water proof. It can expand and soften if continuously exposed to water.
I can see that would be a definite problem. |
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Member
Posts: 5
Location: Preston, Idaho | I am in management at Trails West. Every once in a while I like to get on this site to see if there are any issues with Trails West Trailers that we need to address. I realize this thread is a little old because I don't check the site every day. I would however like to throw my 2 cents worth in on this subject. First, I would like to say that we are very concerned with quality from the materials that we purchase to the trucking companies that ship our trailers to the dealers. Each trailer is inspected in every department (weld, prep, paint, trim, etc.) before it moves to the next department with a final inspection from management before it is shipped. Checking the door seals is part of this inspection. Someone wrote about checking the door with a straight edge. A properly built Trails West door will NOT be straight. We build our doors with a 1/4" bow in them so that they will seal BETTER. Our tack doors are steel. If you are familiar with the properties of steel, you know that it is much more flexible than aluminum. Because of this we are able to build the door with a bow so that it seals properly on the top and bottom of the door. We use a rotory latch in our upper end trailers which is like a car door latch (someone mentioned this). This latch is superior to a striker latch (like your house doors) and much more expensive (better quality). The proof is in the pudding, several Trails West owners have mentioned on this thread that they don't have problems with dust or leaks. The OSB flooring in the tack room is as gard mentions "water resistant", but not guaranteed to be "water proof" by its manufacturer. We have built nearly 36,000 trailers over the years and never had a warranty claim on OSB flooring due to weather. Further, Trails West line trailers carry a five year structural warranty which includes the OSB floor. If this floor fails due to normal use, we will pay to have it replaced. We experiment with these products before we put them in our units. We have cut pieces of OSB and put them in 5 gallon buckets filled with water. We have left them there for months and only had minor issues with the product. |
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Member
Posts: 34
| I am really glad that you have chimed in on this topic, and I hope you'll stick around to answer some follow up questions.
It is my observation that the Trails West doors are much heavier duty than the standard trailer type door on most other trailer brands. My concern is with the gap that I have seen. The door is, as you say, bowed. There is no light comeing through the door at the top or bottom of the door, but there is light coming through near the latch. Is this to be expected? I do not understand how dust and water would not get in if light does.
Don't get me wrong. I am a fan of your trailers and want to buy one. I think they're exceptionally good looking and have the features I want at a reasonable price. I'm just hung up on this issue.
Thanks, |
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Member
Posts: 5
Location: Preston, Idaho | It's true that there should not be light coming through. It is very hard to seal right around the latch. We have found that if pull the weatherstrip out away from the jamb about 1/4 inch just by the latch, the door will seal. However, sometimes a dealer or customer will see that the molding is pulled out just a bit. It looks like something is wrong, so they push it back in. If I get a chance, I will email a picture (worth 1000 words) because it is difficult to explain verbally. |
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Regular
Posts: 69
Location: TEXAS | I have had two TW's we had a 03 and still have the 05. The 03 was a better built trailer. Every door on our trailer leaks. The dressing room, tack room, and the manger storage. We can not keep anything in the manger storage that is not water proof. Every time we have it rain and it is windy the floor is wet inside the doors. I can not wait to replace this trailer. TW tells me they have never had the mangers leak, they just keep telling me I need to readjust the doors, and replace the weather stripping. I wish I had kept the 03 instead of the 05. I will not ever buy another one again. |
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 Regular
Posts: 95
Location: Seattle "pshaw, its not raining hardly at all!" WA | just out of curiosity, what are the temperature /humidity extremes where you live? ie, is your weather stripping getting fried? I ask because I spent a lot of time kicking the tires on TW trailers here in the rainy PacNW (used and new) and didnt notice any leaks on the ones in the lot. and it rains here ALOT. I kicked tires during pouring rain and even sleet storms (ie weatherstripping would be frozen and stiff and so not as "sealy" as normal). if there was leakage, I'd have seen it. so what's different? |
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Regular
Posts: 69
Location: TEXAS | both desert so. cal, and north texas. from very little rain, to a moderate amount of rain. We also put 20~k miles on a trailer a year. If I was in the northwet I would definately not get one, the amount of rust I have inside where they have leaked is really going to kill my resale. The weatherstripping is not the problem, I have replaced it twice just to try, but it is still soft and it will still leak. It is better with new weather stripping but only last like 6 months and back to the normal leaking. The doors do not stay true, and get worse when the temps are swinging alot. I would look for something that has dual seals on the doors. Have I said I can not wait to get rid of mine! |
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Regular
Posts: 83
Location: Minnesota | Ornerie ... It is pretty wet where we live also. Probably not as much as the Northwest, but still quite a bit of rain in the summer. And very cold, snowy and icy in the winter! But I have yet to have ANY leakage problems with my Trails West trailers. Nor dust problems. I have never done anything to fix or adjust weatherstripping and I can see a slight amount of daylight around the latch when the door is shut, but yet nothing gets inside. The living quarters we purchased is a 2002, and it's still tight after a few years of use. |
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Regular
Posts: 95
