New TT with Rusty Bottom
Hey y'all. A good friend recently bought a brand new TT. He told me he'd ordered it special and it was manufactured within the past few months. It turns out, his trailer's whole underside is rusty....
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Not uncommon. We've been a victim of a TT being delivered to the west coast during a bad winter with lots of salt on the roads. The dealers make zero effort to rinse the salt off. The TT manufacturers could also care less. The frame steel has a minimal thickness of protective coating (powder coated) and plated fasteners and components like jacks and steps also have a minimal thickness. Corrosion is inevitable.
I think you could categorize the corrosion as cosmetic tho. The worst area could be in the A-frame where the battery is. Even though I moved the battery inside, I just noticed the angle steel where the battery was is now badly rusted. I need to get under our TT some day and do some touch ups.
Some kind of rust converter paint would work. Rustoleum professional is good and POR-15 might also be a good choice for this. Rinse metal well with water and use a wax & grease remover to get it nice and clean. Scrape and sand any loose paint down. Also scuff the paint with coarser grit sandpaper.
I don't think I'd use any phosphoric acid based metal prep product, but that's just me. You have to be extremely careful in correctly rinsing it off or the paint may not properly adhere to the metal and you can end up with paint failure. Most car restorers recommend against it for that reason. A rust converter paint would be the best choice IMO because you don't need to clean the metal to bare & shiny.
The plating on the nuts & bolts on our elec. stabilizer jacks was so thin, they started to rust badly after just one year and looked awful. I replaced them with stainless steel.
If your friend is 70, I'd leave it alone and go camping instead. Working upside down under a trailer and crawling around is not fun, even if a person was in their 20s. I would just do an inspection yearly and only touch up any possible spots that look like they need attention.
I think you could categorize the corrosion as cosmetic tho. The worst area could be in the A-frame where the battery is. Even though I moved the battery inside, I just noticed the angle steel where the battery was is now badly rusted. I need to get under our TT some day and do some touch ups.
Some kind of rust converter paint would work. Rustoleum professional is good and POR-15 might also be a good choice for this. Rinse metal well with water and use a wax & grease remover to get it nice and clean. Scrape and sand any loose paint down. Also scuff the paint with coarser grit sandpaper.
I don't think I'd use any phosphoric acid based metal prep product, but that's just me. You have to be extremely careful in correctly rinsing it off or the paint may not properly adhere to the metal and you can end up with paint failure. Most car restorers recommend against it for that reason. A rust converter paint would be the best choice IMO because you don't need to clean the metal to bare & shiny.
The plating on the nuts & bolts on our elec. stabilizer jacks was so thin, they started to rust badly after just one year and looked awful. I replaced them with stainless steel.
If your friend is 70, I'd leave it alone and go camping instead. Working upside down under a trailer and crawling around is not fun, even if a person was in their 20s. I would just do an inspection yearly and only touch up any possible spots that look like they need attention.
