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PostPosted: August 16, 2016, 5:36 pm 
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I just traded for a covered trailer to give to my son for his catering business and we'd like to spruce it up in one a day enough to make it nice enough for him to put his logo on. We'd also like to make it more useful inside for tying down carts, etc.

Paint is the obvious main thing to do, but since I've recently painted a couple of other trailers and not had the best of results, it all begin peeling within a year, I'm wondering what I need to do differently this time.

I used a liquid paint sander/prep and topped it with Tractor Supply's tractor paint. Tractor paint is usually the toughest paint you can buy but Tractor Supply changed suppliers just before I began and the new paint simply was no where nearly as good as the old stuff.

The gloss lasted less than a month and then it became a flat finish and then began peeling in small ways. It also scratches easily when I'm doing tie downs.

1) So what can we do quickly to prep the whole surface to make the paint stick. There are some exposed metal places that will need sanding for sure.

2) What paint should we use?

The ramp needs to be covered in plywood so he can roll carts up inside it. The expanded metal covering simply would make it tough to roll things across it, although he's bringing a cart for us to try it first.

I was thinking of covering the walls in plywood and adding some Harbor Freight tie hooks. Any better ideas?

The top is the only damaged part and I was thinking of removing it and replacing it. It is simply sheet steel, probably from a roll bought from HD or Lowes. At first I thought of raising the roof 6-8" (it's 5'6" tall inside now) but once I looked at how the top hoops are put on there I saw that would be a much bigger job than one day (2 at the outside).

There are some protruding screws that are guaranteed to scalp someone, does someone have a better alternative than screw heads on the inside and lock nuts on the outside?

Any other wise words of trailer wisdom?


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Last edited by carguy123 on August 16, 2016, 6:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: August 16, 2016, 5:57 pm 
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More pics.

The previous owner had added some metal supports on each side to allow him to put in a plywood shelf across the top to store stuff on but the shelf would fall out if something heavy was on there once it rolled towards the center.. I'm not sure what I can use to span that distance, but another day we might look into ways to utilize that too.


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PostPosted: August 16, 2016, 8:33 pm 
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Hmmmm, I stopped at Lowes to see what paints & prep they recommended and they said I needed to treat this more like a car with car primers and car paints. I didn't expect that.

To a degree I can understand it, but I don't think that's the only answer.

Whatever we do I just want to be sure we don't get any peeling paint since he's going to put some vinyl advertising on the exterior of this and we wouldn't want it to look bad or need to be redone anytime soon.

Anyone know enough about paints to say what's what?

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PostPosted: August 17, 2016, 3:28 pm 
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Not a paint expert here, but it's going to be tough to get the surface prepped enough to stick well. All those seams, screws, dents will make for a lot of hand sanding. I've used DelFleet paint series and have been impressed with it. Cheap, easy to spray, and the finish is very durable. No idea how well it sticks to poor surfaces though.

For the shelving, drill some vertical holes and pin the shelves to the outer ledges when needed. Pins will prevent the middle from bowing. Especially if metal shelves.
Cheers.

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PostPosted: August 17, 2016, 5:59 pm 
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I'd be tempted to roll it with Rustoleum. No idea how it compares to Tractor supply but I've done some stuff (including the Sprite) with it and its been okay. Did a nice job on the metal garage doors at my old house.

Sand and grind to remove as much of the old loose stuff as possible. I bought an electric dual action palm sander from HF and it did pretty well prepping the Sprite. Do whatever you want to fill the dents then do a coat of their primer and a few coats of whatever color you want.

Aside from stone chips, the Sprite has held up pretty well. The only caveat is that its typically either in the garage or trailer and isn't stored in the sun. May want to pick a light color.

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PostPosted: August 17, 2016, 6:58 pm 
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For attaching the roof just use number 8 sheet metal screws thats how I attached all the body panels on my car and they are great. You just need to make sure you managed to get them into the frame below.

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PostPosted: August 18, 2016, 8:41 am 
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Would you guys prime before painting? (and after the sanding)

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PostPosted: August 18, 2016, 10:06 am 
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Using a self etching primer has always given me the best results on less than desirable surfaces.

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PostPosted: August 18, 2016, 11:23 am 
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a.moore wrote:
The only caveat is that its typically either in the garage or trailer and isn't stored in the sun. May want to pick a light color.


We used gloss black rustoleum on the ornamental iron work railings on our front stairs. Just knocked off the loose rust/flakes and painted 3 coats right over top. The railings are outside in the weather and the paint has stood up well, still glossy although maybe a little less so than when fresh, after 5 years. Rustoleum would seem like a reliable cost effective solution for your trailer.

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PostPosted: August 18, 2016, 5:14 pm 
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Good to know Bill. Never really did a long term test and black is probably going to be the worst. With that said I'm sure your sun is a lot less intense than TX sun. ;)

I'd definitely prime it. If you go the Rustoleum route, they make a clean and rusty metal primer depending on the condition of the surface. I have no idea what the chemical difference is but I'd guess that the clean metal stuff somehow etches. Thin it like you would the paint and it'll level.

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PostPosted: August 18, 2016, 9:16 pm 
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Sounds like a plan guys. Thanks

I'll try to find some etching primer (or the clean metal primer) and then white Rustoleum.

Later we'll remove the top metal and put new one back on. If after using it we find we do need the extra height we'll raise the roof the 6-12" that makes it work and probably try to find some sort of galvanized or other durable metals and leave the roof a plain metal.

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PostPosted: August 18, 2016, 11:52 pm 
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a.moore wrote:
With that said I'm sure your sun is a lot less intense than TX sun.


Andrew, point taken. Although if I was JD I'd probably say something like "Jeez, the last time I checked there was only one sun in our solar system...has that changed recently??" :shock:

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PostPosted: August 20, 2016, 5:16 pm 
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BHRmotorsport wrote:
Andrew, point taken. Although if I was JD I'd probably say something like "Jeez, the last time I checked there was only one sun in our solar system...has that changed recently??" :shock:
If I'd thought of it, I probably would have said it! :mrgreen:
But, being a long-time Jimmy Buffett fan, I'd more likely say, "Changes in latitudes, changes in SOLAR GAIN, nothing remains quite the same" (Same color, that is...)

OK, I'm going back out into our puny ol' Florida sun. It was only 99 in the shop yesterday...

:cheers:
Peace, Love and Gatorade-
JDK

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PostPosted: August 20, 2016, 6:34 pm 
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And strange as it may seem, we may be rained out Monday when we were supposed to do this.

Rain! August! Texas! These words are never used in the same sentence. Danged Global Warming!!

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