Trailer painting

[LD1]

Wow, others seem to really want to spend your money . If I am spending my money, sand blasting is too expensive. Prep it the best you can with a wire wheel/cup and flap disk. Then spray and brush on something. Again depends on if it is my money or yours…. I would probably do a bedliner type covering. Project farm did a good comparison on the different brands to help decide.

Yea, saying sandblast it is easy on an internet forum when you arent spending your own money.

I have inquired with a few blasters. Around here the going rate is $160/hr + sand.

And I have sent a few pics to some of these places and they are guessing 4-5 hours JUST to hit the insides of the main frame and the channel cross members. The one place said at 4-5 hrs laber you are looking at around $700 and probably that much again in sand.

I dont want to spend $1500 on prep. Wire wheeling has worked well for everything I have ever painted.....and has held up well.

My main questions were regarding the coating/paint. As to what you guys have used with good results and what to avoid. And at ~$250/gallon if POR-15 is worth it? OR is there a cheaper alternative.

Also, most places around here seem to only carry quart sized and smaller cans of POR-15. And nothing I can find shows how far or how many sq ft the Por-15 covers per gallon. Dont know if a quart is enough, or if I need 5 gallons?

 

[Midniteoyl]

You guys know that there are small, portable sand blasters for home use? The 10 gal ones are ~$150 + medium and work pretty good. Better than a wire cup at any rate.. No need to send the trailer off to a shop.

 

[LD1]

You guys know that there are small, portable sand blasters for home use? The 10 gal ones are ~$150 + medium and work pretty good. Better than a wire cup at any rate.. No need to send the trailer off to a shop.

I have used the little blasters. They are slow and you spend more time waiting on an air compressor to catch up.

Gonna spend $200 on a blaster, $300 on ppe, $200+ on media......and its still pretty slow. Probably take all day if not more just to hit the cross members.

 

[alexpops]

Wire wheel the loose stuff. OSPHO/ETCH& PREP or any available flavor of phosphoric acid. Pressure wash & dry. Rustoleum rusty metal primer then topcoat of your choosing. If you want to protect even more, hit it with a lanolin type undercoat after paint sets.

 

[LD1]

Wire wheel the loose stuff. OSPHO/ETCH& PREP or any available flavor of phosphoric acid. Pressure wash & dry. Rustoleum rusty metal primer then topcoat of your choosing. If you want to protect even more, hit it with a lanolin type undercoat after paint sets.

I buy fluid film in 5-gal buckets and spray under all of my vehicles every year with a high pressure airless sprayer. I plan to do the same to this trailer no matter what coating I choose

 

[fidowanttobe]

I have had great luck with POR-15 but beware of large cans. You will destroy a can opening it the second time if there is even a trace of it in the groove of the lid. All my "leftover" goes into a pint jar when I'm done with a clean lid and rim. Then in the fridge. I usually buy the 6 pack of 1/4 pints unless it's a larger project. The cleaner and prep I buy in quarts. I can't stress the prep enough. Read the instructions carefully. Also, it has no UV protection so needs to be topcoated.

 

[mrmikey]

ea, saying sandblast it is easy on an internet forum when you arent spending your own money.

Yup, you are 100% correct. ?It's more fun spending others money lol. Go with the needle gun, wire wheel an call it good

 

[crashz]

If you are going to Fluid Film the frame, I would clean it up with the wire wheel, degrease well, and paint with a rustoleum. Then give it a good spray with the FF once the rustoleum cures.

BTW - FF has a black that sprays a little better and smells better too. Very similar in consistency with New Hampshire Oil Undercoating material.

I bought my trailer brand new and the powder coating looked great on the outside. Underneath was abysmal. Been spraying it down in the summer with FF and its kept rust at bay. But it rarely sees the salt.

 

[dlctcg]

Have used Por15 with both good & bad experiences, however it's been awhile & the pricing is pretty high so stopped using it.

We have been using a product made by SEM called Rust Trap, SEM products are available at many auto paint distributors. Have been using it for like 3yrs on projects & it is holding up well so far (in New England). Nice thing about it is it can be used on Bare Steel, Rusted steel, Properly prepped paint in good condition & Aluminum. Applies pretty quickly as you apply 2 med to light coats wet-to-wet (like 5 - 15 mins between coats). It dries rock hard but has not come off the TJ parts we did 3yrs ago (both new & rusted) & the only other coating it get is fluid film.

Down sides (thus far)
(1) It is thin, like water so application is a little tricky but lays out smooth even with a brush (it goes a long way if your not wasteful)
(2) Like many of the other products it needs a top coat as it is not UV stable. That said we have not top coated any of the undercarriages, parts or piece that are not in direct sunlight & it is holding up thus far.

Less expensive then Por 15 & in my opinion not at Prep Picky as it either... Just something to look in to...

Link to the PDF's

SEM Rust Trap PDF

SEM Corrosion Protection Brochure

 

[stumblinhorse]

Yea, saying sandblast it is easy on an internet forum when you arent spending your own money.

I have inquired with a few blasters. Around here the going rate is $160/hr + sand.

And I have sent a few pics to some of these places and they are guessing 4-5 hours JUST to hit the insides of the main frame and the channel cross members. The one place said at 4-5 hrs laber you are looking at around $700 and probably that much again in sand.

I dont want to spend $1500 on prep. Wire wheeling has worked well for everything I have ever painted.....and has held up well.

My main questions were regarding the coating/paint. As to what you guys have used with good results and what to avoid. And at ~$250/gallon if POR-15 is worth it? OR is there a cheaper alternative.

Also, most places around here seem to only carry quart sized and smaller cans of POR-15. And nothing I can find shows how far or how many sq ft the Por-15 covers per gallon. Dont know if a quart is enough, or if I need 5 gallons?

I have used por-15, bedliner and rustoleum. It depends on you I would say. POR is messy and hard to clean up, it works well, but it seems they have a lot of other products that they sell/recommend to ensure it is a “good” coating. I wasn’t crazy about it being so glossy. But have it on 2 of my vehicles and it has worked so far.

Bedliner is tough and comes with a lot of ways to apply. Once it is on it stays and protects. Not as expensive as por. It is easy to recoat or touch up. I have used the duplicolor version on the rockers of my truck after welding in new metal and it is holding up well. I have touched it up a few times looks good still.

Rustoleom is the cheapest and easiest. Will probably do the job. I brushed and rollered it onto my rotary cutter and it is holding up well.