Trailer questions

[Crunchy]

Sorry guys I know most of these questions have been well covered, including recently, but I want my own thread as I need to move quickly and I may have other questions so please forgive me asking the same ol questions:-?

Next week all my trailer cross-members will be replaced, along with rusted bolts etc. I won't be gal-dipping the trailer due to both cost and time, even though I realise this would be the best solution. So I will be painting the new steel cross-members then coating with tectyl etc. The new cross memebers will be sealed so I plan on drill and tapping and filling with oil. I dunk my trailer on every load / unload right up to the mudguards so it gets a good dosing of salt water every trip.

1) What is the best product to use to paint the steel? Obviously some kind of primer (Which one?) then cold gal will be the go. I have seen posts elsewhere saying primer / epoxy / paint / and even black goo but as always, there are conflicting comments.

2) Once painted I will use tectyl, but which one? There are lots to choose from. Also, tectyl and diesel? Tectyl and fish oil? Tectyl fish oil and diesel? Tectyl and something else?

3) Currently the leaf springs are underslung, i.e. the springs are at the bottom of the axle with the U bolts like "n" (Fish pate at the bottom). Is there any reason why I cannot put the springs on top of the axel i.e. U bolts "u" with the fish plate at the top? This would give me 45mm increased height which would be useful.

4) I'm dropping the boat onto tyres today, is it really that easy to winch a trailer back under a 750Kg 5.8M glass boat to get it back on? Most of the youtube videos I saw are smaller lighter boats, also there is slab underneath not grass so I really dont want to fug it up. Perhaps jacking it up higher than the trailer is a better option?

More questions coming no doubt

Thanks
C

[shaungonemad]

It's pretty easy to get them back on the trailer I did my 5.7 alloy half cab not long ago it was pretty easy leave it off the car and wind it under watch your transducer

[aussiebasser]

I hope you're getting a good price on the cross members because without hot dip galvanising, they won't last long. If the welds are good enough to keep oil in the cross members, they are good enough to keep the water out.

[Noelm]

I find cold gal to be useless anywhere near salt water, it's OK for nuts and bolts around the house, but plain old paint is better for a trailer (in my opinion)

[Crunchy]

To re-gal the whole trailer is about a $1K as they have to take the old gal off first (Which is in good nick so seems a waste). Now looking at just getting the cross-members hot dipped before they are welded on - about $200.

[ozynorts]

Hey mate, if your painting it why not try these products.
http://www.xtrollglobal.com.au/products/rust/ezi-gal/

[bluefin59]

Why bother wasting time and money ,either build or buy a new one because that's what you are going to do in the end unless your not going to use it . DOnt waste your money on band aids to fix a broken leg ,it just doesn't work mate but again up to you ... Matt

[shaungonemad]

I have gone to making anything out of stainless the initial cost is a bit more but it will last forever. Sometimes trying to seal something out can work the opposite by locking it in. Mig weld can be porous so have a good think about it before you do to much.

[Danstu]

I was going to get my cross members cut out and new members welded in by Belco for close to 3 grand. While having my boat parked there one of the staff members drove another trailer into my propeller and bent the tip and then told me to bad I park at my own risk. I ended up going else where and they were able to buy in a whole new under carriage frame and just bolt it on for $1200. Mine was a Redco Tinka, not sure what brand yours was.

[scottar]

You will need to seal the side rails as well. Where they weld the new cross members on, the gal on the inside of the side rails will burn off and you will not be able to paint it. I did this with the last trailer I repaired and had no issues in the 3 further years of ownership prior to sale. Cold gal on it's own is pretty porous - exposure to salt water will see rust again in no time. What cold gal does an excellent job of though is absorbing something like lanolin. When I rebuilt my trailer (new rear cross member in open c section and partial side rail replacement of both rails in same, new springs and new axle), it got 3 coats of cold gal and a few thorough coats of lanolin which seemed to soak right into the paint. When the trailer was pulled from the water, the water would bead and run off like it was a freshly polished car bonnet. Re application of lanolin periodically and no further rust.

[Feral]

Fish oil then killrust. Works for me.

