What kind of paint for my trailer?

[Meltedmetal]

You could try POR-15 for a primer. We find it is very durable. A local fertilizer company uses it to prime fertilizer spreaders. In my opinion it is better rolled or brushed. Pay particular attention to the handling warnings though because once it hardens it has to be mechanically removed. You even have to put plastic wrap (2 ply) under the lid after you open it or you can not get the lid off the second time(voice of experience). It is not UV resistant so it must be covered with some other paint to block the UV.
Meltedmetal

[Sberry]

It will eat up a spong brush in short order but have used lots of it for touch up, trim, etc, paint off a black bumper., Dont do it in room, have breeze blowing by. I use mostly Industrial now available at many jobbers, there is a plane truck grade too, a bit more flex, dries faster but 3X the cost. The Ind makes it competitive in cost, especially considering prep/blast time and longevity. Mostly blast, use Corlar primer, it is also rated for over tight rust, abraded, its sub should be around 220 grit or so ideally.

Another thing to consider if sand plasting is to run hand scotchbrite over after blast, it doesnt take a lot but removes sand and you can feel the difference between this and unsanded, un leave such rough spots it tends to "poke thru" many primers, knock off, smooth up, lasts a LOT longer. Can go over tight old paint also.

15 yrs on this gas tank, still shines with no maintenance, in a year enamel is fading, I actually will find a side by side, I have a couple. Same for painting tractors, in 10 the JD from them looks well worn, the Imron still looks new with wash, will be a one time event barring physical damage and the factory pak colors are about perfect,,, better than the enamels from the dealer.

2 drawback to the ind, one,, it wants to orange peel some, hard to get the perfect finish,,, this is soon forgotton though and its slow to dry and hazzardous to paint.

[Burnt hands]

Frank,

I gather you wish to do the work yourself as we all do.

Have you considered powder coating?

My limited experience is from a sculpture I have had outside at a friends NJ shore home for 4 years.

Fido is all steel. and has held up well.
Granted, he doesn't get beaten up like your trailer would but when I visit him, he shows no rust.
His body is the brown powder coating but the other colors are oil based rustoleum and show some flaking.
Under the flaking, there is still no rust.

But...........................Fido cost $250 for sand blasting and powder coating so I told him to get a job to pay his way.
He was buried about 10" deep in sand by Hurricane Sandy but his owners rescued him using a metal detector as he was not microchipped - my fault.

Anyway, here is the company who did the work for me.

http://www.brookspowdercoating.com/p...sts/index.html

[Burnt hands]

Forgot to attach his photo.

[dandeman]

You could try POR-15 for a primer. We find it is very durable.

I also vote for POR-15 primer and also the finish coats.. I have it on my 4Runner skid plating and rock slider bars.. Very durable.. It has excellent leveling properties which makes a brush job have the smoothness of a spray job..

As mentioned in quote, pay attention to warnings in using the stuff...

[Frank R]

You could try POR-15 for a primer.

Does it smell really bad?

I have used epoxies while boat building and they have almost no odor at all. Somebody else's post mentioned a strong odor to the epoxy.

[cdeal5760]

The first trailer I built was a 6x10, we primed it then sprayed it. But we mixed a farm implement enamel hardener in the paint and spayed it with an HVLP gun. Had no complaints from the customer so far, been about 9 months now. Im not an expert painter or coater haha just sharing an experience

[Meltedmetal]

Does it smell really bad?

I have used epoxies while boat building and they have almost no odor at all. Somebody else's post mentioned a strong odor to the epoxy.

I guess you mean the thinner cause once it is dry I don't notice any odor.? The thinner is very much like lacquer thinner or maybe it is lacquer thinner. The thinner is flammable so precautions must be observed. We use it on truck rims and it resists the salt in winter well. However like most any paint the base metal must be clean. We shot blast small stuff and the grainy surface also helps with adhesion. I have used it to re-glue sanding belts and used it to patch the pin-holes in the oil pan of a car I have. Lasted three years and counting. I should say also that I am not a professional painter nor an expert in that field, This is just my experience.
Meltedmetal