Powercoat vs paint vs other

At the end of this season i’m breaking down the trailer and getting it refinished. As well as some other framework i fab’d up and some odds and ends. As you imagine the bleach has rusted the trailer real bad and overall the trailer needs refinished. Any thoughts or recommendations whether i should paint it or powder coat it or something else.

I want it to be high gloss black with metallic sparkle in it. Does anyone know if paint vs powder coat stands up better to chemicals and such?

I would think powder coat would hold up much better. It’s a thicker coating and resistant to almost everything. It’ll be pricey to get it done though because you’ll need to find someone with a big enough oven.

I plan on repainting mine either this winter or next. I’m going to look into expoxy coatings and am definitely going to put a good primer down.

Wrinkle Finish Powder coat

Prep is the key for either system to perform satisfactorily.
For best results i would recommend washing the trailer repeatedly to remove chloride contamination then having a local sandblaster remove all rust and previous coating to Sa2.5 condition.
If the same place applies coatings- most do, you can get a quality industrial epoxy sprayed on with airless at a thickness of 600- 1000 microns.
Then you can take it home and decorate with the sparkly stuff…

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@AUSSIE

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I am also repainting mine this winter and in search of options.

My trailer is powder coated from the factory. Pretty nice finish but based on what I paid to powder coat some BMW parts, I think I could buy a new trailer for what they would charge to powder coat one. $250 for four brake calipers. :grimacing:

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Industrial coatings are worth considering for steel trailers.
Surface preparation , paint type and thickness matters.
Here’s a coating system worth considering if you are willing to do the proper job it’s definitely not cheap but nothing good ever is.

Wash all areas of trailer to remove traces of SH and other contaminents.
Blast all areas of trailer to Sa2.5
Sigmaprime 200 as primer @ 150-200 microns.
PSX 700 as topcoat @ 200-300 microns.

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You would want a 2k paint with a clear coat with an etch primer laid on first. Powder coating is great stuff I’ve had hundreds of parts done on my race cars but it doesn’t belong on a trailer. Sh will cause it to flake off over time much like what you see on reels. once it starts flaking there’s nothing DIY you can do to repair it except blast it down again and go through the whole Process again. As @AUSSIE said prep is the key, even a sweaty hand wiped over bare steel before painting will inhibit rust on a micro level and accelerate it over time.

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So save the money and just get it painted vs powder coat?

I think painting is the more sensible, economic, less headache long term option.

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In this business trailers don’t last 10 years. The frame of my enclosed rusted out after 5. I’m getting a new enclosed in a month. I’m going to take some extra precautions hoping to get 7. Lol

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