Trailer Repaint On the Cheap?

[KY Gun Geek]

Got a good deal on a 14k Gatormade 24' gooseneck flatbed, about a 2005 vintage. I mention the manufacturer because it shows the results of some of the problems mentioned on this forum with Gatormades - The paint is ok in some areas, and is about 60% gone in others, and the electrical system is garbage. On top of that, this one was abused - probably overloaded judging by what's left of the bearings, and not maintained. See, a "good deal"!

Mechanical and electrical things I can handle. It is the paint I need some advice on. My experience with paint is painting houses, fences, barns, and the occasional rattle can on deck furniture.

The goosenck structure has been repainted at least once. It was a crappy job - sprayed right over the wiring and stickers (then wiped off, sort of, with a solvent to show the stickers). This area shows occasional pits - the rust is starting to come back. The beams and cross members under the trailer look like they have not been touched. There is some paint, maybe 40%. The rest is rust.

Been studying posts here and other boards, and I think the "right" way to do this thing is to sandblast it down to the metal then spray apply an epoxy primer, and some sort of a top coat. Well, don't have the gear, experience, or funds to have all that done.

Have been looking at POR, but it seems that going over old paint with POR is a bad idea. I have seen several posts from guys here that get pretty good results with rattle can products such as the rustoleum rust reformer. It seems that the old paint is going to be the real issue. I think the rust alone can be dealt with (i.e. stuff like POR, and others), but removing the old paint will be a pain.

This is a farm flatbed, used to haul hay, and a JD 5105. My goal is to make it serviceable and keep it from looking like total crap

Right now I'm thinking knock the rust and loose paint off with a needle scaler and wire brush. Rough sand the paint left over paint to roughen it up. Detergent wash things to degrease, then go back with something like the rust reformer as a primer. On the underside, a rubberized undercoating. On the side rails, some kind of rattle can enamel, and maybe the same on the neck structure.

Ideas? Thoughts?

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would use Valspar Equipment paint from TSC or a farm and fleet store.

Chris

 

[davkir]

I've wire brushed some old trailers before and painted them with Rustoleum rusty metal primer and then topcoated. I used 3" paint rollers.
I thought they looked OK. They are trailers after all.

 

[strum456]

I would use Valspar Equipment paint from TSC or a farm and fleet store.

Chris

I would put epoxy primer under it though. Even if surface prep isn't perfect, epoxy will still provide better adhesion and protection than anything else. Make sure the surface is sanded in some way, not just wire wheeled (too smooth).

 

[dodge man]

Do you have an air compressor? If not, maybe this is a good excuse to buy one. The best way is to sandblast the thing and paint it with a paint gun hooked to an air compressor. It would take a bunch of rattle cans to do a trailer. Its going to sound silly, but it wears my index finger out doing a lot of rattle can work. You may not have much experience painting with an air gun, but its quicker and easier than you think. You will spend more time on prep work and cleaning the paint gun than you will actually spend painting.

 

[tlbuser]

Its going to sound silly, but it wears my index finger out doing a lot of rattle can work.

You really need to try one of these (picture for visual reference, diff.types available)spray handles. They're not very expensive, IMO, they take rattle cans to a better level.

 

[tlbuser]

Unless you're going to do the whole trailer with sandpaper, do a little research on soda blasting. If you have a compressor, the units can be had rather inexpensively and IMO do a nicer job. Epoxy primer is a good choice too.

 

[KY Gun Geek]

I've wire brushed some old trailers before and painted them with Rustoleum rusty metal primer and then topcoated. I used 3" paint rollers.
I thought they looked OK. They are trailers after all.

Yep - they are trailers...

What did you topcoat with?

 

[Scotty Dive]

I use hammerite and apply right over rust. It is really tough stuff. I use the black hammered finish

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Hammerite-Paint-Hammered-Finish-43140/dp/B007NTNCF6/ref=sr_1_10?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1333481776&sr=1-10[/ame]

 

[KY Gun Geek]

So I started with thinking about sandblasting, and figured out what I would need to do that.

I have a compressor - 30 gal upright 6HP oilless. It will deliver 5.8SCFM at 90psi. Pretty much determined that it doesn't have the guts (duty cycle, flow rate etc) to either sandblast or run a spray gun.

Is there an epoxy primer in a rattle can? Should that go over the rust reformer?