Location: Seattle "pshaw, its not raining hardly at all!" WA | its interesting that two people have such different experiences, and I notice that the one big variable we're hearing about is ambient moisture levels. Preston Idaho, home of TrailsWest (and where they filmed Napoleon Dynamite, apparently!) is currently the same ambient moisture as here in Seattle (albeit a tad colder ;)) certainly going from damp (91% or more humidity) to dry (So Cal and TX desert) could wreak havoc on all kinds of things, including weatherstripping, internal moisture barriers, etc. (but then I live in a place where I EXPECT condensation/water as a matter of course, especially around doors and windows. I have green algae growing on my car and my house. my lawn is more moss than grass (hey, you dont have to mow moss!) mold grows in the window tracks if you dont stay on top of it. you cant leave clothes in the washer overnight or they grow fuzz. Even the horses get fungus infections on their backs ("rain rot") if you dont provide some kind of protection from the rain!!) I for one am appreciative of info from all sides on the longevity of the different brands of trailers out there, and things to look out for. |
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Regular
Posts: 69
Location: TEXAS | Originally written by brokenboot on 2011-03-04 9:12 AM
Ornerie ... It is pretty wet where we live also. Probably not as much as the Northwest, but still quite a bit of rain in the summer. And very cold, snowy and icy in the winter! But I have yet to have ANY leakage problems with my Trails West trailers. Nor dust problems. I have never done anything to fix or adjust weatherstripping and I can see a slight amount of daylight around the latch when the door is shut, but yet nothing gets inside. The living quarters we purchased is a 2002, and it's still tight after a few years of use. our 04 was a better trailer than our 05 is. |
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Regular
Posts: 69
Location: TEXAS | Kinda interesting someone from TW chimes in a couple posts then has no reply on how bad mine it. |
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Regular
Posts: 83
Location: Minnesota | Jake, if you look at the profile for the guy from Trails West, he lists his name. Why don't you give Trails West a call and ask for him? He seems like he's interested in helping owners. I've gotten very good response when I've called the factory. I haven't had a quality issue, but when I needed to replace the rubber door stops after my young lab chewed one off, they sent me replacements at no cost. And when I wanted to purchase an aftermarket electric jack, they spent a lot of time discussing what would work best for my particular trailer. I wasn't purchasing anything from them, and I'd bought a used Trails West from a private party, so there wasn't anything in it for them besides keeping a Trails West owner satisfied. Give them a chance to work with you on your issue. I hope it works out and you can get your trailer to where you enjoy it. |
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Regular
Posts: 69
Location: TEXAS | I am going to try to get ahold of him, I have talked with others at TW and just got the "you need to replace the weather stripping" which has been done twice now, adjusted the doors...fixes it for a couple months and back to leaking again. It has been like this since it was new. I just need to replace the trailer now. I have lost a ton on re sale value due to all the rust that is in there now also. |
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Member
Posts: 10
| Originally written by Painted Horse on 2011-02-04 7:26 PM
You probably could add bigger weatherstripping to close up the gap, if everything else is OK. Bigger or maybe weather stripping that attaches in a different location would seal better
The possible cause is that the rubber already deteriorated and got worn out. So a replacement or installation of weatherstrip will do to fill the gap. If your planning to do it now, remove first all the stubborn pieces while you stripping away it from your trailer door.
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 420
Location: Iowa | Just my 2 cents here. But if I had to keep replacing the weather stripping or anything else for that matter, It would be down the road. I have an 03 Featherlite and haven't replaced even a light bulb on it yet. |
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Regular
Posts: 69
Location: TEXAS | Originally written by sinful on 2011-03-16 6:07 AM
Just my 2 cents here. But if I had to keep replacing the weather stripping or anything else for that matter, It would be down the road. I have an 03 Featherlite and haven't replaced even a light bulb on it yet. It will be as soon as I have a couple things paid off, and bit more for a down payment for the new one. 4 star, cimmaron, bloomer are on the short list right now. |
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New User
Posts: 1
Location: Battle Ground WA | I have owned a Trails West bumper pull since 2004. Living in rainy Washington state I have never had a problems with the door leaking. They are the best steel trailer in the market place. My trailer has never been under cover, is well taken of and looks great! No rust and everything still work wonderful. BUY that Trails West! |
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 Regular
Posts: 91
Location: Hill Country, Texas | |
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Regular
Posts: 91
Location: Hill Country, Texas | We had a Trails West LQ trailer a few years ago....the midtack floor literally fell thru...nothing but particle board. The newer ones seem to have some good ideas and sure are pretty but we would never trust the quality of them again. Ours was just poorly built from tip to top. |
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Member
Posts: 37
| I wish HTW would put a "like" button on here like facebook has...... |
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| I have a 2008 trails west 3 stall slant load and I have had no problems at all. This gal talked about the floor falling through, wow. They don't make the floors from particle board they have made the flooring using Douglas fir for the last 29 years anyway. Maybe she got a horse trailer somebody decided to do their own jerry rigged repairs. That is horrible and I am so sorry that that experience turned her off of trails west trailers, she missing out. Heck my horses even love the trailer. I don't know what info you were looking for about the doors. I just had to comment when I read her experience with these trailers. |
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| I have a 2008 trails west 3 stall slant load and I have had no problems at all. This gal talked about the floor falling through, wow. They don't make the floors from particle board they have made the flooring using Douglas fir for the last 29 years anyway. Maybe she got a horse trailer somebody decided to do their own jerry rigged repairs. That is horrible and I am so sorry that that experience turned her off of trails west trailers, she missing out. Heck my horses even love the trailer. I don't know what info you were looking for about the doors. I just had to comment when I read her experience with these trailers. |
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| Lonnie, I believe you are confusing the horse area (Doug Fir) with the tack compartment (particle board). |
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Doors on Trails West Trailers
