Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Hi. I need to update my trailer for next year. I bought it new in 1994 and no matter how much I tried to prevent it from happening the entire trailer except the side door has turned to "chalk". Obviously, the door was made with better material. It is, or was, a bright Red and is now a dull pink! Question is, has anyone ever just torn off the aluminum panels and replaced them with new? I would want to go with bright Red again. What is the best material to buy and from whom? Any idea on price doing the labor myself? Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Jay

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

I never replaced all of the panels on a trailer, but I had to replace two due a bad driver backing his truck into the trailer. It was not hard to do but getting the panels was not that easy in my market. You may want to call the maker of the trailer and see if they can ship you the replacements.Have you considered sanding the panels down and painting it yourself?

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

I replaced two panels also for a bad driving incident and it wasn't difficult. A better option would be to have a body shop give you an estimate to refinish the trailer. The original paint is a baked enamel finish, a more long lasting procedure would be a base coat/clear coat procedure.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Check with any local Ryder, Hertz, Penske, or large trucking companies.
They all use larger Truck body shops or have they're own in-house repair center that might cut you a deal on a scuff & paint job or replacement panels!

OR if you want to be "creative", get the trailer wrapped!

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Buy a few quarts of Rustoleum and a cheap spray gun, That stuff is great!

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Thanks for the replies guys. I used to paint cars for a living many moons ago and I have thought about painting the trailer but I honestly think it would be easier and look better if I re-skin it. Painting a 28 foot trailer and achieving a acceptable, to me, result would be asking for trouble. I can just see it now. Me wet sanding and buffing a house! No thanks. I am going to look into wrapping it though. I bet that will make re-skinning look cheap!
Jay

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

You might consider contacting the manufacture and ask about the cost of having them re-skin your trailer it will look like new and maybe you can get another 16 years out of it.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Contact T&E auto Haulers 815-426-2634 .They do repairs and they use premium stuff and in this day and age they do anything to keep busy. Todd manages the trailer side. Website is tande-autohaulers.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

A word of caution alot of trailers use 49'' metal instead of 48'' so watch out for that if you reskin it,I bought metal for one 7 years ago from place in Chicago,I think Wrisco or Wisco maybe was name,still setting on pallet was shipped on hopefully this will be the winter I get to fix my trailer I bought 7 years ago.
I think United trailers sells the Stainless screws
Mike Taylor 3601

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

you can talk to Steve at SCS Fabricating in Ankney Iowa. He helped me build my 30 foot trailer a couple of years ago, He can get what ever you want as far a color and thickness. You just need to know how many and how thick.

515-965-0767

Patrick

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

A few years ago a friend painted a trailer for me. He painted the trailer with some kind of paint that didn't need buffing or sanding. It really came out nice and still looks good after all these years. Talk to G & K Customs in Pa. :o
By the way if you waxed your trailer once or twice a year it will stay nice. I wax my Gold Rush once before winter and once when I go to Fla. in the spring.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Sell it and treat yourself to a brand new one.I'm sure there's bargains out ther now.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

This is how you do it.

Go to your local large trailer dealer or trailer manufacturer and buy the aluminum. A previous post said it is 49" wide and he is correct but some might be 50". you also need the correct height and thickness (.030, .040.or .050). When you buy the metal make sure you buy the screws as well. Count what you need and mutiply by 1.3 because you will strip the heads out of the new ones.

Getting the old aluminum off can be a chore but done with patience can be rewarding as well. Here is why:

You need to back out each screw individually and remove each panel without bending them up or destroying them because you will want to use the old panels as templates. We have a setup in our shop where we lay the new sheet on the bottom and align the old sheet over and drill the old holes into the new sheet. You might want to screw the old one to the new one to keep it from moving. This way you can use the existing holes in the frame of the trailer and not worry about having to realign all those frigin screws.

If you can't get the screws out without stripping the head, you can take a small disc wheel on your die grinder and cut a straight slot in the head to get a large straight blade screwdriver inserted then take a hammer and help break the screw loose (which can take forever).

Do one side at a time so you dont get the panels mixed up and always remember to number the panels from front to back. We have done many of these repairs and reskins and it is a bitch but you can take an old trailer and make it look like new but you still have an old trailer.

Hope this helps.

Mike Gardner

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Don't forget to change the U bolts, bolts, brakes and check spring hangers on an old trailer. Be safe see you next year.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Has anyone changed the panels on an ATC trailer that has aluminum rivets instead of screws? Would you drill the rivets out or grind the head off and can you get the rivets at a hardware store or are they a specialty type rivet?
Thanks for any help.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

You can get the rivets at Fastenal. We use a pnuematic rivet gun when installing so many rivets.

In our shop, we will drill the rivets out and try and use the old hole but remember to not oversize the hole. We also use the old panels as templates. This will work if your panel is not taped or glued on in the centers, if it is then you have to slowly pull the panel back from the trailer and take a razor knife to seperate the panel from the wall stud. If you bend the panel when removing it makes it harder to use as your template.

Mike G

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Thanks Mike

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

I have done this a few times myself and Mike's method is pretty much exactly what I did except that I just marked the holes with a sharpie instead of drilling every hole. The screws that I used were self drilling.

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

If anyone is interested. I have 42 feet worth of red trailer siding panels.
Not riveted brand new.

Thanks

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

How thick ? And how much ?

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Pm sent

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

I had my 26' trailer (1990 Haulmark) painted this past Fall. Cost me $1600. There were no bad dings,etc. Paint was chaulking.

A number of years ago I replaced the painted and rusting screws with stainless screws. Now that was a pain.

Looks like new! Since being painted.

Doug

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Doug;
Do you have details on the screws you used?

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

This place has stainless screws. I have bought other things from them and wouldnt hesitate to buy their screws.
http://stores.ebay.com/R-and-P-Carri...&_sid=13922267

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

I have used R and P Carriages many times. Good people..

Re: Re-siding a car trailer.
 

Bob,sorry for delay in getting back to ya. I got the screws from Fastenal. I think they are national. I used what is calles a TRUSS HEAD screw. they were phillips head and the head is somewhat larger than a regular phillips screw.

Good luck, Doug