Trailer rebuild/repair thread

RZucker said:

I'm not sure if these guys see many bollards... they cant back up.

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I'm sure you've seen the trailer with a fire hydrant that was ripped off and jammed between the axles.

Unless that genset in post 216 has a double-walled fuel tank underneath it, shouldn't it be classed as "fuel storage" and be required to have a bunded area around it for spill containment..?
That might be your get-out to put a reinforced concrete wall right round it. Just a thought.

fast_st said:

I'm sure you've seen the trailer with a fire hydrant that was ripped off and jammed between the axles.

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Ha, I remember that one.

Nige said:

Unless that genset in post 216 has a double-walled fuel tank underneath it, shouldn't it be classed as "fuel storage" and be required to have a bunded area around it for spill containment..?
That might be your get-out to put a reinforced concrete wall right round it. Just a thought.

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It seems like everybody is putting in these gensets in the last few years... I have only seen a few with fuel containment system in place and some of them were indoor telcom units for ATT, most of the outside units are in manufacturing companies and I would say 95 percent of them do not have adequate protection... I think the office worker that is in charge of 'ordering bollard protection' thinks in one dimension and figures a vehicle will only come at the unit from the front... and at a square angle so basically nobody has any common sense anymore

Just tell 'em they are looking at a potential 1000+gallon spill if some bonehead punctures that fuel tank. The cost of the fuel alone ought to be enough to get their attention, the fact that it might attract the attention of OSHA maybe not so much.

I'm amazed any trailer dating back more than 20 years is even fixable let alone still on the road, around here with all the salt on the roads or worse yet, that liquid salt[acid as we call it] even sitting they rust into a heap in no time.

The aluminum trailers seem to corrode even worse than the steel one's rust.

Have you guys seen many of the hot dipped galvanized trailers in your areas, I was wondering how they have held up, I'm told a few state's now require anything the state buys to be hot dipped galvanized.

Even galvanized disintegrates over time, the more galvanic action occurs the faster the galvanizing depletes, the Zinc is a sacrificial component and depletes over time.

Has been many attempts to combat Salt Cancer properties, most failed over time and all we can do is work to control it. Fruehauf had gooey never really dried zinc based paint as has Ford, some companies used zinc chromate primers or paint additives but once the corrosion begins nothing survived or survives. We used to set Zinc blocks in the hulls of river towboats, placed new ones around every two to three months as the old ones disappeared(Thus the sacrificial part), boats still rusted just not as fast and I am not certain with National Zinc closed up where these guys get those 25#-50# blocks from. Lead based paint were the Cats Meow until figured it was detrimental to humans.

If check those aluminum trailers there will be steel to aluminum interfaces, most have a insulator between but even as much as have bolts to the aluminum will begin electrolytic corrosion(Dissimilar metals form a crude battery, salt or saline, lime dust, even grains dusts among other things becomes the electrolyte).

It continues to amaze me that my own employer continues to buy stainless steel salt spreaders with zinc or chrome plated hardware. It's hard for the boss to understand the concept of dissimilar materials.

Stainless in contact to Carbon steel will rust just like the Carbon steel, will derive properties of the carbon just being in contact. Saw it in the Nuke in out building systems when they tried patch ups carbon to stainless pipe or elbows(Not Q Work)

Its not just where the two different metals touch, but aluminum itself corrodes over time and flakes off in chunks. The fad the last few decades has been to buy aluminum grain trailers in the area, any aluminum surface corrodes where it touches salt and the elements, lately the new fad has been, run them a few years and trade it off for new before it falls into a heap of corroded aluminum.

I'm not sure what's in this new liquid spray garbage the state and counties spray on every hard road surface constantly, but it seems nothing survives that stuff, not even the trucks that spray it on can seem to live more than a few years. I also have no idea why they seem to spray it on every day, you'd think once the roads were clear they'd quit doing it till just before the next storm hits. Not sure what was wrong with sanding the roads either, that seems to be a thing of the past around here unless there's an ice storm or something severe. Here the sand is practically free coming out from the river dredging and the only major cost is hauling it.

Randy88 said:

Its not just where the two different metals touch, but aluminum itself corrodes over time and flakes off in chunks. The fad the last few decades has been to buy aluminum grain trailers in the area, any aluminum surface corrodes where it touches salt and the elements, lately the new fad has been, run them a few years and trade it off for new before it falls into a heap of corroded aluminum.

I'm not sure what's in this new liquid spray garbage the state and counties spray on every hard road surface constantly, but it seems nothing survives that stuff, not even the trucks that spray it on can seem to live more than a few years. I also have no idea why they seem to spray it on every day, you'd think once the roads were clear they'd quit doing it till just before the next storm hits. Not sure what was wrong with sanding the roads either, that seems to be a thing of the past around here unless there's an ice storm or something severe. Here the sand is practically free coming out from the river dredging and the only major cost is hauling it.

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We too have the Saline Solution spreaders here, are fast swapping to Beet Juice(Purple color) but the longevity on surface applications is only a few days where HAS to be reapplied and in heavier snow has zero effect, is less corrosive on the steel in bridge supports or joints. People here do Not know how to drive in slick, whether wet or oily(Really hot asphalt) or frozen they are still rolling 90 to nothing and slamming whatever is in their way.

BTW, someone overheard some other buddy that Cornbinder was gonna offer Midwest States a First Run of all Plastic Trucks just for state highway duty, Salt Cancer Proof where if hit by the Idjit texter running 80 in a cone zone can be unfolded to like new status in just moments. Are partnering wIth another giant in plastics and lightweight components use Benz/Freightliner for components that will vibrate bad enough to lose all the bolts out in short order maintaining tire and windshield shops in new bidnes!!

So what's worse, thinking the bolts will rattle loose in a plastic frame or those same bolts being tight in a frame that's rusted out?? I'll take my chances with the plastic frame because I know how well it works firsthand when the frame is rusted out and things fall off that way.

Was in the local repair shop last winter and a neighbor's pickup was inside being welded on, asked what was wrong and the fix it guy rolled out from under it and said and I quote, "GM forgot to put the frame under this one" as he tossed out what was left of it, a whole chunk was rusted completely out and the pickup broke in half on that side, not bad, less than 10 years old and under 70k miles. I think GM is onto something here, with another 100 years, they'll sell you a photo of your new truck so you can show everyone what you bought, can't actually drive it because its life expectancy is minutes by then, not years or decades, but we'll call it progress just the same.

Used to laugh in the 70's that one could hear the Corn Queen and GM trucks rusting on the lots!!! Used some real quality recycle b*****d steels in them back then!!

Dmiller, its called progress, now today instead of hearing them rust, you can actually watch them rust, LOL. As for the recycled metals being the culprit, I'm not so sure about that, might just be me, but my thoughts are all the companies know how to build vehicles to survive the elements, its just more profitable if they chose not to, so your forced to buy new more often is how I view it.

Rolls of recycled steel sheet left Laclede Steel in the 70s at Alton IL to go to STL GM Truck plant sheet metal forming line. Granite City Steel same events to Ford Chrysler and GM shops. Cousins worked both plants had knowledge of where the sheet rolls were headed even back then. Ford and Chrysler have left STL, GM set up a later van/pickup line in Wentzville years back, uncertain where the steel if not prefabbed body parts are coming out of now.

'Rust never sleeps' d.d.

Wentzville still gets coils of steel they also get some prefab parts I haul parts in there and see the coils being unloaded not sure where they are coming from though

Got a new project, new axles for an old Hyster.

Pivot arm anchor pocket looks good, usually bad bushings allow the shaft to eat on this.