Painting a trailer?

[QuietRider21]

Im sure its been asked before but i havent found any recent posts..Has anyone here painted a galvanized trailer? how long did it hold up? did you spray it, brush it or have it professionally painted? I hate the looks of my galvinized trailer. Nice shiney gelcoated fiberglass boat sitting on an ugly, galvanized trailer..I was thinking of lightly sanding, cleaning down,priming and spraying my trailer..i painted my last trailers fenders and it lasted the year i had it..anyone here attempt it with any success? pics would be great too if you have any! thanks!

 

[robert graham]

Re: Painting a trailer?

The galvanizing(zinc) forms a dull grey oxide on it's surface and it protects the steel underneath it. It's not made to be shiny and pretty. The roof of my house is galvanized metal and it took it about 3 years to get completely dull grey. But you can buy "Cold Galvanizing Paint" at the parts store to go over any places where the zinc plating may be broken and allowing the metal underneath to rust, but you'll need to wire brush/sand/clean any rust off before spraying. You can spray your entire trailer and it may look some better, but that special paint is fairly expensive. Good Luck!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Painting a trailer?

Well painting a galvanized trailer is allot of prep and work...... and seldom lasts for any period of time. More work then the results are worth

The trick is to spend more time on the boat and it will not be with the ugly trailer.

 

[Al Bee]

Re: Painting a trailer?

Take it to an automotive body shop. There is an etch primer in the automotive world that will stick to the zinc coating after a slight Red Scotchbrite scratch. Ask for a "wet on wet" paint job from the bodyshop. Basically what that means is, they sand the zinc coating, and simply put each coat of product on until it's painted. No sanding priming, sanding etc. This is by far the easiest method in this situation. AND it should last the same as a automotive paint job.

 

[QuietRider21]

Re: Painting a trailer?

thanks for the tips..since it seems questionable, i'll prob just leave it as-is..
Al bee, i was thinking of having it done, but i'd prob be better off just buying a used already factory painted trailer, and selling mine off. i'd like a white trailer..i've seen a few shore landr's that were white..i guess some of the higher end trailers came factory painted? then again i've seen plenty of quality brand trailers that come galvinized..i wonder why they dont just manufacturer one or the other...

 

[JimS123]

Re: Painting a trailer?

Actually the galvanized trailers are the higher end ones. That is if you buy steel. Aluminum trailers are the higher high end....LOL.

Many companies sell both painted and galvanized to suit a variety of customers. For my showboat I bought a painted trailer because it looks nicer. For my everyday boats that I don't want to have to keep polishing them and touching up rust, I bought galvanized.

 

[LongLine]

Re: Painting a trailer?

The trick to painting anything galvanized is to wipe it down with a little vinegar first.

Tom B.
(LongLine)