# Painting a Rusty Utility Trailer



## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

That is a lot of rust

First off rust does not need special conditions to form like snow or salt, unprotected metal + moisture = rust. The more it is neglected the worse it gets. 

Based on your criteria of "fix up this rust situation on cheap ", it will require a lot of sweat equity.

I would put the whole thing up on jack stands or blocks.
Remove the wood floor boards and wheels so you have better access to the chassis and axle. 
Get an assortment of wire brushes both for your drill and and hand held.
Clean every accessible area you can get to with the drill. For those areas the drill cannot reach, use the small hand held wire brushes.
Once all the rust is cleaned off, wipe everything down with either lacquer thinner.
Spray the whole underside with 2 coats of a rubberized undercoating spray. Rust-oleum makes a spray-on available at big box stores for about $5 a can.


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I'd remove as much rust as I could, apply a good coat of oil base primer like Rustoleum's rusty metal primer and the apply 1-2 coats of an exterior oil base enamel.


----------



## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

You need to clear metal from any wood and mounted parts.
Remove rust flakes with tool of choice.
SANDBLUST metal clean.
Apply several coats of Marine Jelly or similar rust inhibitor. THEN you can prime or else.


----------



## HotRodx10 (Aug 24, 2017)

ukrkoz said:


> Apply several coats of Marine Jelly or similar rust inhibitor.


Are you thinking of "Naval Jelly"? That's a rust dissolver, not a rust inhibitor. 

What I would recommend is after removing the loose rust, spray a rust reformer/rust converter primer on all the rusty surfaces, and follow that up with a couple of coats of enamel spray paint.


----------



## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I had a heavily rusted trailer about 20 years ago and my son wanted it. I got a big tarp and put it on the driveway, put the trailer on the tarp and sandblasted the rust off. Then I brushed on a heavy coat of red oxide primer from Tractor Supply, followed by a coat of Tractor Supply tractor paint. My son used the trailer for several years then he abandoned it at my farm. It is still sitting there and it is still looking good, without rust.


----------



## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

HotRodx10 said:


> Are you thinking of "Naval Jelly"? That's a rust dissolver, not a rust inhibitor.
> 
> What I would recommend is after removing the loose rust, spray a rust reformer/rust converter primer on all the rusty surfaces, and follow that up with a couple of coats of enamel spray paint.


Naval Jelly, Marine Jelly, both are based on phosphoric acid, which turns superficial rust into, basically, primable surface. But, in order to work, rust should not be flaky. If he does not rid of rust perfectly, down to bare metal, and have metal treated properly, he will have rust back and do over. Again, sand blasting is about the only way to do it. Unless you have that fancy German laser discharge rust cleaning machine. Good luck with $$$$.
Why do you think it is called marine jelly?


----------



## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

I too would strip it down to it's frame, then get the old Sandblast kit out of storage, setup, outback where it don't matter if the rust, sand gets on the ground.

Blast it down to bare metal, then move to a cleaner area, and use a quality rust INHIBITOR first, then Primer, and a quality paint.

Re-install all the wood, wheels, wiring, trim.

And call it good.

If you just coat over even a tiny spot of rust, it will continue to grow even " sealed" until ir eats up the object.

Nature is trying to return this world to where she had it, before man messed it up.


ED


----------



## HotRodx10 (Aug 24, 2017)

ukrkoz said:


> Naval Jelly, Marine Jelly, both are based on phosphoric acid, which turns superficial rust into, basically, primable surface. But, in order to work, rust should not be flaky. If he does not rid of rust perfectly, down to bare metal, and have metal treated properly, he will have rust back and do over...
> Why do you think it is called marine jelly?


Naval Jelly is a brand name rust dissolver that's been around for a long time. As far as I can tell, "marine jelly" doesn't exist, except as a misnomer for Naval Jelly, that's why I asked the question. It doesn't turn rust into anything; as the name implies, it dissolves it. Anyway, I just wanted the OP to be able to find it, so I posted the correct name.


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Damn, I want one of those lasers!! ;-)


----------



## GrayHair (Apr 9, 2015)

Post #10


raylo32 said:


> Damn, I want one of those lasers!! ;-)


Post #7


ukrkoz said:


> Good luck with $$$$.


----------



## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

After sandblasting, priming and painting I rewired it. I ran a ground wire to every light. It is the only trailer I ever owned where the lights worked every time I hooked it up.


----------



## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

What about galvanizing? I know one way to galvanize is to dip the entire object in chemical but is there some other way to do it that would work in a driveway? My boat trailer is galvanized and 37 years of being rained on and dipped in lakes and rivers and never painted, and it still has very little rust on it.


----------



## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

You can get what is called cold galvanizing paint or compound which can be brushed or sprayed on depending on the product. A gallon will set you back anywhere between $150 and $250 depending on brand. Despite what some of the manufacturers claim, I would not expect it to perform to the same degree as a true hot-dipping galvanize process.


----------



## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

Time to return the 8 cans of primer and coating I bought just yesterday at the hardware store  I'll have to look into this galvanizing paint. I wouldn't expect it to be good as the real thing but I would expect it to be much better than the best paint job, given how galvanizing works chemically to prevent rust.


----------



## GrayHair (Apr 9, 2015)

It won't be cheap and it won't be as good as "hot dipped", but it will be a demonstrably better than nothing.
As true with any painting project, the better the prep, the better the end result.


----------



## oliver305 (Apr 18, 2021)

For the trailer, we used Rust-Oleum paint and after months of exposure to the elements, I am happy to say that it is still holding up quite nicely.


----------



## Bob Sanders (Nov 10, 2013)

I have the same trailer, only the longer version (12 feet) with sides added. I don't go to town with that crap anymore. It's not worth wasting time on it because the rust ALWAYS comes back. A quick wire brush and spray paint job every year. That's it.


----------

