Trailer Painting

[76SeaRay]

I now have the trailer completely disassembled and getting started on prepping for paint. The overall length of the trailer is about 28 feet. I have some experience with Single Stage and/or Base Clear. Here are the options as I see it:

1) Sandblast and Powder Coat
2) Sandblast, Epoxy Primer, 2K primer, Base/Clear
3) Wire Brush Rust, DA Sand, Prime Rustoleum, Rustoleum Finish Paint

Given I have 2 cars and 2 trucks that need painting, the budget is limited for the boat trailer which does not need the high quality look to the finish. My sandblaster is small and will take a lot of sand and time since the trailer is so big. Although I have a powder coater in the area that can take the entire trailer at once, the cost is probably going to be very high. Using epoxy primer (DP90) and Base/Clear is very expensive paint these days. So, it looks like my best option due to the constraints is Rustoleum but maybe Powder Coat the small parts and brackets that are removed. Is this procedure correct for Rustoleum?

Disassemble the Trailer
Wash Trailer with Soap and Water
Wire Brush the Rusty Areas to remove loose paint and scale
DA Sand with 120 grit in smooth areas and 80 grit in rusted areas
Clean with Acetone
Thin Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer (reducer acetone or other?? mix ratio??)
Spray primer with 15 minutes between coats (3 coats??)
Let Dry for 48 hours
Wipe down the trailer with laquer thinner (or something else??)
Thin Rustoleum Finish Paint (reducer acetone or other?? hardner?? mix ratio??)
Spray finish paint with 15 minutes between coats (2 or 3 coats??)
Repeat for all the small parts (or powder coat small parts??)
Reassemble the Trailer

Thoughts, comments, additions, corrections? Maybe a sticky for this??

 

[Chris1956]

How old is this trailer? I will assume you boat in freshwater, or just use the trailer twice a season, and slip the boat?

Sandblast and then prime is best, but wire brush off the loose rust and prime those areas with rusty metal primer is pretty good. Brush on a nice oil based topcoat and you should be good for a decade.

 

[Scott06]

I now have the trailer completely disassembled and getting started on prepping for paint. The overall length of the trailer is about 28 feet. I have some experience with Single Stage and/or Base Clear. Here are the options as I see it:

1) Sandblast and Powder Coat
2) Sandblast, Epoxy Primer, 2K primer, Base/Clear
3) Wire Brush Rust, DA Sand, Prime Rustoleum, Rustoleum Finish Paint

Given I have 2 cars and 2 trucks that need painting, the budget is limited for the boat trailer which does not need the high quality look to the finish. My sandblaster is small and will take a lot of sand and time since the trailer is so big. Although I have a powder coater in the area that can take the entire trailer at once, the cost is probably going to be very high. Using epoxy primer (DP90) and Base/Clear is very expensive paint these days. So, it looks like my best option due to the constraints is Rustoleum but maybe Powder Coat the small parts and brackets that are removed. Is this procedure correct for Rustoleum?

Disassemble the Trailer
Wash Trailer with Soap and Water
Wire Brush the Rusty Areas to remove loose paint and scale
DA Sand with 120 grit in smooth areas and 80 grit in rusted areas
Clean with Acetone
Thin Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer (reducer acetone or other?? mix ratio??)
Spray primer with 15 minutes between coats (3 coats??)
Let Dry for 48 hours
Wipe down the trailer with laquer thinner (or something else??)
Thin Rustoleum Finish Paint (reducer acetone or other?? hardner?? mix ratio??)
Spray finish paint with 15 minutes between coats (2 or 3 coats??)
Repeat for all the small parts (or powder coat small parts??)
Reassemble the Trailer

Thoughts, comments, additions, corrections? Maybe a sticky for this??

Sandblast , epoxy primer single stage Delfleet or similar more industrial like paint

I did that to 65 pontiac years ago almost no buble back in 30 years

 

[Scott Danforth]

Here is what I did to my last non-galvanized trailer (about 20 years ago)

take trailer to sand blast guy..... he blasts it
use epoxy primer in a $10 harbor freight gun (they are now $15)
clean gun, mix up white majic brand enamel with majic brand hardener from tractor supply house.. spray with same harbor freight gun.

have dad back into the trailer bits sitting on saw horses and knock into gravel

wipe gravel off, spray a heavy coat over the new dings.

 

[cyclops222]

I have found that Rustoleum primer will stick to almost anything.
After a final water high pressure attack. Air dry in hot sun. On with the Rustoleum

 

[76SeaRay]

I dropped off all the small parts and a few larger brackets at the powder coater. They want to see the frame, tongue and fenders to quote those. I asked about blasting those only. They would do that but they also said that the sandblasting is the largest portion of the cost to just powder coat the whole thing. Will see what they say as to an estimate.

 

[Chris1956]

Out here on the salt pond, powder coated steel lasts just a bit longer than painted steel. Neither are practical, IMO. Outside stuff needs to be hot dip galvanized, aluminum or stainless. HD galvanized needs any suspect spots promptly painted with the cold zinc spray. I use a couple of cans a year on my trailers and other stuff.

 

[cyclops222]

Any cutting and welding to a trailer. MUST ALL be done before the WHOLE frame is dipped in the plating tanks.

You must NEVER NEVER cut, grind or weld the STEEL frame after plating !!!!

 

[dingbat]

Any cutting and welding to a trailer. MUST ALL be done before the WHOLE frame is dipped in the plating tanks.

Plating is an electrolytic deposition process. Typically only a couple 1/1000" of an inch thick at best.

