I am interested in purchasing a powder coated steel utility trailer. This trailer will get used during our salty Wisconsin winter's. I hoping to get some reviews from people to find out wether or not it will hold up. Obviously the coating is only as good as the prep work but unfortunately I won't know the quality of the product work. Thanks in advance
Powder coated trailer will it survive winter?
- Thread starter mc1984ss
- Start date
racinfarmer
Well-known member
Aluminum
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I cannot find an aluminum trailer the exact size I need that iss decent, I have been looking alot
I oilspray undercoat my steel dump trailer and it's held up well for 6 plus years
Just got a dump trailer...what is "oilspray"?
it's modified oil used in the rust belt to slow down rust on vehicles . common retail names are Krown Rust Control and Rust Check
rsanter
Well-known member
Rinse it off after using it
Fixin'Stuff
Well-known member
Once the powder coat gets chipped by rocks and other road debris then the steel will rust anyway. 
58Yeoman
Well-known member
I bought a landscape trailer in 2010, and by 2015 the powder coat was peeling (I'm hard on my trailer). In 2017, I scraped off the peeling PC and painted it with bedliner. It sits outside all the time.
Some of the new trailers are rusting on the lot, so you have to wonder about their PCing.
Some of the new trailers are rusting on the lot, so you have to wonder about their PCing.
Throbbin Rods
Well-known member
Back in the early 80's I worked for a place with a high $ powder paint system. I sandblasted my truck's rear step and tow bumper and ran it through. Bumper outlasted 4 trucks and there was still no rust. Not sure how a trailer would do but I assume it would work pretty well.
jeepinerdeep
Well-known member
I would seriously doubt the PC was done well. Trailers are usually done fast/cheap.
I have an H&H trailer that was PC, it's obvious where it wasn't prepped or applied well. I would have preferred painted, but I have to make a concession to get the trailer I wanted.
I have an H&H trailer that was PC, it's obvious where it wasn't prepped or applied well. I would have preferred painted, but I have to make a concession to get the trailer I wanted.
glentre
Well-known member
I have owned both galvanized and powder coated trailers and would never again buy a painted steel one. Chipped or a little peeling of the paint is only a cosmetic problem if not left unattended too long. The problem is that water, and especially if you use it on salty roads or it's a boat trailer used in salt water, gets inside the structural tubing of the trailer. This starts the trailer rusting from the inside out even if you diligently wash it with every use.
I just finished working on a painted trailer that looked reasonably good from the outside but had rusted all the way through in some areas. Had to weld on additional steel plates to reinforce it. With a magnet on a long flex rod, I took about five pounds of big rust flakes out of the insides of the trailer side box beams.
There are products on line to use to spray rust conversion liquid inside the beams and, hopefully, that will keep my trailer in usable shape for a little longer. My advice is go galvanized or aluminum and run away from those pretty painted ones. They will not last.
Glen
I just finished working on a painted trailer that looked reasonably good from the outside but had rusted all the way through in some areas. Had to weld on additional steel plates to reinforce it. With a magnet on a long flex rod, I took about five pounds of big rust flakes out of the insides of the trailer side box beams.
There are products on line to use to spray rust conversion liquid inside the beams and, hopefully, that will keep my trailer in usable shape for a little longer. My advice is go galvanized or aluminum and run away from those pretty painted ones. They will not last.
Glen
6768rogues
Banned
Powder coat is durable and will outlast paint, but in a northern climate with winter use, it will rust.
Kpaige
Well-known member
I am in Mn so I know exactly what it will go through. To be honest most of the companies that build these trailers do not prep them correctly. They dont remove the coating on the metal, clean the metal, or blast snd prep the metal correctly ans the result is the powder coat coming off in chunks after a year or so. Do the research and find the correct conpany that makes them up this way not a southern company. The best ones you will pay alot more for but it will last. In my opinion a galv dipped trailer or all aluminum is a better way to go
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Any coating is only as good as the preparation and application.
Galvanization is good because the shop does most of the prep. You want a shop that can submerge the whole piece in their tank.
Galvanization is good because the shop does most of the prep. You want a shop that can submerge the whole piece in their tank.
GoodStuff
Well-known member
I purchased a PJ dump trailer 5 years ago and it immediately started to rust. The Powder Coat finish they applied was not done well. When I asked the trailer company what they were going to do about it, they replied "nothing". No warranty on paint. I am in process of building a 40x60 shop, and this fall after I can put it inside, the first project will be to have the trailer sandblasted and to repaint the entire thing. Never again will I let someone powdercoat a trailer
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Firebrick43
Well-known member
And my experience is the opposite. Had a custom rear jeep bumper powder coated and it rust badly and was hell to strip again to paint. Yet some of the items I bolted to it a few months later was ospho'ed and painted with rustoleum and was holding up well 6 years later.
The bumper was supposedly sand blasted before being coated, was it? Did the coater use good powder and was the oven the correct temp/time? Don't know but I have seen several powder coated trailers rusty already.
My 38' sundowner frame is sprayed with bedliner and is doing well after 15 years.
2 years ago I wanted a small trailer since I got rid of my pickup. Looked at some powdercoated trailers but noticed that they didn't hold up all that well. I decided on a hot dipped galvanized trailer or aluminum. I ended up purchasing an Aluma trailer (5410 tilt with side kit) in Elk Mound Wisconsin when I was on vacation up there. Been throughly pleased with it.
Another note. Small trailer wiring is typically atrocious and is typically subjected to salt spray do to the use of crappy connectors. Most use 3m scotch locks or insulated crimp connectors. Both allow salt spray to get into the wiring. Dad had over 50 semi trailers and for years I maintained them seeing how poorly these performed.
Better manufactures use bare crimp connectors and slide heat shrink over that has sealant inside. They will also use Trucklite or Grote sealed led lamps opposed to the crappy Hoppy and Chinese small trailer lights. The best will use harnesses with splices covered in molded rubber. Haven't seen that except on semi trailers.
longez
Well-known member
First choice would be galvanized, second would be painted with POR-15