RUST ISSUES- Reconditioning Trailer

[monaz1_-]

Hi all,

I'm searching for opinions about what to do with my boat trailer.
I am reconditioning a custom made galvanized trailer and was going to re-galvanize it through hot dipping it.

Basically I have found the draw bar (square hollow section) to have very heavy rust internally (it crushes under my finger force).

There is still heaps of meat left in the draw bar, but i really want to optimize the hot dip galvanizing and pro-long my trailer life!

What can i do to remove the heavy rust on the inside? It's a big/structural piece that i don't want to cut off and replace.

Thanks

 

[jimmbo]

If the Tongue is so badly corroded, that you can push it in with your finger. then the rest of the trailer is likely the same. Get a New Trailer, it might save someone else's life

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

What are you taking about? If you remove the internal rust, you won't be able to crush it with your fingers anymore. Why? Because you can't crush a hole!

Replace the tongue, but first beat the snot out of the rest of the trailer with a BFH. There may be more hidden rust.

 

[Scott Danforth]

first, welcome aboard

next, get a new trailer tongue. yours is toast. if your trailer side rails are tube, those are probably toast too. at that point, get a new trailer.

galvanized trailers are dipped, however the internal sections of any tube never get coated (its almost impossible)

they rust thru just like a painted trailer, only taking a slight bit longer.

 

[dingbat]

galvanized trailers are dipped, however the internal sections of any tube never get coated (its almost impossible).

How do you hot dip an open ended, rectangular tube in
molten zinc and not coat the inside?

Even in close ended applications, any designer worth employing knows where to put weeps holes in the structure to assure total coating of the inside.

 

[Scott Danforth]

How do you hot dip an open ended, rectangular tube in
molten zinc and not coat the inside?

First, you buy the cheapest tubing you can get your hands on..... because anything more than crap steel means you give up profit
Second, you dont clean it, you simply dip it. and all the internal scale gets coated, however that plating is just turd polish. because any process other than the bare minimum means you give up profit
Third, you dont design in proper drain holes so your trailer needs to be replaced within 10 years of salt water use, because any greater amount of effort means you dont sell as many trailers.

 

[JimS123]

Yes, I'm sure that "some" trailer manufacturers use the cheapest tubing, don't clean it, etc. But are they "all" that way? Who makes a quality galvanized trailer these days?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Who makes a quality galvanized trailer these days?

Not sure, on my 2nd trailer under the current boat since I brought it down in 2012

 

[dingbat]

First, you buy the cheapest tubing you can get your hands on..... because anything more than crap steel means you give up profit
Second, you dont clean it, you simply dip it. and all the internal scale gets coated, however that plating is just turd polish. because any process other than the bare minimum means you give up profit

What?

Nothing goes in the tank that isn't first degreased then pickled. Other wise you contaminate the bath.

No such thing as "cheap" steel. Steel is made to very specific "recipes". No real difference between "Prime" and "sub-prime" except cosmetics or tolerances issues.

https://galvanizeit.org/inspection-course/galvanizing-process

 

[Scott Danforth]

the one that I had the opportunity to view in florida....

off-shore sub-weldments
no weld prep
no post weld clean up
no cleaning prior to dipping
mill scale still on the tubing
mill scale still on the c-channel

I agree that it should be degreased, washed, pickled, washed, then hot-dipped.