RE-Galvanizing a Trailer

[Spaniard_King]

Has anyone been down this track before?? I think I am not far from it

At what stage was the trailer re-galled?? ie how bad was it?

Any pro's and cons with re-galling??

Is double dipping worth doing?

Cheers

Garry

[peterbo3]

Hi Garry,
Did a trailer at Industrial Galvanisers at Narangba some years ago. Not exactly your circumstances as this was home built new from scratch by a mate.
Any external rust will result in instant rejection - on to the grit blasters. If there is rust inside the box sections where the grit blaster cannot reach - instant rejection. If you want the springs done then you will possibly need to supply new ones. The rust deal again. Every thing must be dismantled. Charged at a $rate per KG. Don't know about double dipping. Normal dip is hot gal bath.
My experience is 3 years old. Give the gal people a call.

[whichway]

Hi

This is a path I may take too, but the grit blasting of internal sections (which will always be rusty) would rule me out. I understood that they could acid dip it to treat any rust rather than grit blast, but I don't recall for sure. My trailer's problem is that all of the bolts holding the roller supports in place have badly rusted so it would be very difficult to remove the roller supports.

Whichway

[Spaniard_King]

Peter/Whichway

I believe the acid dipping is corect but everything needs to be be pulled appart ::). I may go down the road of sand blast then acid dip and then a double dip in the Gal.

I am most likely going to use the industrial galvernizers at Narrangba too, don't think any one else is closer to me.


I am still interested to hear of anyone having double dipped a trailer before and had a greater life span with it :-?

cheers

Garry

[peterbo3]

Garry,from memory I think the acid dip is done on site at the gal works as part of the process.

[onerabbit]

ihi spaniard king , wouldn't it be cheaper to do the good work, (1dip)& then , at home , endrust PAINT, water proofing PAINT, spray endrust enamel, & liberal coats of fish oil, fish oil every few months is a good thing no matter how you go?? just a thought?? muzz

[Spaniard_King]

Hey Muzz,

Aint gonna be able to painy the inside of the trailer frame hence the double dipping

Also all that stuff cost $$ as well, may as well double dip when the chance is there

Garry

[Dignity]

Gary, had my trailer done bit over 12 months ago. Had to rebuild a cross bearer and cut out a few bolts. The sand blasting cost me just over $1100.00 for a 19footer. Don't know about the double dipping but the pickling is done at the galvanisers as part of the process. You will never get the sandblaster to blast more than a couple of feet up enclosed channels. Another thing to do if you do go ahead is to change what you don't like before it is galv'd. I forgot all about the light brackets, Redco weld the angle iron in such a way that it blocks the end of the main channels and you can't even get a hose nozzle in to wash it out. If I had remembered I would have cut the brackets off and rewelded them the other way around.

If your springs have already previously been galvanised you can't get them done again as it stuffs them up, bettor off buying new ones.

sam

PS: cost me about $2500 all up but was still a lot cheaper than a new trailer.

[Spaniard_King]

Thanks Sam,

gives me an idea of the $$ involved, may have to feed the fishing/boating fund a bit more to cover that :(

Garry

[dnej]

Garry, Double dipping is a misnomer. They actually just leave it in the bath longer. You get a few more dags.Do a Google search on galvanising, some good info from the companies there.
I blocked off all my rails, and rust proofed the inside, with fishoil, as well as the galvanising. You need to drill 1/2 holes on the ends, before galvanising.

Good luck with your search.
David

[billfisher]

I did the sums on getting mine regalvanised but decided on getting a new one for about the same money. I ended up with a much better trailer. Note though there was a few other things wrong with the old one. Also I got a very good price on the new trailer, a Sales trailer direct from the factory in Sydney cost me $2000 for a 17.5 footer (5 years back) and I got $500 for my old trailer.