My New Mirage

[idahoskiguy]

My 2013 Mirage 20' does have the leaking problem your are experiencing.

Maybe a warranty issue? Something just doesn't seems right, door seals, venting, side door, roof vents?

Post up when you figure it out.

Yes, would definitely opt for the forced air furnace next time.

 

[NorthMNSledder]

Crack your roof vents a bit to relieve the low pressure inside the unit. Deleting the side wall vents and closing the roof vents creates excessive low pressure in the trailer and pulls dust in from the outside.

Please remember no trailer is airtight nor should it be.
Please let me know how it goes.

Rob

So your saying that the snow dust leaking in the back door is OK by design? Or are you referring to something else?

As someone who is in the market for a new trailer I would be frustrated if my new enclosed trailer was letting in snow dust at the back door. I have been in many enclosed trailer brands on 2000+ mile round trips and never seen snow dust in the trailer like the OP is talking about.

 

[jsledder]

I had quite a bit of snow coming in by back door as well. Turned out to be that the entire rear portion of the trailer could actually sway back and forth about 2" while driving down the road so the door was constantly losing contact with the seals.
One day I noticed the floors were drooping at the outer edges, tore up the floor and found the bracing that was welded (more like cut through by the welder) from the frame to the outer edge of the trailer was broke loose on all but a couple of the 28 braces (IIRC). The more I got to looking around and pulling off sheeting, the more unwelded or poorly welded parts there were. The entire frame around the door was not welded at the corners and standing at the rear of the trailer and bouncing up and down you could see the walls actually bouncing up and down quite a bit, that's when I noticed the rear door issue, as someone was bouncing on the back of the trailer you could see the whole opening swaying back and forth, I then closed the door and watched it from the inside and there were times you could stick your finger outside through the gap between the frame/door. I can only imagine what it looked like going down the road and I'm confident we would have had some serious issues this year if left alone.

The braces holding the walls up were made out of very thin gauge steel and like I said, most were burned through when welded on so you could literally grab them and pull them off with little effort, couldn't really be from abuse as you could clearly see they were burned right through. There are several other construction issues I found and plan on stripping the sheeting and walls off this summer to see what kind of problems there are on the rest of the frame work. I had new braces laser formed out of 3/16" steel and welded them in place and added braces over the 3 axles where before that 10' section of wall was supported only by the flooring itself and was a good 1" lower than the portion directly above the frame rail which is only about 15", so that was sagging pretty bad and I can't believe there wasn't something there to support that section.

I can say that from my experience on this 6 place Mirage Xtreme Snow, I will never be buying another one, especially when I couldn't even get a price on new braces to weld in myself. I realize the trailer is a '07 and is well outside of the warranty coverage timeline, but I am confident the poor welds and un-welded sections were there the day it rolled out of the shop. But, I know what there is under the floor now and it's solid. It takes more than a nice looking exterior to make a good trailer.

 

[Mafesto]

We snowmobilers are a funny breed for sure.

Do we ride older unreliable sleds? or Off brand knock offs?
No. You rarely see even a 5 year old sled anywhere any more.

Do we wear cheap clothing?
No. Everything is high quality, reputable name brand gear.

Towing vehicles? All loaded luxury rides. Certainly more than needed.

Yet the parking lots are full of mid-grade & low grade haulers.

I would rather have a 5 year old Aluma, Featherlite or Rance over any of the brand new off brand trailers that fill the parking lots.

You get what you pay for & you pay for what you get.
It hurts to pay too much, but it is far worse to pay too little.

 

[Bacon]

We snowmobilers are a funny breed for sure.

Do we ride older unreliable sleds? or Off brand knock offs?
No. You rarely see even a 5 year old sled anywhere any more.

Do we wear cheap clothing?
No. Everything is high quality, reputable name brand gear.

Towing vehicles? All loaded luxury rides. Certainly more than needed.

Yet the parking lots are full of mid-grade & low grade haulers.

