Boatmate Trailer Rust

[jokid]

Anyone know a good way to remove rust from a trailer? I would prefer to do it all myself to try and save some money. Has anyone had their trailer "re-furbished" meaning rust and paint stripped down and the trailer totally repainted? If so, how much would something like this generally run? Thanks for the help!

2006 Moomba XLV Gravity Games
2006 Boatmate Trailer

[zegm]

Anyone know a good way to remove rust from a trailer? I would prefer to do it all myself to try and save some money. Has anyone had their trailer "re-furbished" meaning rust and paint stripped down and the trailer totally repainted? If so, how much would something like this generally run? Thanks for the help!

2006 Moomba XLV Gravity Games
2006 Boatmate Trailer

Do you have a nice air compressor? If so you can buy a sand blaster from Sears for around a 100 dollars. Just make sure to get the correct sand (it will be labeled for sand blasting) from Lowes or that other store Home Depot :evil:. If you get the correct sand it will be in paper bags so they can't store it outside like they do playground sand which will absorb water and doesn't work good in a sand blasting system.

[jokid]

I do have a good air compressor. I will look into a sandblaster. Once the rust (and probably most of the paint) is gone, any suggestions on painting? Would it just be easier to find a professional to repaint the trailer due to the size? I have priced new trailers but it seems like it would be a lot cheaper to repair my current trailer to almost new condition. I got a price from Magnum Trailers in Austin Texas and they quoted me around $4920 for a black painted trailer (not including spare tire and mount). Anyone know someone in the Austin or San Antonio TX area that does this type of work?

[maxpower220]

You should call around to a few blasting companies, you will probably get quotes in the $350-500 range to blast everything down to metal. If you have a Harbor Freight store, they have several cheap blasting kits with several different types of blast media.

For coatings, you could paint it yourself. Since you have a compressor, guns aren't that much to buy. You can get quotes for painting from pros. Check a local powder coating company, you may be surprised that they may be cheaper than painters. Lastly, you may not like the look but check with your local rhinoliner (or similiar). They can use foam to fill in your tubing and coat the whole trailer. No more rust problems. You could also look at having it galvanized

All of those options will be less than a new trailer, unless you need to replace many parts on your trailer.

[jokid]

I never thought about having it Rhino Lined. Is this very costly to do? As far as re-sale, would this be something that people would steer clear of since it is not painted or would it add more appeal because of the durability.

[polar21]

Has anyone ever foam filled a trailer before? I would that that foam would make the trailer float when trying to load the boat back on the trailer.

[pogofx]

My concern about filling it with foam would be rewiring the lights if needed. I guess if the wires were in good condition before you put the foam in there you should be okay. I had to rerun wires on a couple of my previous trailers, but I was running in saltwater back then.

[moombadaze]

before foam filling could you run a small pvc pipe up both chanel's for a wire chase ?

[maxpower220]

Or you can run the wires out side/below the tube in a pvc or conduit tube.