Rust in NEW Camper Trailer

Take it back if the rust is comimg from under the paint. Just poor workmanship.

If you want to fix it your self then use something like Ranex on the spots . You must paint over for a lasting solution.

Neil

Sean,
Where is the rust?
In an area that receives stone impacts or just an area that didnt get enough paint?
Did your shake down trip include a beach or mud?
Zincanneal generally needs to be scratched through the zinc before it rusts, however the heat from welding will locally remove the zinc coating near weld lines, this may rust if the paint barrier is broken or poorly applied.
Get in touch with the manufacturer and see what they recommend.
Which make of trailer?

Pete

I sold a camper some months ago now and are now looking at a larger unit. I also know a little about steel fabrication and if trailer was sprayed (or even powder coated) stones will remove it, no matter what !! Forget how many coats.

I just touched up stone damaged areas with a touch up can after each trip and it still looked good the day I sold it. Also, paint will not get into all the cracks and when water does, you can get some rusty stains.

I sprayed fish oil in each crack each year and never had any rust issues.

If the literature states zinc annealed, or for that matter it is rusting under non-damaged paint, then I'd take trailer back for them to have a look.

Good luck with the new toy.

Al

Any edges where the sheet has been guiloteened will be bare and will rust,and welded areas will burn the zinc off, proper painting will cover it and stop rust if it has been painted properly. What your photos show are a lot of different circumstances, some I would say is not enough paint and some are where the paint has been removed because of wear and there is nothing you can do about it. A bit of grease on your wheel studs will stop that bit.
If your worried about it take it back to the manufacturer and see if they will give it another coat of paint but good luck.
Cheers

Mate, by the look of your photos I would be straight back with rust like that. I think it is a disgrace. I bought a new Corromal Camper last Christmas and have done about 6000 Kms with it so far and the quality of the finish is second to none. Yes. I paid premium price but I got what I wanted.
I had a Camp-O-Matic for 6 years with a galvanised finish and took it a total of 60000kms over a six year period and not one rust mark when I sold it.
It looks like very poor workmanship to me.
Best of luck with whoever you bought it from
The Bigfella

Dear Schilden,

I know how you feel. New camper trailer and it should be perfect.

I am going against the trend here but the photos (very good illustrations by the way) show rust which is superficial and not to be worried about. Get some miles up and a bit of stone damage and you won't be bothered about those relatively monor bits any more. As mentioned by someone else, go and spend a few dollars on a can of fish oil spray. Hit the bits of rust with it and spray it down any hidden bits underneath. Spray a bit of WD40 or similar on the hinges. If you can, soak a small rag with the fish oil and using a wire push or pull it through difficult to get at tubes/ pipes etc. Any smell will go away in a couple of days and you will have effectively rust-proofed it. Repeat every couple of years.

My camper is more surface rust than paint now after many outback trips but is very sound.

I would only worry if the paint started to blister which might indicate that rust has been painted over. What you have there is about a 0.005 on a 10 point stress scale.

Relax,
Mark

Schliden
I am not sure if it bad enough to worry about - you may find in 12 months it has not got any worse. Also, sometimes red dust can look like rust, if you wash the trailer too well rust will show. Use some CRC onthe various areas and see if it masks the rust. As mentioned above, the wheel nuts need grease or CRC and that will stop the rust also similar on the hinge with rust showing. The hinge is bare metal and will have rust signs if not protected. With the Treg, you need to ensure it is greased up - you should not have rust there, but it looks very dry to me.

Our 12 year old CT has less rust than that.........

I would take it back!

Cheers

Brian

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I rang the dealer today and the manufacturer rang me back about 10 mins later.

He insisted on getting the camper back (he is going to pick it up from Sydney and take it back to his factory in Brisbane) to sort out the problem and is prepared to work around our planned trips.

For what its worth, he said that the points of weakness, rust wise anyway, are with "black steel" and the welds (which burn off the zinc) and that these are difficult to effectively rustproof.

I'll keep you posted.