I would rather have a 5 year old Aluma, Featherlite or Rance over any of the brand new off brand trailers that fill the parking lots.

You get what you pay for & you pay for what you get.
It hurts to pay too much, but it is far worse to pay too little.

Well said. Never could understand having a $50,000 truck pulling $40,000 Worth of sleds on an open trailer. One trip in a salt bath and those sleds will have problems for years to come. Cheap trailers suck. Spend the money up front and you will have a trailer that will last for more than a couple years.

 

[maurfello]

Don't out cheep yourselves.

PRO RMK 800

 

[hoov165x]

So your saying that the snow dust leaking in the back door is OK by design? Or are you referring to something else?

As someone who is in the market for a new trailer I would be frustrated if my new enclosed trailer was letting in snow dust at the back door. I have been in many enclosed trailer brands on 2000+ mile round trips and never seen snow dust in the trailer like the OP is talking about.

Not talking snow dust here. Plain old dust, dirt, whatever you want to call it. If it was just snow I wouldn' t care as it would just melt. If it leaks though, it will leak both.

 

[SRXSRULE]

We snowmobilers are a funny breed for sure.

Do we ride older unreliable sleds? or Off brand knock offs?
No. You rarely see even a 5 year old sled anywhere any more.

Do we wear cheap clothing?
No. Everything is high quality, reputable name brand gear.

Towing vehicles? All loaded luxury rides. Certainly more than needed.

Yet the parking lots are full of mid-grade & low grade haulers.

I would rather have a 5 year old Aluma, Featherlite or Rance over any of the brand new off brand trailers that fill the parking lots.

You get what you pay for & you pay for what you get.
It hurts to pay too much, but it is far worse to pay too little.

Very well Put! Do a search for enclosed featherlite on Ebay. You will find 15+ yr old trailers selling for what these guys are buying New trailers for. My TruckBoss sled deck gets 99% of the use now days but I'm never selling my featherlite. Eric

 

[Beavis]

Hoov165x, are you liking this trailer any better lately?

I'm looking to upgrade to a new trailer that's very similar in the size and config you have here. (RZR won't fit in my Wells Cargo). Looking to do some summer camping in it plus haul primarily 3 sleds in the winter but occasionally a 4th sled.

Can you really fit (4) 155" sleds in it? (Loaded backwards, of course?)

 

[hoov165x]

Hoov165x, are you liking this trailer any better lately?

I'm looking to upgrade to a new trailer that's very similar in the size and config you have here. (RZR won't fit in my Wells Cargo). Looking to do some summer camping in it plus haul primarily 3 sleds in the winter but occasionally a 4th sled.

Can you really fit (4) 155" sleds in it? (Loaded backwards, of course?)

No, I wouldn't buy Mirage again. I would spend a little extra and get a Charmac, Featherlite, Triton, or equivalent.

4 155's no problem.

 

[christopher]

the trailer leaks a lot of air- specifically at the rear, where there is a low pressure area. It just sucks the dust right in. Right now it is pretty dry out and the sand they lay on the roads for traction creates dust. When I got home tonight I was a little irritated to see a pretty heavy layer of dust at the rear interior of the trailer. On the sidewalls extending about 2' forward of the rear door (the white paneling is now brown), along the diamond plate kick panels and floor extending about 4' forward of the rear door, and of course a light layer of dust on most everything inside the trailer. There is also an area at the v nose where you can see light down towards the bottom.

Sorry for jumping back in on this thread kinda late in the game.
I just hadn't seen it till now.

I REALLY am surprised to hear this comment, since I have absolutely NOT seen this issue, and have pulled both of my new Mirages down MANY MILES of dusty trails.

The rear door has such a TIGHT SEAL on it when the two swing arms are locked down I am amazed you are pulling in so much dust?

Could it be that the foam gasket down by the door hinge just needs to be a tad bit thicker or was installed a bit too high or low on the door frame?

When you look at it, does the foam show its getting a good tight seal, or does it look uncompressed?

