Best paint and prep for new trailer

[ozscott]

Hi all,

My tailer is getting treated to new lengths of chassis rails - 75mm x 75mm x 5mm in Duragal. Any welds are being cold galv'd immediately when hot and the ends are being capped off with oil put in to slosh around. For the outside I was going to Cold Galv it all with a brush and then top coat with an enamel like Kill Rust or Dulux. However I was wondering if I should Penetrol the chassis first and then paint cold galv and top coat??

Also, the cross member frame for the axles is very heavily galved - 15 years old hot dip. It has no signs of internal nor external corrosion, but thinking of treating it the same way as the new Duragal steel to keep it all looking the same and also add to the rust protection. I take it that would definitely need Penetrolling first??

Many thanks

[cormorant]

People will cut me down but....

Coldgal and salt water are very average combination. You don't see bridges and steel boat stuff painted in coldgal.Perhaps a steel boat forum? Follow the instructions on painting duragal as I had some issues with white powder "rust"corrosion as I didn't do proper prep on a shed frame and my paint result was crap. simple wipe with metho to remove the "factory wax" would have saved me a later touch up. Speak with someone who does industrial coatings as there are better paints than cold gal. As for oil filling or partial oil fill it still never sloshes on the top inside of box so it is fill it up. Why not use a industrial protectant on the inside and spread it by turning over the frame a few times so salt can never tough the metal.

Pulling my head in now. Hard to specify a product as the ones I have seen used recently haven't had years of wear and tear to say to use them. We have painted part our davits ( constant salt spray) with the POR alkeylyde type product and wrapped in some mastic tape stuff products under a maintenance contract and looks ok for now. Like everything in 6 months if it falls to bits I'll wonder if it was worth the money etc etc.

[ozscott]

Thanks mate. I have since learned you cant cold galv over the Penetrol. I might penetrol it and just paint top coat that suits. As for internal if the rails are fairly full it will slosh around and should coat the top inside regularly.

Cheers

[Horse]

I would just hit the new bits with a high zinc primer and then a silver top anticorrosive coat top coat then every year give it a hit with a coat or two of Tectyl 506

[DATCOL]

Hi Ozscott Have a look at the EXTROLL products they use it to protect steel bridges
Clear coat first Then there silver or you can mix the clear into any color enamel for second coat
Will brush role or spry Cheers COL

[ozscott]

many thanks gents. turns out my brother is only one of two retailers of Stroll in Brissy. ..apparently the Old Surf Lifesaving now require all their trailers used on the. beach to have Xtroll on them.

cheers

[frawlz]

Penetrol can also be mixed into your top coat if you spray. I add up to a fifth to rustgaurd/killrust enamels before thinning and it gives a really nice hard finish carrying the colour into the tiniest places.

[ThePinkPanther]

I would just hit the new bits with a high zinc primer and then a silver top anticorrosive coat top coat then every year give it a hit with a coat or two of Tectyl 506

Tectyl 506 is brilliant stuff but remains gooey and tacky for life!

Messy to work around but will outlast you and the trailer!

[SnapBowen]

Have a look at KBS Coatings, it is really good stuff. Also try Boeshield T9 on all your springs, shackles, wheel nuts, winch etc.
http://www.kbs-coatings.com.au
http://boeshield.com

[ozscott]

Many thanks gents. Lots of good products and some similar. I got 4 litres of Xtroll Rust Conqueror and Xtroll Easygal yesterday. Going to water blast then paint with that. Conqueror has a specific gravity less than water so like penetrol will get into all the nooks. My new custom springs look good made locally with bhp steel. They are ungalved. I dont want to take them apart - tbey have keepers on them - to paint with xtroll and I cant paint it while on there cause xtroll sets hard and wont let the springs move and rub. I was thinking of just spraying lanotec on them but given pentrol remains tacky I might be better using it on the springs....

Cheers

I am still not sold on inox or lanotec on my new rotors...has anyone just tried saltx or similar at the ramp and then a good flush at home for keeping rotors from pitting ?

[ozscott]

9166691667oK so a follow up. Degrease then 3 coats of each of the above products including one coat of spraying Xtroll to make sure its everywhere and rest brush. Spring packs have been done with both also, as have the annodised solid square axels and round studs welded on as a drop axel arrangement - the whole lot is nearly 5cm lower now. The brakes are Xtrolled and then painted over with Easygal, although they were already gal and stainless, so extra there. The spring packs will be massaged with grease before dunking. The main channels will be oil filled - they too have been sprayed inside with rust conqueror but oil will stop corrosion. End plugs sealed with sikaflex will allow servicing every 3 years or so to change the oil. New oil only not sump oil. Xtrolled the wire brake cable too. Its an experiment, but with plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this build being a sound one rust wise....time will tell. I have changed wheels to make sure I can hose the outside of the rotors - one of the new riims is int he photo - the old steelies had no holes!

