Camper trailer renovation

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

This isnt strictly a Prado subject, but I thought some may find it useful as a lot on this forum also own camper trailers.

After a 15,000km trip round Australia and a trip up to the Pilbara the paint work on our camper trailer was looking a little jaded to say the least. Virtually the entire front of the trailer had been sand/stone blasted back to bare metal and there wasnt a spec of paint left on most of the draw bar or the underneath.

I had done touch ups previously using cans of paint bought from auto shops, but they cost a fortune and it only ends up chipping off again on the next gravel road. This time round I wanted something a little more permanent.

I found a product by Soudal called Antigravel. Its applied using and under body gun and an air compressor. Its rubber based, does not contain bitumen or ashphalt and forms a waterproof coating that protects against stone chips, rust, water and sand.

Attached are before and after photos to show you what it looks like. I plan to coat it with the original gun metal grey. At $16 a cartridge I have sprayed it over virtually the entire metal body of the trailer, applying it thickest to forward facing surfaces and those most likely to get suffer sandblasting.

Before

After


Unfortunately, I havent been able to put the product to the test to see if it provides a bit more protection as yet, but it was good fun applying it

[Matt Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt]

its all good an well coating it now. but can you imagine fixing it up next time?

with bits chipping off (and it will when it hardens in the sun and become brittle) fixing it next time might not be so easy.

I would have probably just made a big mud flap that attaches to the drawbar and use a deflector above the draw bar.

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

its all good an well coating it now. but can you imagine fixing it up next time?

with bits chipping off (and it will when it hardens in the sun and become brittle) fixing it next time might not be so easy.

I would have probably just made a big mud flap that attaches to the drawbar and use a deflector above the draw bar.

I dont envisage it being a big drama repairing next time, I'm confident it will just be a case of overspraying any chipped areas with new stuff.

I used a wire brush attached to an angle grinder to remove any rust or old paint and I think it will remove this stuff just as easy if required. I was told that its the same stuff they use under the sills of vehicles on the production line so I imagine it should be pretty tough.

After breaking the rear window on the road into Carawine Gorge last year I have learnt my lesson and am getting a proper stone deflector made up, hopefully that will also make a difference in keeping the stones off the paintwork.