Honestly curious.
Have pulled mine 25 miles down desert trails with amazingly good success.
NOT suggesting it is AIR-TIGHT!, But I have not seen any significant dust buildup either, and no snow coming in from the rear.

If it were me personally, I would probably just ad a 2nd layer of self-adhesive foam to the leaking gasket and see if that solves the problem.
Cheap, quick, easy fix.

If that did the trick, then I would chat with Mirage to see if they might offer a alternative thicker gasket that you could use as a replacement?

 

[hoov165x]

Sorry for jumping back in on this thread kinda late in the game.
I just hadn't seen it till now.

I REALLY am surprised to hear this comment, since I have absolutely NOT seen this issue, and have pulled both of my new Mirages down MANY MILES of dusty trails.

The rear door has such a TIGHT SEAL on it when the two swing arms are locked down I am amazed you are pulling in so much dust?

Could it be that the foam gasket down by the door hinge just needs to be a tad bit thicker or was installed a bit too high or low on the door frame?

When you look at it, does the foam show its getting a good tight seal, or does it look uncompressed?

Honestly curious.
Have pulled mine 25 miles down desert trails with amazingly good success.
NOT suggesting it is AIR-TIGHT!, But I have not seen any significant dust buildup either, and no snow coming in from the rear.

If it were me personally, I would probably just ad a 2nd layer of self-adhesive foam to the leaking gasket and see if that solves the problem.
Cheap, quick, easy fix.

If that did the trick, then I would chat with Mirage to see if they might offer a alternative thicker gasket that you could use as a replacement?

I will be looking at all possible leak points this summer in an effort to rectify this situation. Then again, I may just sell it and get what I really want.......

 

[Mafesto]

I will be looking at all possible leak points this summer in an effort to rectify this situation. Then again, I may just sell it and get what I really want.......

What will you get if you sell it?

 

[Solarguy]

We bought a new 2015 26' extreme snow blackout in late Dec, towed it 4k loaded with 3 sleds and gear. Tows great, no leaks or dust. Doors and all options worked great all winter, furnace heats it up really quickly.
Only problem was I noticed one of the custom wheels did not match (was close so dealer or I did not notice). I called Mirage and they replaced with new tire and wheel that matched and they let us keep the extra tire and wheel so we have an extra spare on a custom wheel.
The mirage staff is interested in continuing to improve the quality of their trailers, they asked for any feedback to help them improve the trailer.
During ordering we added multiple custom options, windows, extra man door, moved boot/glove dryer and more. Mirage delivered exactly what we wanted and
Delivered the trailer a week ahead of schedule.
Satisfied customer!

 

[christopher]

Only problem was I noticed one of the custom wheels did not match (was close so dealer or I did not notice). I called Mirage and they replaced with new tire and wheel that matched and they let us keep the extra tire and wheel so we have an extra spare on a custom wheel.

Can't beat that!

The mirage staff is interested in continuing to improve the quality of their trailers, they asked for any feedback to help them improve the trailer.

During ordering we added multiple custom options, windows, extra man door, moved boot/glove dryer and more. Mirage delivered exactly what we wanted and Delivered the trailer a week ahead of schedule.
Satisfied customer!

This has honestly been my experience as well.

Mirage REALLY is trying to up their game in the snowmobile trailer market place.

 

[hoov165x]

What will you get if you sell it?

Probably Triton, but I have had good luck with Charmac (have had 4 of them) as well. I will have to see IF I can sell it.......

 

[hoov165x]

Can't beat that!

This has honestly been my experience as well.

Mirage REALLY is trying to up their game in the snowmobile trailer market place.

If this was truly the case, Mr. Swikert, who always 'likes' your posts would have contacted me. Honestly, how many years does it take for someone to "up their game"? All you have to do is look at all the issues Mirage has had over the years and wonder why they can't get their QC on the right track. Honestly, if it was a priority it could be done rather quickly......

