Trailer painting advice

   / Trailer painting advice #1  

WinterDeere

Super Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
6,247
Location
Philadelphia
Tractor
John Deere 3033R, 855 MFWD, 757 ZTrak; IH Cub Cadet 123
I'm making some more modifications to my log-hauling trailer, and also replacing the decking. Trailer is a 2016 model, or thereabouts, and has always been stored outside on dirt, under shade of trees.

It's actually holding up quite well, only very minor surface rust where the old PT decking contacted the metal, and wherever I've managed to scrape or scratch it in the course of use. I could easily just hand-sand the few areas with a bit of rust, hit with some Rustoleum or Valspar alkyd rusty metal primer and then re-shoot some gloss black enamel. Quick and done.

The only really bad paint delamination I found due to rust was the forward marker light housings, which are shaped like a bell and probably pick up road salt off the truck tires:

IMG_7025.jpg

Again, I could needle-scale those few areas and re-shoot with fresh primer and paint... or I could just haul the whole trailer to the local sandblaster who will strip and re-paint the whole thing, although I suspect this would come with the added chores of removing all lighting, wiring, winch, and then later cleaning and re-greasing the hubs and cleaning out the brakes. Not a small job.

But I'm noticing areas where I made mod's in the past, and re-shot those areas with a feather out, that the enamel I've applied has gone from gloss to matte, and is peeling off wherever it feathered onto the original gloss. Some of these areas may have been done by HVLP, but probably more of them were rattle can, I do both so can't remember which was used where anymore.

IMG_7034.jpg

What would you guys do if this were yours? I wouldn't mind if the feather-out flaked and peeled after several years, but the way it tends to go matte after time is making the whole rig look a little more Sanford and Son than I'd like.
 
   / Trailer painting advice #2  
Feather sanded the rusty spots, masked off all wiring and lights, covered wheels and shot with Rust-o-leum primer and satin black paint.... Good to go, did it several years (6-8) ago and it sits out outside 365 and no rust bleed through yet.... Maybe next time if there is one a tractor/farm implement/chassis paint that has more durability than the Rust-o-leum... Only thing I did not do was replace all the reflective tape I peeled off....
 
   / Trailer painting advice
  • Thread Starter
#3  
That's the challenge... this trailer is OEM'd in gloss black. So if I'm going to switch to satin, it means a full repaint

"Feather sanding"? Gloss is either removed, or not removed. This isn't a clear-coat finish.
 

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