Cheers

[cormorant]

Something is not right with this post

Can anyone else pick up the huge lies!!????

Come clean

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There is absolutely no chance in hell that you can do that to a trailer and have so little bloody mess around. I call it for a fake unless you can do the same to mine!!

Bloody good job and rust will have a hard time getting started.

Now - what time are you doing mine?

[ozscott]

9181491815Ok new wheels also from Active Fab at $50 a piece and Im in business - here she is.

Cheers

[Chimo]

Hi Oz

How come you get away without breakaway brakes on your Vag? Were they so much lighter than the later versions with twin 115HPs?

Cheers
Chimo

PS Nice job on the trailer tho!

[ozscott]

Yes mate- weigh bridged with 80 litres short of the full fuel compliment and normal gear (but no ice etc) is 1.8 tonns inc trailer (disconnected from the car and standing all by itself). With full fuel ice etc she is still just under the 2 tonn magic number....I accept that electric are always better (when working...) but I dont need the hassle if not required by law. Besides the Discovery pulls it up well.

Cheers
Andrew

[Chimo]

Andrew

Agreed nobody wants the hassle but I had to add the electric brakes and upspec the Tinka trailer carrying capacity with QT even though the original Tinka trailer sold for the boat only had 4 wheel hydraulic override brakes fitted.

Mind you they worked just as well without the electric setup but who wants to use their retirement funds to pay off legal claims if you hit or someone else hits you!

Sometimes though it would be nice to go back to the lighter boat and previous two wheel trailer with cable operated ove-ride brakes. Just need to get the Vag back in the water after the motors are serviced and those thoughts will fade away. The hard top has also worked out to be a great improvement on the sunbrella too.

Good to see you managed to make a longer week end out of the Anzac day tribute too........

Cheers
Chimo

PS Are you going to grease your rollers like Trev too?

[ozscott]

Hi Chimo. Yep if you have to have them those electrics brake well. Mine are front axle only.

I have xtrolled the roller arms and inoxed the washers.

Yeah they are a sweet ride mate. Towed it home tonght and its amazing whay working springs can do for the ride. ..:)

Cheers

[ozscott]

Thought I would post back if it helps anyone. Now a year on next month, and absolutely zero rust, even surface or bolt rust. So completely sealed box sections for main rails with about 2 litres of fish oil in each. Open box sections are all Xtrolled. The outside of the trailer was several coats of Xtroll rust conqueror and then several coats of Xtroll Easygal. I dunk my trailer so just under the top of the guards. The main rails are duragal at the back and middle and the front angled bits are just bluesteel - same treatment for the lot though as above. I am hoping not to have to replace this trailer any time soon.

The springs are made at Main Springs in Brisbane - untreated until I got them then Xtrolled, Easygal'd then rubbed with wheel bearing grease. Each time it comes home just a hit with fish oil on the springs after the wash down. No rust on the springs yet.

Cheers

[chris69]

Thanks for that Ozscott, new trailer on the to buy list and wanted to treat the new gal from new i was going to use a KBs urethane coating but this Xtroll look like a good thing after going to the site and haveing a read.

[ozscott]

Its easy to apply Chris. With several coats it dries glossy and very slightly gold tinge.

Cheers

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[ozscott]

OK just an update. 3.5 years of salt use and no rust anywhere even on Springs and axles. Cheers

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[odes20]

People will cut me down but....

Coldgal and salt water are very average combination. You don't see bridges and steel boat stuff painted in coldgal.Perhaps a steel boat forum? Follow the instructions on painting duragal as I had some issues with white powder "rust"corrosion as I didn't do proper prep on a shed frame and my paint result was crap. simple wipe with metho to remove the "factory wax" would have saved me a later touch up. Speak with someone who does industrial coatings as there are better paints than cold gal. As for oil filling or partial oil fill it still never sloshes on the top inside of box so it is fill it up. Why not use a industrial protectant on the inside and spread it by turning over the frame a few times so salt can never tough the metal.

Pulling my head in now. Hard to specify a product as the ones I have seen used recently haven't had years of wear and tear to say to use them. We have painted part our davits ( constant salt spray) with the POR alkeylyde type product and wrapped in some mastic tape stuff products under a maintenance contract and looks ok for now. Like everything in 6 months if it falls to bits I'll wonder if it was worth the money etc etc.

Cold Gal and all one pack paints are a waste of time in a saltwater environment. Kill rust is a deceiving name to those who may be tempted to use it in Saltwater. I started the thread about 2 packs as from my experience this is the minimum place to start. Other Standard one packs like Epoxy Enamel are basic house and shed paint and are completely out of of their depth when being dunked in the briny.


