Update on Paint

Last winter I took the trailer on its maiden voyage to Moab, UT.  On the way we drove through a massive blizzard.  Highway crews were laying down tons of magnesium chloride chemicals on the highway to keep lower the freezing point of water and keep ice off the road.  The chemicals did a number on the paint job.  By the end fo the trip, you could see rust on just about every surface area of the trailer!

Another thing that happend after a couple summers of camping, was I was consistently loading gear on top of the trailer in the rack.  The bouncing offroad of the gear (like plastic tubs of firewood) wore through the paint on the lid.  I realized that because I painted the bare metal I built the lid from without sand blasting it first, the paint peeled off easily.  When I would go through high pressure washes, the paint would just fly off. 

So, reluctantly, I sanded down most of the areas I could get to with a flap disk on a grider. 

I decided to try this product from Rust Bullet.  Its EXPENSIVE.. $167.00 a gallon.  Standard Rust Bullet is gray in color.  But "Black Shell" is black, so I decided to use that so I would not have to paint over the rust bullet.

Here is the finished trailer.  I'll report back in a few seasons of use to let you know if I see any rust.  This product is supposed to stop any existing rust and prevent any future rust.

Lastly, I put two coats of Duplicolor bedliner on the top of the lid.  I am hopiing that this will prevent the gear from wearing through the paint.