New Trailer ... what to do?

[Briz]

Just picked up my new Dunbier Wide Track Series trailer – I have a month or so to go before the boat is finished so its just sitting in the yard & I have time to give it a good working over before I use it … I’ve already started with undoing all the bolts and greasing them. I was even thinking of spraying some diesel/sump oil up into the channels using a compressor and engine cleaning gun (which pretty much atomizes the mix into mist) … any other suggestions?
Briz

[rayken1938]

I would prefer to use a lanolin based product. Its a bit more evorionmentally friendly and will last a bit longer.
The diesel/oil mix will pollute the water when you dunk the trailer and the air when you apply it. I used to use it and also smear my springs with grease and I used to leave a oil slick whenever I launched the boat.
Thats my greeny view.
Cheers
Ray

[Tangles]

Someone has to say it.. get it wet;D,, but lanolin .. good luck with with it and the boat
mike

[Briz]

Thanks ... good point Ray re: the impact of the oil ... will go for the lanolin

[oldboot]

Ahhh

now

get yourself
a good quality trigger type squirt bottle.
a length of micro irigation polly long enough to go wher you need it to go
a 360 deg micro irigation spray head a coarser one is best
a threaded type micro irigation joiner

take the red adjustable nosle off the squirt bottle and drill and tap it to match the threaded irigation joiner...... it M3 or M4 can't remember....... you could probably force fit or epoxy if you cant drill & tap.

trim one end of the joiner so it doesnt foul with the inards of the spray head...... a stanley kinfe wil do theis just fine.

screw on the length of tube screw the spray head on the end

screw the tube rig back on the spray bottle &

WHALLLA

a spray rig that will get into all sorts of places.
If the lanolin is a bit thick thin it a bit with turps or kero........ i didn't need to.

you need to push fairly strongly to get the rig to atomise well if you have a lot of tube on..... but it works a treat..

you can get right up trailer tubes and into all sorts of car panels and places...... you can get right up the pillars & inside chasis & subcrame rails.

If you own a 4WD and go on the beach you need to make one of these

I wishi I could say it was my idea....... but I stole it out of a UK car mag years ago.
Was advertised as an accessory to a DIY rustproofing product.

If you were more serious you could do the same mod to a preasuer sprayer.

cheers

[Stumpthumpa]

I addition to the spraying, also attach a second nut to the spring/axle clamps. I just had one work loose after some years, resulting in a broken leaf spring a long way from home. Same goes for the clamps securing the springs to the trailer.

[oldboot]

even better replace all nuts in the suspension with nylocks.

I'd still go the two nuts on the spring plates.. top one nyloc.

we did a job on the bro inlaws trialer a few years back and relaced all the fasteners with stanless.........do people still sell boat trailers with mild steel fasteners?


cheers

[zigfreed]

G'Day Briz

Just out of interest, how much grease was on the spring bolts you removed?
(think i already know the answer but thought i would ask)

cheers

Mick

[FrankFWM]

even better replace all nuts in the suspension with nylocks.

I'd still go the two nuts on the spring plates.. top one nyloc.

we did a job on the bro inlaws trialer a few years back and relaced all the fasteners with stanless.........do people still sell boat trailers with mild steel fasteners?


cheers

Oldboot, are you saying you got an aluminium trailer and put all stainless bolts in it?

If you did - you will end up with Galvanic corrossion and the trailer will become the sacraficial anode....

I would suggest if you did do this, you use a molly product like P74 which is a tru anti-galvanic/anti-sieze to help slow down the galvanic corrossion.

Or go back and put gal bolts back in.

Frank

[tunaticer]

Do as the guys suggest with internal spraying but use ENSIS FLUID from Shell.
This rust preventative will outlast your trailer and it is absorbed into the metal each time the temp gets pretty hot. It will also self heal any stone chips or scratches on hot days too.
There is nothing else on the market that will protect as well as ensis fluid for so long. Use the thin product for internal spraying and the thick black heavy grade for external work.
While you are out in your boat fishing on those hot sultry days your trailer will be self healing its rust preventative cooking in the mid day sun.