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[inveratta]

I m aware that galvanising is very expensive around Brisbane .....Im guessing thats a monopoly situation?? ...but for comparison only....I recently got a ballpark figure for removing the old gal..75cper kilo (of trailer) and regalvanising 1.50/kg...$2.25 a kilo from Furphys at Shepparton.

In this case I only need to regal the completely stripped tray part of the trailer and not the undercarriage ..two people can lift it couldnt weigh more than 100kg ...that leaves a lot of room for freight costs...and a top job (5 day turnaround) that will gives years of trouble free service.

[tunaticer]

I m aware that galvanising is very expensive around Brisbane .....Im guessing thats a monopoly situation??
Plenty of competition in Brisbane for galvanizing.
The reason why trailers are expensive is nothing to do with the kilos, it is all about the room it takes in the bath, the more room it takes, the less tonnes they can dip at once.
I get a lot of 3d things hot dip galvanized and know fully well just how expensive it can be......this month's invoices will be over 30k.

[ozscott]

I don't want years of trouble free service. I want the trailer to maintain its integrity for decades. Galv alone can't give that. Sealed box properly done is the go for my time and money. Cheers

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[feral cat]

Ozscott,How's the trailer going. I have a simular situation,going through a refurb on the cat trailer and thinking the above mentioned xtroll might be the go.

[ranmar850]

Sealed box the best??? Just for the record, I'll be favouriting this thread as there is so much good information in it. But how can you completely, and I mean air/watertight, seal a box section when you have sealed a liquid inside it? Or applied an internal coating? I've seen people try to do it, and it up looking good outside, but rusting from the inside, because a small amount of water got in, then sat under the lighter oil-based stuff when it settled. Personally, and from looking at lots of trailers getting a very hard life, you can't go past heavy channel and angle. Any issues will always be obvious, and you can deal with it as you see fit. The only box section on my new trailer is the drawbar, which tends not to get dunked, and is easy to flush out anyway. Good galv'ing,on an intelligent design, with no box sections where moisture can sit, should last at least a decade before you even need to look at anything. The trailer on my last boat was going on twenty years old when I sold it , and looked like new--I will concede that it had always been stored under cover, and we don't have your Queensland humidity over here, which has implications for both boat hull and trailer longevity.

[Andy56]

Sealed box the best??? Just for the record, I'll be favouriting this thread as there is so much good information in it. But how can you completely, and I mean air/watertight, seal a box section when you have sealed a liquid inside it? Or applied an internal coating? I've seen people try to do it, and it up looking good outside, but rusting from the inside, because a small amount of water got in, then sat under the lighter oil-based stuff when it settled. Personally, and from looking at lots of trailers getting a very hard life, you can't go past heavy channel and angle. Any issues will always be obvious, and you can deal with it as you see fit. The only box section on my new trailer is the drawbar, which tends not to get dunked, and is easy to flush out anyway. Good galv'ing,on an intelligent design, with no box sections where moisture can sit, should last at least a decade before you even need to look at anything. The trailer on my last boat was going on twenty years old when I sold it , and looked like new--I will concede that it had always been stored under cover, and we don't have your Queensland humidity over here, which has implications for both boat hull and trailer longevity.

Yes a good point about sealing the box channels. The obvious way around is to have fill and drain nipples to pressure fill it. The more obvious question is what fluid to use that wont break down over time? So every couple of years, it may be wise to flushout and change the fluid.
Truly maintenance free or longevity are not related to salt water. Containment and prevention will only take you so far. For my new boat, I can get a trailer for under $4000. Factor in 10 years and its around $400 a year. To me its a fine line between just go fishing and hose down or go mad on any chemical attempt to preserve that which cant. Not to mention the constant vigil, just in case. My last boat was 5 yrs old and the trailer was like new with nothing apart from a good rinse down and i dunked the trailer.
Remind me again, how do you galvanise an aluminium trailer? :D ( yes its a boring saturday arvo)

[ozscott]

Ok I sold the Vagabond late last year and the trailer remained like new. If you weld the end caps on with good welds there are no leaks and no water ingress. I had tapped holes in the top and rear to allow filling and draining. I checked the fisholine after a few years and it was excellent. No emulsion. The bolts had nylon washers to seal.

Thoroughly recommend it.

Cheers

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[ozscott]

I have a 2002 Dunbier Centreline and surprisingly it's still in good condition. My replacement down the track may be a welded alloy trailer but given you can get a good australian made gal steel trailer for a 4.5 tinny for 1300 skins or so I probably wouldn't bother particularly given that I would be concerned about alloy fatigue on corrugated roads up north.

Cheers

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