Thread: Rusty boat trailer.

Originally Posted by ONYVA

most rusty boat trailer's i have repaired have rusted from the inside-out as the salt sit inside the tubes and can't be washed out. by the time it is visible it's normally rusted quite bad sorry!

Originally Posted by Wildman

Yeah I'm looking at new Trailers to compare the cost effectiveness of all options!

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That is often my experience too that they are rusted out from the inside.....tho yours looks to be from the photos provided still structurally sound....that means that if you can effectively halt the rust both on the inside and outside for another ten to 15 years you are on a win.

Halting the rust on the inside is Key to any successful long term use, steel will not/chemically cannot rust without exposure to oxygen. TOTAL sealing is usually the easiest option IME(here in Nelson with no hot dip service...your mileage may differ) but it means all your cables need to run on the outside and not even a pop rivet can be drilled into the members or it will let the atmosphere in to rust it.

You are well positioned to save the trailer going on the pictures.

Options as I see it going on longevity of repair not cost.

Option#1

Strip lights rollers springs axle hubs etc and get it acid stripped and re-galvanized.....cannot advise cost but best long term solution, if done properly it will be effectively a new trailer good for 10-15y (caveat is that the trailer is suitably strong already and has had no and I mean zero cracking issues. )

Option # 2 seal the entire trailer and blast and arc spray any surface rust, tricky bit here is it has to be absolutely sealed.....and galv and rust is a bitch to weld and seal so ideally you want a well qualified mate who works for beer or Venison.

I often remove and replace the two cross-members on smaller (less than 6m boats) trailers, I usually cut the crossmember 100mm away from the outside members so I dont burn off the galv inside the side runners then once the new steel cross-members are in carefully and slowly fill in the galv venting holes so the cross members are fully sealed and arc sprayed but the side runners are still open for flushing, depending on the condition of the trailer the MAXIMUM I would tell the customer it would last is 5 years as if the cross members are gone the sides are not far behind generally.

Option #3

Blast and arc spray outside spots of rust, very cheap and effective and arc spray has an anode effect just like galv and surprisingly a anode !....however it will only slow inside rusting.

I am no paint expert so will leave those options to others more qualified but it must be very difficult to prep and paint the inside of a RHS.

Option #4
Buy a wire buff wheel for your 5" grinder and clean up external rust then paint with a generic Zinc spray can of goodness.....this is the give you a couple of years to save for a new trailer option but you will have to keep at it.