New trailer axles/brakes

[elkhunter338]

Well I am well on my way to having new trailer axles/springs/brakes on my old boat trailer. Earlier I posted a post about painting trailer springs and stainless steel u-bolts.
Well what I decided to do was to pull the springs apart, clean with recommended cleaner and apply Por-15. I reassembled the springs with anti sieze between the springs that will rub when they flex, and I used all stainless hose clamps to replace the light steel spring clamps.

My axles I welded the axle rests on and welded a 1/8 pipe fiting on it (drilled 1/8" hole) used a brass tire fitting to pressurize the axle and verify it was 100% sealed. Held 15 psi. Coated the outside of the axle with por-15.
I coated everything with rustolim paint since por-15 is not uv resistant.

u-bolts, plates are also coated with por-15 and paint, used galvanized lock washers and flat washers on the nuts.
In theoy this should last many many years in salt water use.

My kodiak disk brakes with oil lube hubs, brake lines, actuator are on their way.
I originally had a trailer with 2 - 2,000 axles, 12" tires, no brakes.
Now I have 2-3500 axles, 15" tires, brakes on one axle.
Weight on the axles is 4100lbs.

 

[Bondo]

Re: New trailer axles/brakes

In theoy this should last many many years in salt water use.

Ayuh,... It sounds like your coverin' All the bases, 'n should have a Great wagon when shes done...

That por-15,... That's a paint like substance ain't it,..?? Drys to a hard film,..??
I've read about it, but never tried it...

I have been experimenting with This Stuff,... Pretty impressive so far...
It acts sorta like an oilly protectant, that stiffens to grease, but never drys like paint,...
Self-healing so to speak...

If I get around to rebuildin' the body 1 last time on my pickup,...
I'm gonna spray the 'ell outa it with this stuff, in behind all the rust repaired areas...

I'm thinkin' it'd be just the thing for you guys dunkin' in the Salt,...
Might have to do it annually, maybe not...

 

[elkhunter338]

Re: New trailer axles/brakes

Bond-o,
I got a can of the fluid film also, plan on spraying the lug nuts and shackle bolts with that stuff at the end of each season.
I coated the shackle bolts with por-15 and assembled with anti sieze, then I plan to spay fluid film on them again at the end of the year.
We will see how fluid film works on lug nuts and studs this year, I always used grease in the past, but this was messy and collected dirt.
I am going to give fluid film a try, been around since the 1940's, got a can at my local johndeer dealer, hey if johndeer says its good then it must be good.

 

[Hank496]

Re: New trailer axles/brakes

This fluid film stuff sounds like a product I used to use on container chassis. The Ashland product went by the trade name 'Tectyl'. A similar product was used for undercoating cars and sold by Ziebart franchises. The stuff is basically dissolved wax with binder fibers.

I'm surprised that it is still around as it took so much solvent that would never meet current VOC limits for spraying.

A couple of downsides; a) it is soft and will eventually pick up embedded dirt, b) if you ever have to remove it, you have to chemically clean it first, blasting will just move it around on the parts.

 

[Bondo]

Re: New trailer axles/brakes

This fluid film stuff sounds like a product I used to use on container chassis. The Ashland product went by the trade name 'Tectyl'. A similar product was used for undercoating cars and sold by Ziebart franchises. The stuff is basically dissolved wax with binder fibers.

Nope,... It's actually Wool Oil,... Lanolin... As Natural as it gets....

 

[Hank496]

Re: New trailer axles/brakes

Nope,... It's actually Wool Oil,... Lanolin... As Natural as it gets....

May be natural, but according to their specs it (and like the product I mentioned) is just a wax (wool-wax) dissolved in solvent.

Judging by the focus of the manufacturer on the military business and the age of the company, it looks like this is a competing product to Cosmoline.

For those who don't know, Cosmoline is a protective coating favored by firearm manufacturers to protect weapons between the factory and first use. The military loves the stuff and has been know to coat everything with it, including whole vehicles.

It however is intended as a temporary, or storage coating. For that reason a number of coating manufacturers took the process a step farther and included minute fibers to act as a binder to enhance surface life of the coating.