Jack.

[bluefin59]

There is a product called tectyl which seems to be long lasting ,do a forum search and you will find a heap of info on it spaniard king gave it good wraps on the thread about his new boat i wish i had used it myself at present i use lanotec from supa cheap every couple of months and it seems to be doing the job the tectyl seems to be a bit more long term, the lanotec can be slippery if you stand on your trailer to launch or retreive so be careful ....matt

[oldboot]

Oldboot, are you saying you got an aluminium trailer and put all stainless bolts in it?

If you did - you will end up with Galvanic corrossion and the trailer will become the sacraficial anode....

I would suggest if you did do this, you use a molly product like P74 which is a tru anti-galvanic/anti-sieze to help slow down the galvanic corrossion.

Or go back and put gal bolts back in.

Frank

Who said anything about aluminium.


Anyway if it was aluminium what other fastener would you use other than stanless.
Aluminium bolts juts havnt got the strength.... even if you could buy them.

the only reasonable choices for suspension fasteners are, mild steel, high tensile steel and stanless.

What are you ona about this time.


cheers

[Benny01]

tectile mixed with enzis fluid is the way to go. im doin it to my hilux on the weekend. you will waste more than is actually used but it is absolute gold. it actually vibrates upwards so if you own a diesel it will get into every little hole imaginable. it ends up being fairly thick so you will need a proper gun or an irrigation head hooked up to it. makes a mess but worth it

[manchild]

All above is good advice.Dont forget to take the bearings out and pack it by hand till they got a nice rim coming trough all around.This is rarely done and the only proper way to do it.
George

[Briz]

Just out of interest, how much grease was on the spring bolts you removed? (think i already know the answer but thought i would ask)

cheers
Mick

the spring bolts were as dry as a badger's bum - although where the rear-cross section is fixed to the main channels - not only had they greased the bolts but they had also greased both touching surfaces

[FrankFWM]

Who said anything about aluminium.


Anyway if it was aluminium what other fastener would you use other than stanless.
Aluminium bolts juts havnt got the strength.... even if you could buy them.

the only reasonable choices for suspension fasteners are, mild steel, high tensile steel and stanless.

What are you ona about this time.


cheers

Stainless steel is very cathodic i.e. its at the cathode end of the galvanic corrosion scale ... aluminium is at the anodic end (anode).

Put an anode and cathode together and you get elctrolytic corrosion in the presence of moisture (especially salt laden moisture).

In this case though the anode is far greater in mass than the cathode i.e. the aluminium is far greater in mass than the stainless bolts. It still is the sacrificial anode but its greater mass makes it corrode slowly BUT it will still corrode.

If putting stainless bolts into aluminium such as checkerplate on a trailer I would use plastic washers to isolate the aluminium plate from the bolt heads and use a product called Durolac. Durolac is a anti-electrolytic compound that comes in a tube like toothpaste and is yellow. A coating of durolac on the bolt threads and under bolt head and nut keeps corrosion from disimilar metals at bay for ages.

Molykote P74 as I mentioned is another option ifthe bolt is being screwed into an opposite metal.

That is what I am going on about this time Oldboot.

Frank

[zigfreed]

the spring bolts were as dry as a badger's bum - although where the rear-cross section is fixed to the main channels - not only had they greased the bolts but they had also greased both touching surfaces

Thats a bit more grease than i expected Briz,

My Dunbier is just on 3yr old now but i remember the first bearing check i did on it, they had surface rust and about a tablespoon of grease on each bearing, the hubs were hardly even packed.

Admittedly it was nearly twelve months old when i did it but i was living in Canberra and only used it about 3 times in the first year so assumed it would be ok.

Once again, it pays never to assume...................

Enjoy your new rig mate.

Mick

[SgBFish]

Most bolts used on trailers are simply zinc plated if that is the case I would cold gal them straight up, then tectyl the whole trailer.

I would also seriously consider putting a spectra rope on and replacing the webbing or wire that is on it now.