Do you have to weld on your new cross members?, seen some recent setups where people have U bolted them to the frame quite successfully. Has the added advantage of the cross members being lower (As they are under the rails) and dropping the boat lower meaning you don't have to drive in to the water so far.

[mitch_wahoo]

I've just gone through a similar thing. Just had my trailer sand blasted and painted in international 2 pac epoxy. Then I'm covering it in tectyl 506, and brushing grease over the axles and all bolts etc. springs are galvanised and had no signs of rust. trailer is made of c section but was rusted pretty bad because it had never been gal dipped.

when I first brought the boat I did the trailer up and it lasted about 5 years. First time I used a wire week on the grinder the clean most of the surface rust off. Then coated with galmet rust converter, then galmet cold gal. Then septone rust proofing (similar to tectyl) but it has only lasted 5 years which is why I have decided to go a different route this time.

[brett62]

crunchy just build a new main frame and change all the running gear over and you have a new trailer. It really is not a lot of work to build a frame if you have the time.

[Crunchy]

This work is going to cost me about $1300, new trailer $5K. Everything (Frame, winch & post, axle, wheels, mudgaurds, hubs, brakes, lights, hitch, springs etc) are all in good order, it is really only the cross-members, roller pins and a few u bolts that need replacing so seems like the right way to go, if it gives me another 5 years I would be happy. Plus timing is a factor, how many days till 1770?

Thanks Scott, good points, once the welding is done I will put a litre of rust converter into the channels and temporary block them up and drive around to slosh it around, perhaps do the same with some paint / gal.

[scottar]

Just seal them permanently and fill them - same as your cross members. The only tricky bit can be the front of the rail but if I could do it, for someone that actually can weld it should be a walk in the park.

[Nick H]

I would be getting it HDG, if budget doesn't allow for it get, the members your replacing dipped and get the boiler maker to zinc rod all the welds as his welding them in, next best thing in my option is Tectyl 506
Nick

[scottar]

Some second hand options around for a new frame
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Boat-Trailer-/231659867748?hash=item35f0010e64

[Dignity]

Crunchy, if you do go down the track you are proposing then make sure there are no leaks when you fill the members with oil because if there is an oil slick seen coming from your trailer you may get pinged, happened to a mate of mine who likes to use Inox rather heavily.

[Rip it up]

I'm going to buck the trend and say why not use a good quality epoxy primer paint and 2pack topcoat. If it's good enough for steel ships and marine wharfs etc. by all means go over the top with tectyl 506 for piece of mind.

I like to denso wrap my axle and u bolts. It's a lanolin based fabric wrap that is used for pipelines under water and buried. Gets a black PVC over wrap to seal it off.

Never been a big fan of the cold gal near water.

Inside the channels will be best tackled with sealed threaded plugs. Filling the channels with lanolin solution. Talk to your local bolt shops for a 4L bottle of lanolin.

The roller pins are easy to change into stainless pins. Best thing I did on my trailer. The boat races off when launching.

I think that getting your rear cradles built from fresh steel is a good cost effective way to give a trailer a birthday. You should find your attention to details will be better than the factory was.


Damo's dodgy boat building repair shop.

[gofishin]

I'm going to buck the trend and say why not use a good quality epoxy primer paint and 2pack topcoat....This is indeed a good option if you do it right (with epoxy products), however the welding has to be good as it doesn't/can't coat the inside of the new steel members - so any leaks are bad. Plugs and Lano inside a good option too.

In 1986/7 we built a big steel trailer in PNG for a big cat, which weighed 1.85t trailer only, so there was a lot of steel in it. There was no such thing as galvanisers up there, or any mooring facilities, so every trip the trailer had 2 dunks. Stick welding used throughout.

Did ~1100+ hrs in 22 months on the water, over a 30 month period, including a couple of lay-ups, so an awful lot of dunks and then baking in the hot tropical sun.

No washing facilities at the ramp, and the trailer was pretty much abused its entire life. After its PNG time it lived on the Goldie as a canal ramp trailer (draw bar removed, axles moved to suit), for 8 yrs with my family, then moved a few canals over to a new owner.