I am sure your trailer is nice Christopher, but let's look at who the trailer belongs to shall we? Mirage has all the reason in the world to double and triple check your trailer before it ships, right? I am sure I would if I was Mr. Swikert.

I guess I have been a little spoiled by selecting the correct manufacturer for most of my previous trailers. Those who haven't had 10+ new enclosed snowmobile trailers may not know any different. I get that. Like I said- summer project for me........ I really don't like emptying all my gear and such out of my trailer every other ride so I can wipe everything down. I have even started to cover my sleds in the trailer. Maybe I got a Friday or a Monday model..

Lesson learned.......

 

[swikertrob]

If this was truly the case, Mr. Swikert, who always 'likes' your posts would have contacted me. Honestly, how many years does it take for someone to "up their game"? All you have to do is look at all the issues Mirage has had over the years and wonder why they can't get their QC on the right track. Honestly, if it was a priority it could be done rather quickly......

I am sure your trailer is nice Christopher, but let's look at who the trailer belongs to shall we? Mirage has all the reason in the world to double and triple check your trailer before it ships, right? I am sure I would if I was Mr. Swikert.

I guess I have been a little spoiled by selecting the correct manufacturer for most of my previous trailers. Those who haven't had 10+ new enclosed snowmobile trailers may not know any different. I get that. Like I said- summer project for me........ I really don't like emptying all my gear and such out of my trailer every other ride so I can wipe everything down. I have even started to cover my sleds in the trailer. Maybe I got a Friday or a Monday model..

Lesson learned.......

A couple things that should be clarified.

1) Christopher's trailer came off the same production lines that every Mirage unit is mfg on. No special attention other than our standard quality control program was given. Our goal is for Christopher to use and abuse the trailer in order to provide valuable feedback for our end users. If we were to build it any differently this would be a futile act. I also should mention that Christopher spent his own hard earned money the purchase his unit.

2) I gave you some feedback by suggesting you install airflow vents to mitigate the vacuum effect (which is why they are standard on most models) You requested your trailer built without these.
Put (2) sidewall vents up high facing forward and it will pressurize the trailer and alleviate your problem. We would be happy to install these for you at n/c provided you bring the unit to the Nampa, Idaho plant.

I am always hesitant to comment on these posts as it seems to somehow elicit controversy and personal jabs, but facts are facts.

 

[christopher]

I am always hesitant to comment on these posts as it seems to somehow elicit controversy and personal jabs, but facts are facts.

Like Ron used to say.

There you have it.
The OWNER of the manufacturing company, reading your posts, following along in this thread, RESPONDING directly to your posts.

What other MAJOR MANUFACTURER do you see here on SnoWest that is taking this level of PERSONAL interest in his product and his company?

 

[hoov165x]

A couple things that should be clarified.

1) Christopher's trailer came off the same production lines that every Mirage unit is mfg on. No special attention other than our standard quality control program was given. Our goal is for Christopher to use and abuse the trailer in order to provide valuable feedback for our end users. If we were to build it any differently this would be a futile act. I also should mention that Christopher spent his own hard earned money the purchase his unit.

2) I gave you some feedback by suggesting you install airflow vents to mitigate the vacuum effect (which is why they are standard on most models) You requested your trailer built without these.
Put (2) sidewall vents up high facing forward and it will pressurize the trailer and alleviate your problem. We would be happy to install these for you at n/c provided you bring the unit to the Nampa, Idaho plant.

I am always hesitant to comment on these posts as it seems to somehow elicit controversy and personal jabs, but facts are facts.

Regarding #2, yup facts are facts- the trailer has significant leakage. Adding sidewall vents is nothing but a bandaid. I've never had them on any of the trailers I have owned, and guess what? They haven't needed them! I guess this will be a first. I don't have time to drive 500 miles to Nampa, but if you want to send them to me, you can. The problem with sidewall vents, as I have stated before, is they let road dust in from the front. They are not a true solution to the problem.