Plan B: Rust Mitigation on Ram-Lin

So, now that the boat is on a lift and the trailer is in my driveway, I'm finally going to do some rust mitigation. What I'm doing is buying time, not doing a full resto. I just spent a LOT of money on a boat lift so I'd like to go the cheap route on the trailer for now. I figure if I can get the major rust chunks off the trailer (after removing the bunks and side steps) I can get those spots down to bare metal somehow, then prime and paint with rattle can paint. Yes it's the easy way out. Yes, it's cheap and half-assed, but the trailer needs some intervention/help before it goes too far. This is a temporary fix to hold off major repairs or a new trailer purchase a few years down the road. It took 10 years to get this bad, so I figure I can buy 5 years easily.

Questions:

1. What tool is used to get down to bare metal? Wire brush on a drill? I have no air tools/compressor.

2. Can I roughly get it down to bare metal, then use a rust converter, then prime and paint? I'm guessing the rusty metal surface has "scalloped" or divoted a bit (golf ball surface comes to mind) such that major metal removal would have to occur to get it rust-free and level. Not sure here.

3. How do I re-attach the bunks on this closed-box frame? Wider self tappers?

I'm going to have to get new fenders from Ram-Lin since mine are completely perished.

Suggest an angle grinder with a wire cup brush vs the drill.

If your down to bare metal a rustoleum primer should be all you need first coat. I think the rust converter can inhibut adhesion when you have bare metal.

Joel,
The above are all good ideas. Ether the por-15 or the Rust-Oleum (for rusty metal) would be my choice. No on the so called "rust converters". Yes, adhesion is a problem unless you use a latex paint!!

Inside the box tubing, I'd put a sponge on a long stick, pour oil on it and swab it back and forth.

On the self tappers, they are just a poor excuse for fastening bunks!! I'd drill all the way through the tubing and use some plates the same width of the tubing on the bottom.

Sorry I missed you this last weekend. Things got busy especially since my wife had "signed me up" for several social engagements!! I had to leave my truck up at Eagle River Service. Still the same problem of intermittent stopping/dieing. New injector pump and ECM 15K ago. New lift pump 4 weeks ago. New fuel supply and return line 1 week ago.

What did you end up with for a lift? Where did you find it?

I don't have an angle grinder either. Harbor Freight time!

Pete, yes, got the lift- see my old docks and lifts thread for an update. Shoot me your email address (I keep losing it) and I'll send you some pics! The SN hovering 4 feet above the water under a matching beige canopy is a beautiful sight.

HW, I thought the same thing regarding drilling straight through.

PLBC wrote: Joel, I have an angle grinder you can borrow. I'll even drop it off on my way to work. Just let me know.

Kurt, I'll take it ASAP!

Stripped down one side of the trailer. Looks like I did this just in time, and I'm very glad that my tetanus shots are up to date. This thing looks like it went down with the Titanic.

Lots of good news though: 1) almost all of the bunk bolts were very tight and still had plenty of metal to bite into, 2) the bunk boards themselves are in terrific shape, practically brand new looking, 3) the trailer has not been structurally compromised at this point.

Had I let this go even a couple more years, this trailer would have been junk. However, at this point I just have a lot of very nasty surface rust. I have definitely fixed things that weren't broken before but I think even the people that know me best would say that this was necessary intervention. The worst part of the project has been pulling the staples out of the bunks, of which there are approximately 100 billion. Hopefully this is a quick turnaround project.

Also, I will have to order new fenders, which are 130.00 each. Lil' expensive, but I don't really have much of a choice.


Fender:


Looks worse than it is, but you can see that it was time:


Amazingly this is all still solid metal




Note all the rust on the floor


Solid structure, nice torsion axle

If you need to borrow my welder for a weekend let me know. 110v

M3Fan, Joel ,
Do a search on e-bay for your fenders. Got mine for $20 for the pair,FREE Shipping from Florida to NC!!
You gonna put diamond plate or metal for the side steps, instead of putting wood back down?