We used a 3 step epoxy (all 2-pak, all sprayed) process with Epiglass products (Epiglass was bought out by International Paints, who have used original names of the Epiglass paints I believe). Was nearly 30 yrs ago so memory is a bit scratchy in some areas :).

1st step was shot blasting. Primer was an Epoxy Etch Primer, maybe called Epiguard 199. Next was a white/grey intermediate primer, can't remember the name. Last/topcoat was Epitar, an epoxy tar (bitumen) top coat. A few coats of each, maybe 3 or 4 top coats.

After 10 yrs with us the trailer was still good, although there were some patches of rust. I think 5 more years was still going strong.

If I treated a typical galvanised trailer the same now, it wouldn't have lasted 10yrs, maybe not even 7 I don't think.

Painting is an option, but there is a lot of effort involved, and the paint products aren't cheap.
Cheers
Brendon


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[scottar]

Paint is definitely an option but it needs to be good paint and your prep needs to be first grade. If there is even the remotest chance there is salt trapped under it the rust just comes straight back. don't be talked into "rust tolerant" coatings - biggest load of BS from my experience at work - they might slow it down but they certainly don't stop it from what I have seen.

[Edmo]

Dont waste your time with cold gal its useless in the salt, use a 2 pack epoxy primer such as international and then you can put a coat of 2 pack equipment enamel which is tough over it then any sort of rust proof or lanolin over that and you should get a few years out of it, grease up all your nuts and bolts while your there.

[AndrewB]

coat it in marine grade grease

[Crunchy]

Getting the boat off went smoothly, getting the support heights correct was essential, one pallet with a truck tyre worked out to be the perfect height, two truck tyres too high and one too low, roped up the bow and stern so it couldn't tip sideways and with 3 helpers it all went according to plan.

Trailer getting new cross-members welded on today. Welders advice is to fill with fish oil if I want to but he doesn't think it is essential as reckons his welds will be airtight anyway. Paint or coat (Tectyl or fish oil) and give it a good going over every 6 months was his advice to prolong the life.

[myusernam]

2pac tar epoxy.
oil filled is good but hard to get sealed properly. If you have pinhole leaks its a pain in the arse. as someone said above where you weld the cross members on it will rust on the inside (where you cant see) of the rhs you are welding to. so oil filling is good. Drill holes and weld nuts on and leave open when welding caps on rhs so gas has somewhere to go and you dont get gas making pinholes in weld. Just use old sump oil. I guess fish oil better if you get a leak.
cold gal/ pre gal is rubbish. dont even bother. its not as good to paint either
hot dip gal isnt perfect either. the rust gets underneath it and blisters. you always have dry spots inside rhs
I have a hot dipped gal'd rhs trailer that i later oil filled. you can see oil seeping out in the odd spot where the rhs seam is.

2pac tar epoxy is great. but any good paint is good. Whatever you can get for a reasonable price. even ordinary enamel

[Crunchy]

Some say the tar option can hide potential problems

[Dignity]

Some say the tar option can hide potential problems

True with any coating you put in place. Constant care and vigilance will keep it going strong.

[Crunchy]

Just to close this thread out...

The trailer cross-members were fabricated and replaced by Peninsular Steel in Clontarf, they did a great job and I would be happy to recommend them for this type of work, full trailer builds or general welding. There were a few minor pinholes which I sealed up with sikaflex 291. I filled all the cross-members with fish oil (Unbeleiveable amount!) and again sealed up fill hole with sikaflex. Coated the new steel in clear two-pac expoxy resin (several coates), the thinking being using clear I will be able to see any rust developing and knock it on the head quickly. All rusted u-bolts replaced, new brake pads and bearings (Old ones looked perfect, hate it when that happnes) then the whole trailer then covered in fish oil. With a bit of regular maintenance I will get another 10 years out of this trailer as there is not a spot of rust on the frame any longer.

It was very easy to winch the trailer back under the boat....totally confident taking it on and off now.

Thanks for all the input and advice above.

Cheers
C

[scottar]

[QUOTE=Crunchy;1598934 With a bit of regular maintenance I will get another 10 years out of this trailer


C[/QUOTE]

Good stuff. Gives you a bit of time to practise with your welder for the next round ;D.