You want "Hot Dip" on a trailer.....hardware too, if at all possible

 

[cyclops222]

New steel trailers used to be Hot Dipped. Why ALL holes should be punched out on any NEW trailer. To reduce rust outs for side lights.

 

[76SeaRay]

Well, I did the due diligence on paint costs... I have two trailer painters in the area that both do consumer work on the side of their industrial machine painting. I also have a dustless blaster in the area and a powder coater. I am in Washington State so costs may vary across the country.

So, the quotes are for the frame, tongue, and fenders only for this trailer that fits a 22 foot boat, tandem axle, tilt trailer, load rating 6,500 lbs. The quotes do not include any disassembly (I already did that myself so the parts are sandblast ready) and the quotes do not include any of the large number of bracket pieces.

1) Industrial Equipment Painter, 2 1/2 hours sandblast, 8 hours paint work, PPG industrial grade epoxy primer -- Cost Estimate $ 1,417 plus tax
2) Industrial Equipment Painter, 3 to 3 1/2 hours sandblast, no mention of paint labor, Sherwin Williams industrial grade expoxy primer -- Cost Estimate $1,500 to $2,000 plus tax
3) Commercial and Consumer Powder Coater, Prime and Finish Gloss Black -- Cost Estimate $ 1,500 plus $145.00 tax
4) Dustless Blasting, no labor quote, includes flash rust preventive good for 48 hours -- Cost Estimate $ 900 plus tax

These quotes are not in the budget right now. I already have the various roller brackets and the bunk stanchions out to powder coat in the neighborhood of $450. I found the winch stanchion had rust inside from holding water (no drain holes from the factory) and a rusted out step on the ladder attached to the winch stanchion. That is going to be in the neighborhood of $300 to fix. I still have 2 of the forward roller brackets, the winch mount, the new winch stanchion, and the front ladder that need paint or powder coat. I just placed the order for 5 new keel rollers at a cost of $170. I will need to find a way to recondition the wobble rollers (16 of them) as they are not in the budget either.

Looks like I will be either using the Rustoleum for Rusty Metal approach or use my Harbor Freight sandblaster to do little sections at a time and then paint with epoxy primer and single stage topcoat. I hope this info helps others in deciding about painting etc.

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, I bought a brand new 4400# galvanized trailer for $3K, a few years ago.

 

[briangcc]

My Coyote trailer under the Chap is powder coated. I will tell you that it is peeling up at the swing away coupler joint. It did that the first year I owned it and Coyote sent me some liquid "stuff" (assume its single stage epoxy but I wasn't told) and it lasted until this year. I need to wire wheel the joint and this time I'll just rattle can it.

I wonder what that "dustless" exactly is. If its soda based, be very careful with your prep following their work. IF you do not prep right, paint WILL peel right off. I had that happen with a body shop who soda blasted the hood to my Trans Am. Their primer peeled when I pulled the project from their shop. It was literally sheets of primer I could pull off with just 2 fingers, no scraping/sanding required.

You might look into one of the rust encapsulators/convertors out there as an alternative. POR15 is well known for this and Eastwood has a spray bomb product out there as well. As far as I'm aware, both would need a top coat which could be rattle canned.

 

[Scott06]

My Coyote trailer under the Chap is powder coated. I will tell you that it is peeling up at the swing away coupler joint. It did that the first year I owned it and Coyote sent me some liquid "stuff" (assume its single stage epoxy but I wasn't told) and it lasted until this year. I need to wire wheel the joint and this time I'll just rattle can it.

I wonder what that "dustless" exactly is. If its soda based, be very careful with your prep following their work. IF you do not prep right, paint WILL peel right off. I had that happen with a body shop who soda blasted the hood to my Trans Am. Their primer peeled when I pulled the project from their shop. It was literally sheets of primer I could pull off with just 2 fingers, no scraping/sanding required.

You might look into one of the rust encapsulators/convertors out there as an alternative. POR15 is well known for this and Eastwood has a spray bomb product out there as well. As far as I'm aware, both would need a top coat which could be rattle canned.

Dustless uses water in with blast media. Has a flash rust preservative in it. Actually looks like a pretty neat process from videos I have seen doing old cars

 

[76SeaRay]

The spec I found (if correct) gives the boat dry weight at 3,650 lbs. The trailer weight spec (titled weight and again if correct) is 2,250 lbs. Overall weight then is 5,900 lbs dry. I priced an equivalent new trailer at about $6,600. I bought this at auction in Denver and, to get it to Washington State, I had to invest in new brake backing plate assemblies, new wheel bearings, rebuilt the surge brake hitch, new brake lines, and new lights and wiring. Given I have an investment in this trailer and I have more diy labor than budget, it is more cost effective to restore this trailer than to replace it with new.

 

[Chris1956]

OK, in for a penny, in for a pound.

 

[jetboater]

I redid two trailers using the wire brush/sand/rustolium rusty metal primer and rustolium topcoat you describe in option 4.

I used the Rustolium “Hammered” finish for the topcoat (put on two coats) and both trailers came out looking good—-the hammered paint covers well and hides the surface imperfections (where I brushed/sanded off surface rust) really well.

And it’s relatively inexpensive (in comparison to other options)—about $18/quart.

An option to consider..

 

[mike_i]

I've been using this stuff for several years on my trailer that's used in saltwater. I have to do a touch up every few years but it's better than buying a new trailer. Just don't get it on anything you don't want it on, including skin, it's a ***** to remove when dried.

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