E-mail me

mtmabe@northstate.net

Gary S wrote: Not too impressed with Ram lin trailers by the looks of Joels and others I've seen on here.Sad state of affairs when the stuff they pass off for wood these days is in better shape than the steel.I wonder how bad their rusting inside the box sections. Won't be finding these in a field and fixing them up,right Pete?

You know, I used to think that but in disassembling this trailer I have to say that it is really well built. The metal is surprisingly thick and the welds are really nice. Structurally this thing is a beast. The paint is super-thick. All the bolts holding the non-structural things on are stainless. I would say that in just about every way they are over-built. Heck, the metal holding the carpet steps on is probably 50% rusted away and there is still plenty of meat on those bones. The only killer is the carpet. We also launch our boat at least once a week so the trailer never dries out during the entire summer.

I second the POR-15 for the rusty bits that are not rotted away and are solid. That stuff works very well. I've used it on rusty jeep frames and it works very well.

Powder coated!!!! The EPA did the job on us!

I used POR 5 years ago on my motorcycle has tank. POR is still rock solid. Awesome stuff

8122pbrainard wrote: behindpropeller wrote: Probably used an inexpensive powder coat process. Tim, What's the expensive process that would overcome the rusting problem?

When they Pcoated trailers 5-10 years ago they probably got done welding and then shot the Pcoat on them and threw them in the oven. A quick way to make it look good.

Today a top notch powder coater will wash down the item, then wash it again with a phosphoric acid wash to nuetralize rust.

Once that is done a Pcoat primer rich in zinc will go on the part and it gets half baked. After the primer comes the topcoat at a higher temp bake.

An inexpensive PCoat process will let corrosion run underneath the powdercoat.

Without a rust converter such as phosphoric acid, you really are just painting over rust.

My guess is that POR15 has some kind of phosphoric acid (or similar) in it to convert the rust as you paint.

Tim

Quick update- did about 6 hours on the trailer this weekend. Stripped all the rust down (on the side fairings it came off in sheets) with hand tools for the bigger chunks and then with Kurt's angle grinder/wire wheel combo. The angle grinder/ wire wheel is basically a tool straight from hell and it does a great job. I'm glad I still have my sight, hearing and all 10 fingers after using that thing with a full face shield and hearing protection.

Picked up a quart of POR-15 and laid it down. This stuff is really the key to the whole project. It dries to a ROCK HARD glossy finish, and prefers rusty surfaces for adhesion. Reminds me of a powdercoated finish. I then put down a coat of rattle-can Rustoleum over that since POR-15 is not UV tolerant and I only used it on the rusty areas. The trailer is clearly NOT going to be a looker after this hasty rust-eration but it should hold up for another 10 years of use, easily. I did some very shoddy masking on the trailer so it's like half factory finish, half Rust-oleum finish, but I'm working on a tight sked here. I'm also holding off on the 260.00 fender replacement for now. Those can be bolted on later. I'll put up some pics when I finish. Pete, Alan, et. al will have to avert their eyes from the pictures to prevent retinal burning.

Ah, my mistake- I was searching for Ram-Lin, which netted zero results.

81nautique wrote: M3Fan wrote: The angle grinder/ wire wheel is basically a tool straight from hell LMAO.. yes it can have a pretty mean bite and can throw those little wires about 20 feet!!! Safety gear for sure and a nice set of leather gloves. Protect everything, nothing is sacred for that little bugger.

I'll add that POR-15 is also basically liquid evil. It doesn't come off of anything, and is immune to all solvents. It's thick, nasty, liquid death, basically. I felt like I was playing that old board game "Operation" as I painted various parts of the trailer. At one point I bumped my head on a wet portion of the frame- that was a mad scramble for acetone and rags before it tried in my hair. I tried pouring some of it in a 16oz Solo cup and it melted the cup. Very serious ***************. One hell of a finish, though.