new steel, old trailer - rustproofing?

[Jeremy]

I found that the rear cross member of my trailer was badly rusted out on Saturday. First considered a new or second hand trailer, but then got a mate to come over and have a look at it, and we have decided to repair it to save on $$.

I have cut the old cross member off and bought a stack of new rollers, pins, brackets etc.

I will be buying steel for a new cross member (2" x 2") and my mate can set the bend in it at work. We will also reinforce the sides with a steel plate as there is some significant rust there also.

What I need to know is how to rustproof the new steel we weld on. I don't really want to strip the trailer and sand blast it and re-gal it. There is too much rust on the inside of the side members to make this worth while. I know this won't last too long, but it should give me another 3-5 years.

Options I can think of are:
1. can of cold gal
2. rust kill primer and paint
3. Tectyl 506 and metho
4. combination of above

Would appreciate any advice, particularly what to do about the inside face of the steel plate where it is welded to the sides of the trailer.

Jeremy

[seafarer3]

Hi,
Just had the same prob....
I cold galed....then used a can of fish & sheep oil called Fitsgerrald's...(any super cheap)
& coated inside the channel,,,& outside...
Then drilled holes either end, so i can flush with fresh water.....
This is the biggest prob with the channels...it' to hard to flush out..

Cheers
Scott

[finga64]

Gidday matey,
To be truthfull the trailer is going to rust out where the rust is left in before the rear goes again.
Once the rails start to rust it's pretty well all over redrover. Especially if the rust has crept up towards the second rear member or third rear member
Tidy the trailer up, flog it off and get a good one.
From what I've seen sold on ebay your nearly get new trailer price for a tidy old one.
A lot of poeple would probably disagree but I'm fairly fussy about the trailers
Sorry Scott #:-/

[murf]

Hi Jeremy
if the rust is not too bad (structurally) clean up rusty areas with coarse sanding disc's in the 4" grinder, apply a rust converter such as sure vert-100, cold gal coat it, rust kill paint it and then liberal coat of Tectyl 506.
lot of stuffing around but you can keep on top of it
every time you see rust comming through add more Tectyl
always fun chasing rust in old trailers.
If its registered and is marked as home made you should be able to sell it pretty easy ;)
good luck
Murf