galvanising trailers

Hi Brentos,

A mine I worked at, got the trays of their utes galvanised. Make sure any sections of the a frame/chassis on your trailer has enough "air escape" holes. The air inside will heat up whilst being dipped and if it cant find an easy way out will make a way out.

Cheers Wilko

A trailer manufacturer told me it is difficult to hot dip the trailers without them warping out of shape due to the heat.
I own a Galvo trailer I bought and you can see a small amount of warping in it ...

G/day Brentos,I bought a 7x4'6 gal trailer 19 years ago, we run a plastering company so it gets a hard life, it is still as good as new,the only cost has been rego and tyres, Its well worth the extra cost.
Regards Keith C

Hi Brentos, I have heard (second hand) that putting the trailer into the hot bath could warp your chassis. However, plenty of people do it so it can't big a big problem.

KK

We get most of our walk ways and stairways hot dip galv, you must make sure 12mm holes are drilled in all the corners of every closed section.

Anything that is light gauge will distort . Flat sheet buckles badly.

It's great stuff though.

Cheers Scoot . :-)

I read somewhere recently and I can't remember where - that you should never hot dip galvanise the springs on a trailer as it will effect their metalurgical integrity. Someone may be able to verify that.
I am happy to be corrected.

Cheers

When I bought my Trak Shak in 1996 I asked about hot dipping. The manufacturer said that he didn't do it because the box warped to the point of adversely affecting dust sealing. This might not worry a box trailer manufacturer.

My Trak Shak is built using gal sheet and all welds are cold galled before painting. I have no rust problems and it has worked reasonably hard for 13 years.

Duncs

I have built a few trailers & had them hot dipped.
The best thing you can do is go to someone who hot dips & ask him all about it.
You will need to be told if it is possible to start with. Depending on corrosion & paintwork & venting it may not be viable.
You will also get a price. Usually you are charged by the kilo. I paid $2.20 inc GST per kilo for one about 3 years ago. That was top dollar.
If it is going to be a camper trailer & you are storing it under cover I wouldn't waste the money. Moisture is the culprit with trailers rusting. Just get some good quality paints for rust prevention & go right over it before you convert it.

Yes!

Helped my son built a 7' x 5' off road box trailer which he then decided to have hot dip galled.

We spoke to a mob at Auburn in Sydney who knocked us back, Transfield Galvanizing would not do the job because in their words we would not be happy when the trailer came back.
I then contacted Industrial Galvanizing at Girraween in Sydney who quoted a price per kilo for gal. Bring it down they said and we will fork it off your truck and do the job.

I think you may be getting the drift as to the outcome. I won't bore you with the misrepresentations, shoddy service and rip off pricing etc.

When Industrial Galvanzers finally relinguished the trailer back to us every panel and the floor were buckled. Not just in one, but diferent planes.

Do not touch hot dip gal for a trailer.

Ian.

Brentos,
Built a camper two years ago, copy of a Cape York Trailers. Had it galvanised by Industrial Galvanisers townsville but are also based in Brisbane. They dont like dipping large flat surfaces as they warp. Trailer had independent suspension which came off easily when dropped off to the dippers. Didnt have a floor in the trailer at time of dipping. Make sure you have your venting holes in it and all the required brakets/ mounts for your accessories etc. Get it dipped if you can afford it as you wont have to worry about all the stone chips causing rust areas, you wont regret it.
Then when you get your trailer back from the dippers you get your floor cut 10mm (width and length) shorter and just Sikaflex it in. That way it wont buckle at the Galvanisers and you wont wreck the galv if you tried to weld it in.
Trust me the floor will not move and will last for years if you use galv sheet, if it does rust out just cut out with knife and install new floor.
All these things to think about
Cheers

i used to get things galvanised often -- if in Sydney the place for large objects is "Industrial galvanisers" amax road or manowar road giraween nsw (going from memory -- they charge by the Kg BUT have a min charge that works out the be less than a basic box trailer weight anyway -- so your better off having a few things done also ...


you need LOTS of holes drilled to allow molten metal in and out -- there must not be any sealed tubes of steel as the heat can make them explode/rupture

pretty simple procedure -- drop it in ... they take it from you -- give you a work number --- and a few days later you go back and pay for it ..

MUCH cheaper when you do it yourself as trailer places charge an extra $500 or so for galvanising when it will cost maybe $200 for you to do it ..

Boc

Yes a close friend of mine has a Mackay boat trailer that was around 12 years old and been used heavily in salt water and lots of road work. He pulled the trailer apart and sent off the components to be re-galvinised and I think he paid around $1.80 per KG, not sure but it worked out way cheaper than buying a new trailer and it looks brand new. There was plenty of his hours involved but the end result was a like new trailer that will be good for another 10-15 years.

Thanks guys

a bit of advice to take on board there.
ill look into it further.

Cheers
Brentos

My old man bought a 6x4 box trailer brand spanking new in 1970 in Albury NSW , it moved to the Gold Coast in round 78 and was never undercover , was given to me in 1990 , I gave it a new paintjob by brush with coldgal and over that Killrust , in the last 20yrs it has had 1 more coat of Killrust about 8 yrs ago , still no rust worth mentioning ,still lives outside.

yes they will warp but how much will depend on how well the trailer is built
only the sheet metal not the chassis will warp
$900 is what it cost to do my 7 x 4